If you are an entrepreneur than you know that you are wearing many hats all the time and usually at the same time too. To be more effective and to keep yourself from going insane. It is advantageous to outsource and/or automate as many of your tasks as possible. Here are a few things to consider when needing to outsource or automate.

Outsourcing

Most entrepreneurs have a hard time relinquishing control certain aspect of their business. There are many tasks that someone else may be able to do better or faster and that is a good thing. Having the humility to recognize that you don’t have all the answers is good for you and will lead you to have better success in the future. Ask yourself “could someone else be doing this better than more or at a more affordable rate?” if the answer is yes to either question, then that is probably a prime task to be outsourced. This allows you to be able to put your time into the things that provide the most value for the business.

A good guide to outsourcing would be to write down your most important tasks and then outline the process that you need to go through to accomplish that task. Go back and detail out the process on how to do it as if it were being taught to someone with no understanding of you business at all. Try your best to simplify it down to about 12-15 steps and then you can find someone to give this task to. Places like Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer and many other quality websites can give you qualified people who can follow your guide and do those tasks for you. There will inevitably be a trial and error period but that will only make your process better.

Automating

Similar to outsourcing, Automating utilizes technology instead of people to accomplish needed tasks. There are lots of programs and software that can simplify your life immensely. Think about tasks that you do frequently whether it be daily or monthly, there is usually technology that can to repetitive tasks for you. There is a wide variety of tasks that can be automated. Things like bookkeeping software, Social media management, lead generation, Customer retention, email marketing, communicating with relevant shareholders, and so much more.

These will usually cost some money but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth it. If the social media management or the accounting is taking up time for you that could be spent on tasks that earn the company money, then it is advantageous to spend as much time as possible on tasks that forward the business. Michael Gerber is famous for saying “unsuccessful businesspeople go to work IN heir business when successful entrepreneurs go to work ON their business”. When you get your business running smoothing in all of its operations than you are much more likely to have long term success.