I know, I know. That’s such a weird title for a blog article on a website like ours.
But bear with me.
If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you probably know all about the benefits of outsourcing. It saves you money, expands your talent reach exponentially, and gives you instant access to experienced experts. What’s not to love?
Here’s the thing. Wonderful as it is. Outsourcing can’t and shouldn’t take the place of ALL your functions, or that of your business’. If that were true, then your business or company wouldn’t have a reason to exist. Why offer something that others easily can, right?
Thus, half the battle is discerning which functions to outsource, and which ones to keep strictly in-house. And in the interest of providing our clients and readers with valuable content, here’s what you should NEVER outsource:
1.) Building and cultivating your ideal company culture.
It’s okay to ask consultants for help in verbalising your company’s mission, vision, and values. Ultimately, however, the thoughts underlying all these have to come from you. Outside help, should you avail of it, will only listen to what you tell them. Anything they articulate will only reflect what YOU personally want your company to achieve, and how your people will work through that.
Otherwise, you risk ending up with something inauthentic.
Furthermore, it’s in-house employees and management that really drive company culture. It’s hard to pin down and some circumstances might require it to change, but you’ll need to be the first to embrace it if you want your employees to do the same.
2.) Your Unique Selling Point (USP).
As we mentioned earlier, this is your business’ very reason for existing. Whether it’s a product or service, your company should offer something unique to the market.
Of course, unique offerings don’t usually stay that way for long. But what really matters is yours or your business’ ability to optimise price, convenience, and functionality to maintain a competitive advantage. Essentially, this is what your customer pays for.
Lose that, or delegate in its entirety to a third party, and you’ve got nothing. Thus, keep all critical aspects pertaining to your USP close to your chest.
3.) Strategic planning.
When it comes to the bigger picture of what you want your company to achieve and how it will get there, you should take the lead. Always. This is a leader’s primary responsibility, after all.
You can avail of assistance from consultants to fine-tune things, but its accuracy and success comes down to your vision. Also, getting your in-house staff to participate is the best way to get them to buy in.
4.) Employee development and retention.
Do you want your employees to grow with the business? Is there anyone on your in-house team with a lot of unrealised potential?
Sure, you can refer to industry best practices, but no one knows your employees better than you do. If you want to keep your best ones, you’ll want to assure them of growth opportunities in your company – and that you’ll help them make the most of these.
You can outsource things like training courses and online learning. However, nothing beats working directly with your key people when developing their career plans.
5.) Your overall marketing strategy.
Yes, you can hire digital marketers, but they should merely serve to refine and execute YOUR overall strategy. You should know your products and your customers best. Hence, no one can (or should be able to) create a better marketing plan than you.
No amount of SEO expertise or social media savvy can substitute for a good feel for the market.
In a nutshell, you should only outsource the tasks or functions that fall outside your expertise or core business. Remember, outsourcing works best when you use it to free up your time and efforts so you can focus on the things you do best.
For everything else, however, there’s Remote Staff. When it comes to tedious yet crucial tasks like managing your calendar, sorting out your payroll, or individually replying to your customers’ inquiries and concerns, we’ll help you find the top Filipino remote talent for the job.
Give us a call today or click here to schedule a callback.
Serena has been working remotely and writing content for the better part of the last decade. To date, she's written for Pepper.ph and Mabuhay Magazine, among others, and has churned out more than a thousand articles on everything from The Basics of Stock Market Investing to How to Make Milk Tea-Flavored Taho at home. Hermits, aspiring hermits, and non-hermits with interesting project propositions may email her at serena.estrella10@gmail.com.
