When you picture starting your own business, a certain image comes to mind. Of y=course, the long term dream is one of autonomy and pride in what you’ve built – but in a more immediate sense, it’s one of committing to working long hours late into the evening, Saturdays spent tied to your desk, and a volume of emails that would overwhelm even the most seasoned comms professional.

This is down in part to the fact that many of us subscribe to the common misconception that when you’re setting up a business you have to do absolutely everything yourself, from accounting to sales pitches. In reality, this just isn’t the case. A much smoother ride to starting your own business can be had if you increase your start up cost a little bit and hit the ground running with the ability to outsource elements of the business, leaving you room to focus on you products or services and actually getting things off the ground.

So what are some of the things it would be worth outsourcing?

Website creation

Although there are many services out there that enable you to build your website yourself, this is often still more time consuming than you might expect, especially as a novice, and it’s very easy to get bogged down in the details rather than just getting yourself up and running. Whether you want to invest in a designer who can create a bespoke website just for you, or whether you’re happy to spend just a little bit on someone who knows their way around WIx, outsourcing web design is one easy way to save yourself a lot of time.

SEO 

SEO is a skill that can absolutely be learned, and that you could figure out for yourself if you really wanted to – however, it’s a huge asset to start off with great SEO and no matter how fast a learner you are there’s no comparison to getting someone experienced in this field to write your web content and blog (if you have one). Your search rankings will start off great and only improve as analytics come in, and you’ll be a step ahead  of other startups who haven’t thought that far ahead. What’s more, you don’t have to outsource this to an expensive agency – you can find a freelancer who will do a quality job for a fraction of the price (that said, don’t underpay your freelancers!).

CFO Services

This one might sound a little controversial, but outsourcing CFO services for small business owners can be a massive time saver and actually prevent problems down the line. As business savvy as you might be, there’s no reason you’ve be a particular expert in finances, and outsourcing these responsibilities to someone who know what they’re doing could help solve problems before they happen and ensure you start as you mean to go on, with a solid handle on the company finances. In addition, the financial side of things is probably the stuff that drags you into long evenings and weekends at work – outsource it!

Starting a business is always going to be stressful and a little risky, but instead of taking on the work of ten people it’s better to increase your start up costs a little bit and outsource what you can – both you and your business will appreciate it a little way down the line.