Outsourcing? Beware. This Mistake Could Cost You Thousands

One of my favorite quotes is “You are not rich enough to be cheap.”  Many entrepreneurs need to follow this wisdom. Why? It sums up why you shouldn’t try to do it all yourself and use outsourcing. In other words, hire an expert (not just the cheapest person) to assist you with your business. When you invest in your business and pay at least the industry standard fee for expert help, you will save money in the long term. Not to mention time, headaches and gray hair!

I have experienced several situations where not hiring someone who is experienced ended up costing double or triple in the long run. Here are a few.

Oursourcing Your Website

Mistake: Building a website is expensive, but I found this great deal!  Mr. Obscure, unknown person will build a site on his platform and host it for only $200!

Yikes! Before you pay Mr. Obscure, ask yourself a few questions and do your research.

• Will Mr. Obscure be around and available after the project is complete?  In five years?
• What type of customer service is provided?  If your site is down, will you be able to contact the company and receive prompt courteous service?
• In regards to hosting, can you easily transfer the site to another hosting company? What about the domain? Is it easy to transfer and will the hosting be compatible?

These may seem like no-brainers but make sure you ask the questions and get answers that make common sense.

Here’s what happened to one of my clients when she didn’t ask questions and do her research.  ‘Sarah’ has had a site with ‘ABC’ web hosting for five years.  When she initially set it up, it was a great deal.  Website design $200 and $8-month hosting.

However, over the years, her site has been “down” several times without reason.  And, since her email was included with the site, it was down as well.  She contacted ABC web hosting by email, since that was the only method provided, and it took several days to receive an answer. Then they wanted to send site information to her email address – the one that was down with the site! There was no other option provided.

When she told ABC web hosting she would like access to her files so she could resolve the issue and move the hosting, she received rude replies, finger pointing, and delays.

The bottom line?  Sarah had to pay for a newly designed, professional website and she has incurred unnecessary costs and wasted countless hours of her time.

The lesson learned: Having a site built and maintained by a vetted professional and hosted by a nationally recognized hosting service is worth the higher initial investment.

Business Systems

For the purpose of this post, business systems include email marketing systems, contact management systems, shopping carts, etc.  While some of these programs are very user-friendly, as you move up the ladder to the high-end programs, installation and maintenance require some knowledge and training. If training by the provider is required or “highly recommended,” it’s a pretty good bet you are looking at one of these and should not try to do it yourself.

Mistake: My inexperienced friend will be setting up my new CRM system.

I had a client tell me she was moving her CRM (Customer Relationship Management) to one of the premier systems available. No problem but then she told me her friend would be setting it all up.  This friend, while a marketing professional, had no experience with this particular CRM.

I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. Why? Well, first of all, I care about all my clients and want what’s best for them and their business.  Second, I’d seen this happen with the exact CRM several times and it always turned out bad.

At that time, the initial cost of the system was $2000+ and approximately $200 a month for the caviar of CRM’s.  If you don’t invest in getting it set up and maintained by an expert, you are throwing that money down the toilet.

Here’s how this story turned out: ‘Janice’ paid over $2500 to get started with the new CRM and now it’s time to set it up and migrate her information.  A trained expert with this system starts at $75 per hour. Deciding that’s not in her budget, she enlists a friend at $20 per hour.  The friend not only has no experience with this system but no CRM experience at all.  Five years later, Janice has spent many thousands of dollars on the CRM system and it still doesn’t work.

The lesson learned: Have your business systems set up by an expert who is knowledgeable of the systems. The extra money you spend up front will pay off with a business that runs efficiently and effectively.

Outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant

Now let’s turn to something near and dear to my heart. Have you seen these ads?

Rates vary greatly for Virtual Assistants. So what’s the difference between a $5 an hour virtual assistant and one that is priced at  $40- $50 an hour or more? One word: experience.

There are excellent VA’s in the United States that you can hire for $15 an hour.  Heck, seventeen years ago when I started out, that was my rate.  However, I was totally new to the work, didn’t know 10% or what I do now nor was I able to recommend the systems and processes that would work for you.

Do you need a task checker or do you need a partner who can advise you on areas that aren’t your expertise?  You don’t need to know everything about email marketing, social media, blogging or program management etc. because your experienced virtual assistant does know and will advise the best approach.

Mistake: ‘Luanne’ decided to hire a $5/hour VA.

To illustrate, here’s a tale from my “OMG!” file.  I was contacted by an entrepreneur for support with customer management, webinars, and content marketing.  We had a great conversation and it seemed like a great fit. Our initial consultation ended with her agreeing to the fee and asking to get the setup process going with a contract.  Great.  But then….nothing.

When I followed up, I discovered she “went with someone else.”  After a little investigation I discovered the VA who got the gig was less experienced than me and therefore cheaper. Fast forward 6 months later and Luanne was still spinning her wheels in the same place. She decided to work with me.

The lesson learned:  Partner with a VA who will fit where you are in business now and where you want to be five years from now. An experienced and knowledgeable virtual assistant will be a larger investment but the increase in efficiency and productivity will pay off.

Hopefully, you can see how investing in your business by outsourcing to an expert will ultimately pay off for your bottom line.  Have questions about outsourcing? Connect with me on Facebook.