As any business owner or department leader knows, there are benefits and drawbacks to having a smaller team. The advantage of a small team environment is they are often more cohesive and nimble. The obvious disadvantage, on the other hand, is limited resources. And your biggest challenge? How to best leverage the human capital you have at your disposal. Fortunately, there are a few ways to maximize the team you have without having to bring on additional staff.
The combination of outsourcing and strategic business partnerships allows you to make the most of your internal capital without expending more resources than you need to. Here are some ways to maximize growth results with minimal resources.
Outsourcing
Utilizing the expertise of outside freelancers, consultants or of course, virtual assistants, on a part-time or temporary basis can help leverage your internal resources. An often overlooked advantage to outsourcing is that it allows your employees to focus on projects that make use of their strengths. Rather than your employees donning a dozen hats, projects that don’t fall within your employees’ area of expertise can be delegated outside the organization, allowing your workers to focus on what they do best and provide the most value to your organization. For example, your chief marketing officer (CMO) should be spending his or her time developing your marketing strategy, not creating graphics, setting up PPC accounts, and authorizing social media posts. The work of executing the strategy can be handed off to an outsourced virtual marketing assistant, freeing up your CMO to focus on the big picture.
Strategic Business Partnerships
Working with another business that offers complementary expertise is an opportunity to mutually expedite growth as well as offer a competitive advantage for each of your businesses. If a web designer and an attorney are working together, for example, the web designer could create a website for the attorney’s law firm and the attorney could create standard terms for the web designer’s work engagements.
Alternatively, combine with another business whose customer targets are similar to your own and create an even more attractive offering.
Another benefit of strategic partnerships is the opportunity to gain a different perspective from another business owner. Inspiration comes in many forms, and if you’re a solopreneur or solitary small business owner, they may only be coming from you. Partnering with others opens the doors to new paths of thinking, techniques, strategies, and tools by introducing alternative areas of expertise and offering a sounding board for your own ideas.
Build a Formalized Network
If you want to dial those strategic partnerships up to 11, build a full network of business partnerships. A strong network is an invaluable tool for growing your business. This is important in particular for small business owners and entrepreneurs as they often begin with a limited network. Building a network of like-minded businesses and organizations can provide mutually beneficial results, and supplement expertise that you may not have in-house. A strong network will not only help you develop new contacts but can lead to further strategic alliances, referrals, career opportunities, and chances for growth. Chipping in on or sharing resources like coworking spaces or equipment will also enable you to cut financial costs and can help with access to resources you might not have otherwise had.
Conclusion
The greatest strength of creative staffing and partnerships is that they are not limited to a specific type of business. The benefits can be reaped through collaborating with a wide range of businesses, including virtual assistant companies, professionals, and local businesses. Businesses flourish when they find a partner who can provide support, offer complementary expertise, or share resources.
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