What’s the one thing that most entrepreneurs like, yet it makes them so inefficient? If you’ve said doing it (all) yourself, you are spot on.
If you are an entrepreneur, and you find it hard to let someone else handle the business’ finances, this is for you. Here’s a proposal that could help your company be more efficient, more profitable and less straining. You’ll thank us later.
We spoke with Irene Bennetts, founder of Adminarmy.co.nz. She offers invaluable tips on how to handle company business in a more efficient, and profitable manner.
What bugs business owners
Most small business owners suffer from the urge to do it (all) by yourself.
If you are guilty, it’s not such a bad thing. You just have passion, and this drives a zeal to handle all your business matters. You are like a mother who would jealously guard and nurture her offspring. But the problem is, if you don’t establish limits and get help, you could end up depriving your business of the best.
In Irene’s words, “Quite often, small business owners especially, try to be a jack of all trades and end up doing tasks that they’re not 100% if they’re doing correctly.”
Like a smart mother, you should realize that continuing in this trend could hurt your business. It’s time to get help.
The problem with hiring a staffer
There’s no doubt that entrepreneurs, especially small business owners, need help. One area that they cannot afford to let the ball drop is managing the business finances.
Irene asserts, “In the case of bookkeeping, it’s important for them to have confidence they are correctly meeting their tax obligations around how transactions are handled.”
Many business owners often make the obvious turn. They hire an in-house administrator who covers a wide range of tasks in the business. But hiring an in-house staffer could be expensive and cumbersome. You’ll have to think about stuff like paid leave, health insurance, and training and development.
Added to this, they often don’t have the specialist skill set required to accurately complete certain tasks. This can be costly later if rework is required.
These are extra burdens for a small business that could tie down much-needed cash in your company.
But there is an option, that’s affordable and equally efficient – outsourcing to an admin and bookkeeping firm.
Outsourcing the handling of your business finances; is it a viable option?
For a long time, Kiwi entrepreneurs haven’t fancied the idea of outsourcing sections of their businesses to other smaller (more efficient, and more agile firms). But this is quickly changing, and there are two main reasons for the wave of change.
As Irene explains: “There are two key benefits – the first is freeing up their time to focus on other areas of their businesses. The other is having the knowledge that your tasks are being taken care of by experts in their field, utilising best practice.
When you outsource to firms with the kind of pedigree that Irene’s Admin Army has, you’ll have peace of mind, and you can focus on your area of genius.
Other benefits of outsourcing the handling of your business finances.
As Irene explains, “Depending on the type of work being undertaken, this can quite often free up the resource to focus on higher-level tasks. One of the more recent examples we have of this for a client is freeing up their in-house resource to undertake a Finance Manager role, safe in the knowledge that their transactions are accurate and up to date.”
Also, since you are dealing with another business, you’ll not have to handle the human-resource aspect that comes with hiring a staffer.
What if we already have a qualified accountant?
If your business is at a different level, and you have a few specialized staffers, you can consider transforming them to strategists. For instance, you can outsource the bookkeeping part and let your in-house accountant handle the strategy.
Irene tells us that, “Bookkeepers operate on a operational level – they will be in your books on a more regular basis and focus more on processing than your accountant. Accountants operate on a strategic level – focusing on tax compliance and also business advisory services. In terms of having both, with a bookkeeper ensuring that everything is up to date, your accountant has accurate, timely financial data to use to better advise you with.
It’s a smart move for your business finances.
To conclude, one of the biggest hindrances to outsourcing business finances is fear. Fear of letting go can keep you running around doing tasks that someone else can handle better. It also makes you a terrible manager of time and resources.
Irene says: Don’t be afraid to delegate. She goes on to say that “By handing these tasks over, you can operate in your zones of genius and that is where the magic in business really starts to happen.”