What's The Best Way To Outsource? Contractors Or Full Time Employees?
Somebody just posted a very interesting question on my blog. This person asked me what's the better way to outsource your business. Is it better to outsource through services or contractors like Brickworks or is it better to hire a full time employee?
One really isn't necessarily better than the other in all circumstances. How you outsource your business would depend on the type of tasks that you outsource and what you eventually plan to do with your business.
When You Should Outsource To Contractors
Tim Ferris talked about this type of outsourcing in the "4 Hour Work Week". He advises hiring people from a service or hiring contractors so you won't have a single point of failure. This means if one job isn't done correctly, it won't affect your entire business.
Another great thing about outsourcing to contractors is that there's always somebody who'll do the work that you gave them to do. If the person who usually does it gets sick or can't work for some reason, there's always somebody who'll replace that person so basically the work doesn't stop.
And if you're the type of business owner who likes to micromanage and basically do most of the work yourself, then outsourcing to contractors is a much better fit for you. You'll still have to micromanage everything because you can only assign simple, repetitive jobs to contractors.
Contractors can only be given be given simple, specific tasks because you have no idea who's going to be doing that job for you that day. Contractors assign tasks to anyone who is available so the guy who did your task yesterday may not be the same guy who's going to do that work today.
Because the tasks you outsource are so simple and so specific, these contractors have no idea how their work affects your business overall. So you might end up editing or making some changes in the work that they do in order to suit your business. Take for example article writing. You can have any writer to write an article about a certain topic, but you'll have to check his work afterwards to see if the content would be a good fit to your site.
When To Outsource To Full Time Employees
Like Tim Ferris, I was able to build a business that bothers me the least thanks to outsourcing. But, I do things a little differently when it comes to outsourcing because I eventually want my employees to run my business for me. That's why for my purpose, I prefer hiring full time employees over outsourcing to contractors.
As an employer, I do encounter some problems. My employees sometimes get sick and so there will be days that they won't be able to get any work done. But the reason I prefer hiring full time employees; specifically Filipino virtual assistants, because I get to take advantage of their growing set of skills.
I can afford to eventually step back and let my employees run the business for me because of all the training I've given them. With all their skills, I'm confident enough to let things go and just check on them every once in a while.
But what about that "single point of failure" that Tim Ferris talks about. I get around that by hiring people I know can do one thing really well. Once they've mastered their particular skill, I train them to do another thing related to what they already know. Once they mastered them I give them more training until it reaches the point that they have enough skills that they do really well, they know how my business works, and they can run it exactly the way I want it. I only step in to consult when they have issues that need my input.
Both types of outsourcing work. You don't have to stick to one type of outsourcing or use just one type of outsourcing. Some business owners find that it easy to outsource simple tasks as they build their business then hire full time staff once their business grows. You can even hire a full time staff for complicated tasks you don't want to do and and get contractors for simple tasks.
Regardless of the type of outsourcing you use, just make sure that before you outsource that you know exactly what you outsource and figure out ways for you to keep track of your contractors, employees, and their work.
One really isn't necessarily better than the other in all circumstances. How you outsource your business would depend on the type of tasks that you outsource and what you eventually plan to do with your business.
When You Should Outsource To Contractors
Tim Ferris talked about this type of outsourcing in the "4 Hour Work Week". He advises hiring people from a service or hiring contractors so you won't have a single point of failure. This means if one job isn't done correctly, it won't affect your entire business.
Another great thing about outsourcing to contractors is that there's always somebody who'll do the work that you gave them to do. If the person who usually does it gets sick or can't work for some reason, there's always somebody who'll replace that person so basically the work doesn't stop.
And if you're the type of business owner who likes to micromanage and basically do most of the work yourself, then outsourcing to contractors is a much better fit for you. You'll still have to micromanage everything because you can only assign simple, repetitive jobs to contractors.
Contractors can only be given be given simple, specific tasks because you have no idea who's going to be doing that job for you that day. Contractors assign tasks to anyone who is available so the guy who did your task yesterday may not be the same guy who's going to do that work today.
Because the tasks you outsource are so simple and so specific, these contractors have no idea how their work affects your business overall. So you might end up editing or making some changes in the work that they do in order to suit your business. Take for example article writing. You can have any writer to write an article about a certain topic, but you'll have to check his work afterwards to see if the content would be a good fit to your site.
When To Outsource To Full Time Employees
Like Tim Ferris, I was able to build a business that bothers me the least thanks to outsourcing. But, I do things a little differently when it comes to outsourcing because I eventually want my employees to run my business for me. That's why for my purpose, I prefer hiring full time employees over outsourcing to contractors.
As an employer, I do encounter some problems. My employees sometimes get sick and so there will be days that they won't be able to get any work done. But the reason I prefer hiring full time employees; specifically Filipino virtual assistants, because I get to take advantage of their growing set of skills.
I can afford to eventually step back and let my employees run the business for me because of all the training I've given them. With all their skills, I'm confident enough to let things go and just check on them every once in a while.
But what about that "single point of failure" that Tim Ferris talks about. I get around that by hiring people I know can do one thing really well. Once they've mastered their particular skill, I train them to do another thing related to what they already know. Once they mastered them I give them more training until it reaches the point that they have enough skills that they do really well, they know how my business works, and they can run it exactly the way I want it. I only step in to consult when they have issues that need my input.
Both types of outsourcing work. You don't have to stick to one type of outsourcing or use just one type of outsourcing. Some business owners find that it easy to outsource simple tasks as they build their business then hire full time staff once their business grows. You can even hire a full time staff for complicated tasks you don't want to do and and get contractors for simple tasks.
Regardless of the type of outsourcing you use, just make sure that before you outsource that you know exactly what you outsource and figure out ways for you to keep track of your contractors, employees, and their work.
