This past weekend I had the pleasure of speaking at BarCamp Saskatoon with a good friend, Mark Poppen, about starting a home based web business. We had a good turn out, and had time for some questions afterwards. Our presentation was streamed via ustream, and can be seen here.
The first point I covered in the presentation was to hire an an accountant, but it goes further than that. Not only do you need an accountant, but you need a lawyer as well. You may be asking why I consider this outsourcing, and it is a valid question, with a valid answer, and to answer it, let’s look at dictionary.com’s definition of outsource
outsource – verb - to contract out (jobs, services, etc.)
Well, that pretty much sums it up, doesn’t it. Hiring anyone outside of your company is considered outsourcing.
Let’s take that a step further. Why would you outsource your bookkeeping to an accountant, and your legal issues to an attorney? That’s easy. You outsource those things because there are very strict laws about how certain things are done, and these two people, your accountant and attorney, are experts in those laws, and can keep you out of a mess should you do it yourself, and make a mistake.
So, if you are willing to outsource your bookkeeping and legal issues, why not outsource other aspects of your business as well? As a web designer, I have a rather specific skill set, and have on occasion been approached about projects that were beyond my skill set. What did I do? I took the job and hired someone to do the things that I couldn’t. I paid for it of course, and didn’t make as much on the project as I would have if I had done it all, but at the end of the project I had a good client, and a new working relationship with the person that I hired. Win, win.
I will clarify that by outsource I don’t condone outsourcing work to a sweatshop in some third world country. I would recommend hiring someone locally (you can meet face to face), or at least hire someone you know, and you know can and will do a good job.
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