Because our business does not employ full time employees (yet), some articles in business magazines don’t apply. Yes, we outsource and there are many parallels, though not always applicable. But while reading one an article by Jason Fried (co-founder of 37 signals and co-author of Rework) recently I was drawn to the many helpful points he raised. One of which really stood out for me because that’s what I’ve been sharing for a while too.
In the article, Fried says that they generally, prefer to find out how to do a job before they start hiring someone to do it. The reason he says, “If you haven’t done the job, you don’t really understand the job. Without that fundamental understanding, it is hard to judge what constitutes a job well done“.
We totally subscribe to that thinking here. It is always frustrating when I hear of gurus or guru wannabes telling people, many who are new, inexperienced business owners that they can do this. Whatever this may be. The theme is always recurring. That you don’t have to know a single thing about the business or the market. Just bark out orders to some lowly paid worker and Voila! Instant website, e book, product, fill-in-the-blanks. While that may be true, it is also very misleading.
- If you have no clue how to do something, how do you know the person you hire (or outsource to)Â is not asking you to pay top dollar for skills they haven’t developed yet and are still learning to master?
- If you have no idea what their day to day job pertains, how would you even know that you really need this job or position? Hiring someone just because you’ve been told you need such a position and aren’t quite ready for it yet is a waste of money.
- If you have no idea how to do a job, how do you know what orders or direction to give? There will always be smaller tasks you can get someone to do without needing to know the details for example, you don’t need to know how to transcribe an audio before you hire it out. But there are also other tasks that need a little more direction and knowledge from you. If you depend on the hire or contractor for direction, then you’ll likely end up paying more and spending more time on a job due to additional communication.
Let’s be clear. I am not saying everyone who encourages you to outsource is wrong. But when someone says they don’t know how to build a website and yet make a gazillion bucks off their online division, the truth is, they have a go between manager who knows how to do the job to manage a hire for them.
What am I saying, do it all yourself? No. Not for the long term. But is definitely a good idea to do the work once, twice, maybe a couple of times before you decide if the job is something you really need to do, whether someone else in the organization is already equipped and capable of handling the job. After that, you decide the is a job worth hiring out for, now you know how to weed out the good people.
It’s always good to find someone else who has done it before. There are so many outsourcing companies out there that look to be reputable, but if you ever need any support, it’s almost non existent. It’s always good to find someone who has experience with dealing with outsourcing and ask them who they recommend. Great share Ken.
My cousin recommended this website, you have awesome blogs. Thanks for the useful info.
Does this come down to: “If you want something done right, do it yourself.”
In my experience, you never outsource to anyone without the skills to get the job done. There is no time to train (more than usual) or correct work in a fast paced, successful business.
Very good post…I owned an outsourcing company before I became an internet marketer so I understand outsourcing. I now own an Internet Marketing business so I now have become an expert in Internet Marketing before I could outsource to my other company. You really need to understand the process. It’s good to break all of your tasks down…for your business and for the person who you outsource to. This allows you to train and and also evaluate if the tasks that you’ve delegated are being completed
My point of view about this matter is that at least you know the in and out of the job you need to be done. In that way, no service provide can cheat on you. That’s pretty tough thing to learn, but definitely would be beneficial on your part.
you must have capacity to valuate quality of outsouced work.
@ towergem
You’re right. You can’t really outsource things if you don’t have any idea about what work you want in order to finish a project. Invest time in studying the work itself then from there you can evaluate the importance of it and if it can consume much of your time doing it alone.
thanx a lot
thanks for useful informations!! It is good way can find this useful ariticle…
It’s difficult to outsource if you don’t know what you want
First is better to have clear idea about your own business
My problem is always this great ‘unknown’ when it comes to everything regarding my internet business. We had a web designer recreate our site in the Joomla CMS and it has such a vast array of add-ons that I invariably feel like I’m missing some huge thing that would be essential to my business if I just knew about it.
I’ve tried to outsource as much as possible, but often it’s a case of just literally not knowing what is even capable of being outsourced that’s holding me back.
Great article! I think too many people just rush into outsourcing as this “great way to save money” without having a real clear understanding of their action plan. I wasted a ton of money on web marketing when I first started because I didn’t really know what I wanted.
One thing that really helped me was to create project schedules. I’m a big fan of using a gantt chart to help me map out my time and tasks. I also created a website to help others learn more about how to use it – feel free to check it.
Again, great stuff. Thanks for putting this out there!
For the most part, I think that those who do outsource tasks wherein they do not know specifically how the job is done, would be small businesses or start-ups. In their defense though, it may be that outside factors like time or money constraints may be the ones restricting them from doing the job themselves or at least learning the basics of the job. I think it would be safer to say that: before outsourcing you should understand the roles and responsibilities of the job, and you should have a clear list of expectations.
Thanks for putting this out there!
Thank you for posting
great post.thanks for sharing