As a small business owner, you’re more than likely to be aware of the costs of keeping a business operational. One might think that doing everything in-house is an option, but that won’t be good for the employees’ productivity. They should be doing what you hired them for and nothing more unless any additional work is done willingly and is compensated.
To stay running smoothly on lower costs than normal, small businesses also need to contract the services of other businesses. Rather than hiring an individual for long-term contracts to deliver services, it’s much cheaper and more convenient to work with contractors who provide on-demand services.
Picking on-demand providers will help freelance contractors secure more jobs to keep their careers going. As you rely on them more, you’re helping other entrepreneurs aside from yourself.
Now that you know you can save if you work with on-demand service providers, let’s look at this list of the most important services your small business needs:
1. Technology Services
Your business’ need for technology is on another level. Along with equipment, it’s also crucial for you to work with individuals and companies who will fix problems you’ll run into as you use them.
It can be costly to pay an employee monthly whose job is to fix computers and other peripherals because you might not even run into problems as much as you’d expect. Simply put, you’ll be paying them more than you use their services.
If you opt for on-demand services, you can easily call a technology support company that provides services on-site. You’ll only be paying them the time you use their services. That’s a lot cheaper than paying monthly.
But if your business runs primarily on a lot of computers and can’t run without them, it’d be a smart choice to hire an in-house worker to keep them in check.
2. Marketing
Digital or traditional, you’d need marketing services to keep your business within the periphery of your target consumers. You can’t trust a business to introduce itself to the public without marketing campaigns.
Fortunately, there are thousands of marketing companies that provide services based on demand. Hiring and building a team with more than two people dedicated to marketing won’t be cheap, as you’d have to pay them based on their skills and experience. Quality doesn’t come at low prices.
So, if you want to cut your expenses a little, you can outsource your company’s marketing efforts.
3. Cleaning and Maintenance
This type of on-demand service is available to businesses operating in a physical office. The place would need cleaning and maintenance, along with appliances such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.
Hiring on-demand services, whenever you need them, would save you thousands of dollars. You’ll be paying a professional cleaning company only when you use their services, which is cheaper than paying an in-house cleaner every month.
Plumbers, electricians, and maintenance workers are also hired based on their skills. Meaning the more appliances you have to maintain, the more workers you have to hire.
4. Accounting
Taxes can’t be done by someone who doesn’t have extensive knowledge of them. What more, your company is required to comply with taxes to continue operations legally. Outsourcing accountants for this purpose would be cheaper than hiring an in-house accountant.
If taxes are your only accounting concerns, your business will save on operating costs by outsourcing an accountant during tax seasons. Make sure you hire accountants who specialize in and have a deep understanding of the services you’re hiring them for.
5. Human Resources
Acquiring talent is also a talent in itself. It requires a good eye for reading people and experience in handling them to show their best selves. Some companies and individuals provide headhunting and human resources (HR) services on-demand, which will be cheaper than hiring a whole team for HR.
A business small in size won’t hire individuals to warrant the need to invest thousands in an HR team.
6. Temporary Staff
There are certain times of the year when your in-house staff can’t handle all the work. They may be sacrificing the quality of their work to finish more tasks, which can be detrimental to your business.
When the hectic time comes, it’s smart to hire temporary staff. They can be found as individual contractors who are willing to render services based on a time frame. Some companies specialize in providing manpower for temporary staffing.
If you don’t need much workforce during other times of the year, you’re better off hiring temporary staff when you need them.
With these ideas in mind, you can improve your employees’ productivity while leaving other functions in the capable hands of outsourced staff.
