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When is it Time to Outsource?

Feeling overwhelmed running your agency or business?

That’s pretty normal these days.

An entire genre of #Productivity content has bloomed, seemingly overnight, in an attempt to help business owners just like you tackle their responsibilities. This content genre touts time blocking, planner inspiration, cold showers, and any other hack you could think of to “give you back more of your valuable time.”

And when it isn’t giving you hacks or tricks to steal back time, the content usually resorts to encouraging you to “just push a little more” by working late nights, or staying “on your grind” 24/7.

In fact, I’ll bet you right now… somewhere in the distance… at an ungodly hour… Gary Vee is tweeting “#Hustle.”

Can you hear it?

But every business owner eventually hits the same wall. At some point, no matter how hard you #hustle at the #dailygrind, your goals will outgrow your availability.

So how do you build your business with only 24 hours in a day?

You outsource.

Outsourcing, when managed effectively, can become a silver bullet in your arsenal, helping alleviate a crazy workload and crush that seemingly endless To Do list.


But outsourcing, like any solution, can have its drawbacks. After all, handing over important work can sometimes feel like you’re handing over your baby. So how do you know when it’s time to bite the bullet and start outsourcing some of those time-consuming tasks?

Here’s 4 signs it might be time to consider outsourcing.

#1 The Burnout is Real

Like I mentioned earlier, virtually every owner and employee will experience burnout at some point.

So what causes burnout? Well, some of the generally accepted sources of burnout include:

  • feeling permanently overworked
  • feeling under challenged
  • being under time pressure
  • having conflicts with colleagues

Yes, utilizing PTO, vacations, or breaks throughout the day can help alleviate burnout. However, if those lazy, tired, frustrated, or unfocused feelings keep resurfacing even after taking some time off, it can be a sign that you (or your team members) are overworked and burnt out.

This is where outsourcing can come in handy! By taking some of the tasks off you or your team members and giving it to an outsourcer, you can create a more manageable workload for everyone involved. This will help prevent overworking.

 It could also provide opportunities for under challenged employees to take on more engaging responsibilities, which will keep them excited about coming in to work every day!

#2 You Keep Missing Deadlines

One missed deadline may not be a huge deal—sometimes 💩 just happens. But if you find that you or someone on your team just can’t seem to get everything finished, even if they are working their butt off, chances are the workload is just too big.

Outsourcing easier and more time-consuming tasks can go a long way in freeing up hours. So, if you find yourself having to push back deadlines consistently, it may be time to take stock of what tasks you or your team members do that could easily be done by an outsourcer.

#3 You’re Way Over on Your Overtime

Overtime can be great when there’s a big project or a last-minute change that leads to a few late nights in the office. But at the same time, if you’re constantly paying for overtime, it can get expensive fast.

Often times, outsourcing pesky tasks is more cost effective than paying an employee overtime to do it. Not only that, but offloading monotonous tasks can free up some time and mental space for your employees so they can work through harder tasks more efficiently.

Here at DigitalMarketer, we will often work with outsourcers to upload content into our Lab platform. The task is relatively simple, especially with the help of the SOP’s to guide outsourcers through the tasks, but it can rack up a ton of time, depending on how many products go live in a week.

 By outsourcing this job, our product team has more time to devote to creating great products, and we get to work with amazing outsourcers who gain a ton of great experience. We’ve even ended up hiring on some of those freelancers full-time!

#4 You Don’t Have an Expert, But You Need One

One of the greatest advantages of outsourcing work is that you can find people who are highly experienced in one particular task or field. For example, we first started working with one of our amazing graphic designers when he was working as a freelancer!

Often times, scaling up your business means moving into territory you’re not familiar with.

  • Maybe it’s creating a live event
  • Maybe it’s running your first ad campaign for a client
  • Maybe you don’t know how to put a website together

The wonderful thing about outsourcing is that it allows you the time and space to do what your good at, while also working with people who get to do what they are good at. You don’t have to be an expert in everything. Using outsourcers allows you to create amazing campaigns, websites, events, and any marketing material, without having to spend the time mastering software or skills needed for every task.

So, how do go about finding an outsourcer?

There are lot of different places you can find outsourcers….

  • Talent or employment agencies can help connect you with people searching for work
  • Recruiters can also help you discover talent for more specific, skill-intense jobs
  • Online service marketplaces like Fiverr, onlinejobs.ph, Upwork, and more can help connect you with freelancers.
  • Running job listings on popular sites like LinkedIn, Indeed, Jobs.com, or listings on your site can help bring outsourcers to you.

So next time you find that you or your employees are feeling overwhelmed, overworked, or just strapped for time, look through the tasks and see if there are things you can outsource.

Mark de Grasse

Mark de Grasse

Mark de Grasse is the President and General Manager of DigitalMarketer and has worked with thousands of business owners to create brands, companies, and marketing campaigns.

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