Outsourcing-Contracting work outside your hospitality property is easier than you think, a way to stay organised & will improve your profits.
Welcome to another addition of hospitality property school.
I’m your host Gerry MacPherson and today we are going to talk Outsourcing.
Specifically, I am going to talk about the following questions:
- What is outsourcing?
- Why would I need outsourcing?
- When to Outsource?
- What duties could I outsource?
- Where do I look to find outsourcing?
Alright, let’s get started.
What is outsourcing?
This has a very simple answer. Outsourcing is contracting work outside your place of business. This could be down the street to the local accounting firm or off-shore to hire a VA (virtual assistant – could be a jack of all trades or detailed to a specific task).
Why would I need outsourcing?
Well, not everyone can do everything.
Setting up a great organisational system will help alleviate many responsibilities that might currently fall on your shoulders, but on your property, there are some duties or responsibilities that are difficult to complete by you or your present staff due to lack of time or expertise.
This is where you step back and seriously look at how your valuable time could be better used.
This is where outsourcing can help.
Taking the first steps toward outsourcing can be time-consuming, but figuring out how to build your business with help from outside professionals can offer increased efficiencies and profits.
And by letting go of some of the reins, you will free up more to focus on more important things in your business.
When to Outsource?
When you and your current employees are unable to manage the day-to-day business of your property, it may be time to consider outsourcing.
I would not wait until it was too late. As soon as you see the workload becoming too hectic, but you can’t justify hiring new in-house employees, take a look at what duties could be outsourced.
What duties could I outsource?
These fall into three general categories:
- Highly skilled, or executives with expertise.
For example, a human resources expert who could come in a few times each month to provide consulting advice, employee evaluations, motivational programs.
- Highly tedious tasks.
Accounts payable, data entry and shipping inventory
- Expert knowledge.
Social media consultants, web designers, marketing consultants
Here are more examples of commonly outsourced duties.
- Customer Support
- Tax Preparation
- Manufacturing
- Legal Services
- Food and cafeteria services
- and the list goes on
Where do I look to find outsourcing?
You want to make sure you find the right outsourcing partner. The first place you should look is in your own backyard, your neighbourhood.
Ask other business owners or your accountant, lawyer, or banker if they can recommend a provider offering the services you need.
Using online platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter make it easy to expand your personal networks and are places to ask for recommendations.
Placing ads on work-at-home websites, for example:
Flexjobs or Odesk
What is the next step?
If you find someone you like to make sure to ask for and check their references and then take the time to creating a specific contract that outlines exactly what performance is expected.
Once you have spent time with the new member and they have proven they can do the job, step back, relinquish control, and allow your new team members to do the job you’ve hired them to do.
If you are going to micromanage your outsourcing, the savings in your time will be gone and the whole point of outsourcing will be lost.
The benefits of outsourcing offer business owners great advantages. It allows you to build a team of skilled professionals without adding the expense of full-time employees, and to avoid getting bogged down with tasks that can be completed without your attention. It’s an inexpensive alternative and a proven strategy for growing a business without letting it take over your life.
When you outsource, you can focus your time, attention and resources on your company’s main abilities and spend your time setting new goals and finding ways to achieve them.
I would like to hear if you currently outsource, I would like to hear from you. If you would like to share or have any questions or feedback you can leave them in the comments section of the show notes at:
keystonehospitalitydevelopment.com/khdc006
If you have topic ideas that are important to you and would like us to cover, feel free to reach out to use on
Facebook at facebook.com/keystonehdc
Twitter at twitter.com/keystonehdc
Or email at
info@keystonehospitalitydevelopment.com
That’s it for today’s session, let’s continue to work together to put heads in your beds.
Until next time, have a fun day.
Music Credit:
Sun Spark
http://www.danosongs.com/
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