7 Reads That Will Change the Way You Think About Outsourcing for Business

8 May

To outsource, or not to outsource?

If you’re on the fence, these reads will make you rethink outsourcing for your business…

Outsourcing solves a whole heap of challenges.

If your business is reaching that stage where you’re already running at full steam and one more project could tip things into a code red, resource disaster, you can get extra help without needing to go through the recruitment process.

That’s exactly where flexible admin support, on-demand executive assistants, and ad hoc business support in the UK come in—giving you support without the need to hire or increase headcount.

Only to realise 3 months down the line that things have quieted down and you maybe didn’t need to hire someone (that’s never ideal).

The thing is, there are common myths about outsourcing, like:

‘They need to be integrated into the team to do a good job’
‘They’re always more expensive’
‘They’re not trustworthy’
‘You spend more time briefing them than actually getting the work done’

Sound familiar?

Well, we’re here to assure you that this is total bollocks… isn’t the case.

Like any job, it totally depends on the source. Here at Hive Minds, all of our Virtual Assistants are fully-trained, experienced PAs with years of know-how—making outsourcing admin, using a premium virtual assistant service, or accessing managed EA support a total breeze.

Still not convinced? Give these a read…

Smartsourcing: Driving Innovation and Growth Through Outsourcing

If the name doesn’t give it away already, this book delves into how you can shuffle your processes to collaborate with service providers to save money, save time and make your business run like a well-oiled machine.

It’s written by Thomas M Koulopoulos (it’s okay, it took us 3 attempts to pronounce it correctly too), who’s the CEO and Founder of Delphi Group, an Inc. 500 consultancy company with nearly 20,000 clients and offices in six countries.

Thomas has written for the likes of Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Economist and CNBC, to name a few—so it’s safe to say he knows his stuff when it comes to outsourcing and building scalable business support.

Effort scale: 9 (pretty long book, lots of technical language, but super helpful once you get into the flow of it)

Deloitte Global Outsourcing Summary

In 2018, Deloitte surveyed more than 500 executives from leading businesses across 25 sectors and six industries across Europe, America and Asia—so they’ve done their research.

This study brings together insight, real-life stories, lessons and experience on how businesses develop processes that allow outsourcing, automation and scalable admin support to work hand in hand.

If you’re a big fan of stats (who isn’t?) this is a great read for you.

Effort scale: 5 (take an hour and read this a few times and take notes—these things are only useful if you apply them)

Biggest Time Wasting Tasks for Start-Ups (and How to Get That Time Back)

Not to toot our own horn, but this is a blog that we wrote on the most common tasks that we get from start-ups and the time that could be saved from outsourcing to a Virtual PA.

When we added them all up, we found that over 3 working weeks’ worth of time could be saved—which makes ticking off that to-do list a whole lot less stressful.

This is where task-based support services and done-for-you business admin really come into their own.

Grab a biscuit and sit down for this quick read that lists example tasks that can be outsourced to a Virtual PA beyond diary management (although, we totally love that too).

Effort scale: 3 (takes about 5 minutes to read, easy to understand)

14 Multi-Million Companies Who Were Built Leveraging Outsourced and Remote Developers

Okay, this article by Codeable is more about outsourcing Web and App Developers, but stay with us.

Whether you’re looking for a developer or, y’know, a virtual executive assistant, the principle is the same.

These are just 14 of the most successful companies in the world who are where they are today because of outsourcing.

Hey, if Alibaba and Slack can do it, so can you.

It’s a great example of using flexible team support services and plug-in business support teams to grow without committing to permanent hires.

Effort scale: 4 (slightly longer read, but really valuable)

The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9–5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich

Tim Ferriss’ book-come-blog is pretty much the bible of outsourcing.

Whether you own a massive company or it’s just you on your own, Tim talks about how outsourcing can save time and cut the ties that are binding you to your desk.

Okay, so we’re slightly sceptical on the 4-hour work week thing (it would be fun for like, a month), but it does totally shift perspectives on what’s possible—and challenges the traditional hiring model.

It’s especially relevant if you’re looking for an alternative to hiring an assistant or ways to outsource admin without building a full team.

Effort scale: 7 (needs a week or so of reading, but easy to understand)

To Outsource or Not to Outsource? Ask these 3 Questions First

This article on Forbes gives you three simple questions to ask when you’re in that ‘should we, shouldn’t we?’ stage:

Do these business functions differentiate us or give us a competitive advantage in the market?

Translation: Should we keep this in-house if it’s what makes us unique?

How important is it to mitigate the risk if it isn’t done correctly or in a timely fashion?

Translation: Do we have time to brief this properly or go through even the slightest amends?

Does the cost of managing it internally exceed the value it brings to the organisation?

Translation: Is it a total pain in the arse to do this ourselves and would we much rather have someone else take care of it?

Use these questions as benchmarks—and if you land on ‘No, Yes, Yes’, it’s probably time to look at external support, whether that’s project-based EA support, short-term business support, or outsourced admin services.

Effort scale: 2 (we’ve pretty much given you the gist)

What 40 Successful Entrepreneurs Can Teach You about Hiring a Virtual Assistant

Income Diary pulled together a list of 40 entrepreneurs who outsourced a Virtual Assistant.

These are real-life experiences across entrepreneurs of all levels, showing how on-demand executive assistants, support for busy professionals, and flexible admin support helped them run their businesses more effectively.

Effort scale: 5 (quite a long read, but great to dip in and out of)

All of these reads offer something different when it comes to that crunch point of outsourcing.

But really, the best way to make a decision is to think about what your business does and if there are any gaps that outsourcing can help to fill.

Where are you spending time you shouldn’t be?
What could you hand over?
Where do you need extra support without hiring?

The great thing about it is that it’s totally flexible—just like our Virtual Assistants.

You only pay for what you need, when you need it most. Whether that’s scalable admin support, interim executive assistant help, or ongoing support.

If you’re still unsure, you can outsource our VAs in just 5-minute increments—no contract virtual assistant support, no lengthy commitments—just test it out and see if outsourcing works for your business.

Ready to give it a go?

If you’re looking for a smarter alternative to hiring, premium virtual assistant support in the UK, or simply want to outsource admin without the hassle, we’re here to help.

Georgina Bale