A 2023 study reported that 70% of UK small business owners take fewer than 20 days off each year.
That’s eight days below the UK’s statutory annual leave entitlement. It will be no surprise to fellow business owners that we are such a hardworking group, often working more hours and taking fewer breaks.
However, it’s not sustainable, and no one sums up this harsh reality better than business mentor Michael Gerber:
“If your business can’t run without you – if you can’t safely leave your business for a few weeks – you don’t really have a business; you have a job – with overheads!”
When I wanted to grow my business AND have a better work-life balance, I realised I had to change how I worked. I had to delegate.
In this blog, I’ll share how you can change your business and work life through outsourcing, and also the specific tasks I outsource to my PA’s Emma and Stacey.
Outsourcing step 1 – delegate the tasks that fill your workday
We’ve all heard of outsourcing and probably already use it in some way (if you use an accountant, a marketing agency, a tax advisor, etc., you’re already outsourcing).
However, to really benefit, you need to outsource the parts of your business that take up your personal time.
Often, this starts with admin, but it could also be tasks like marketing, data entry, diary management, travel research, taking minutes, or transcription.
If you need help identifying tasks to delegate, there’s a great exercise in my free eBook that will help: 11 Essential Actions to make you and your law firm more organised.
Outsourcing in action: the work tasks I used to do that I now delegate to my PA
It’s no exaggeration that outsourcing transformed my business and my life. I’m about to share with you all the tasks I’ve delegated to my PA’s Emma and Stacey. As you read through the list, think about all the time these tasks take, time that I now have for business development, new growth plans and for me personally.
- Day-to-day admin – Emma books meetings, updates Clio – our CRM, and onboards new clients, including creating their contracts and invoicing.
- Invoicing – This is a huge task! On the first day of each month, Emma goes through all the team’s invoices, collating the time reports for each client onto one spreadsheet and creating invoices in FreeAgent.
Everything is cross-referenced to check we have all hours recorded and that everything adds up with no errors. There’s often then some chasing around to finalise everything.
Emma then processes any special client invoicing terms, calculates expenses incurred, and determines how much corporation tax should be put aside. Then, when invoices aren’t paid on time, there’s always chasing to be done!
- Planning – Emma and I meet monthly to discuss the month ahead and where she can help with marketing, clients, onboarding and any challenges. Emma’s a proper partner in helping me to reach my goals.
- Content – Emma and Stacey (double outsourcing at work!) create and schedule social media content.
- Website – Any website amendments, including changes to the team, adding case studies, and uploading blog posts are all handled by either Emma or Stacey.
- Inbox management – Emma looks after my inbox when I’m on holiday or out for the day, making sure that anything that needs to be addressed is taken care of.
- Diary management – both Emma and Stacey have access to my inbox and calendar and set up meetings, add event dates and any travel into my calendar.
- Travel – if I’m attending an event or meeting and need to travel to London, Manchester or anywhere in the UK, I’ll ask Stacey to research hotels for me – once booked these are added into my calendar.
- CRM and automations – Emma looks after the business’ Kit and Zapier accounts, changing automations, and she also reaches out to clients for feedback periodically.
Copy writing – I also outsource my copywriting to Nick who helped with this very blog you are reading, plus the newsletter and any copy for the website
Outsourcing step 2 – outsource your fee-earning work to grow your business
Outsourcing your business admin will completely transform your work-life balance, and it will help you to grow your business by freeing up your workday for fee-earning work and business development.
However, if you only outsource your admin, you’re still only one person as far as fee-earning work goes, and this places a cap on your business’ potential.
To really grow, you need to outsource fee-earning work too. I do this by using reliable and highly skilled associates who work directly with clients on my behalf.
Outsourcing in action: the fee-earning tasks I outsource to associates
The fantastic thing about outsourcing to associates is that each associate comes with their own set of skills and experience.
By outsourcing, I’ve grown the scope of services our business can offer. So, we can help clients with admin, business development, marketing, legal support, CRM, audio transcription, and so much more. For the full range, check out our services.
Outsourcing mechanics – tools and tips to help
Outsourcing enables you to have more freedom…but only if it’s supported by proper planning. I believe there are five critical activities that need to underpin outsourcing, and these are the areas I’ve had to focus on to achieve success through delegation.
- Planning – Delegation works, but it does require a little planning ahead. You need to approach outsourcing in a structured way – be clear what you want to achieve and who can help you with that.
- Responsibilities – Outsourcing does mean letting go. Be clear (in your own mind and with those you work with) who is responsible for every task and make sure that everyone knows what is expected of them.
- Documentation – Process guides (SOPs), handover notes, video walkthroughs…whatever your documentation of choice, these are critical safety nets in the world of outsourcing. Documentation enables other people to pick up tasks you normally complete and do them correctly.
- Communication – This is key. I use Asana for project management and tracking core tasks and progress. Then, as a team, we use Slack to communicate and send quick messages to each other, though we prefer to do important communications via Asana and email, so nothing gets missed.
- Teamwork – This is the single most important element. You need good people supporting you. When you outsource, you’re putting your treasured business in the hands of others, so you have to be able to trust them. I have a fantastic team of associates – I trust them to represent the business positively and do a great job. It can take a little trial and error to find the right people, and you need to be thorough in your networking and recruitment, but when it works, it’s so effective.
BONUS TIP
If you’re going to start outsourcing via a team – remember that you’ll need a good project management tool in place to assign tasks with deadlines and relevant, supporting information. This will enable you to keep track of what the team are doing. We have used Asana since day 1, but there are many options out there such as Trello, Clickup, Notion to name a few.
You too can benefit from outsourcing…
If you’re ready to change your business and work life, working with a Virtual PA or Virtual Assistant (VA) is an accessible, easy springboard into outsourcing.
Download our free eBook: HOW TO HIRE A VA IN 8 EASY STEPS to discover everything you need to know.
Alternatively, if you’d like to find out about working with us, book a call. I think you’ll be surprised to learn just how much we can support you. We even offer sector-specific expertise in our Zones of Genius: legal, medical, and property.
