Outsourcing part of your business to contractors or to other companies is a fantastic way to speed up your processes, lower your costs and run your business more efficiently. Don’t rush out and simply hire anyone to complete any task, however. Start by reading through this list of six common outsourcing mistakes business owners make and avoid making these common mistakes yourself.

Outsourcing the Wrong Things

While you can outsource any task, that doesn’t mean you should. Start by outsourcing only the tasks that others can do well or even better than you can—or the tasks that take up too much of your time or money without giving you enough in return.

Hiring Based Only On Price

While cost will undoubtedly be a factor in your hiring decision, don’t hire based on price alone. Often times, you get what you pay for, and hiring someone who will do the job well will be worth every penny.

Failing to Give Your Suppliers the Tools They Need

Your suppliers aren’t mind readers. Help them succeed by giving them clear expectations and directions, as well as any tools and information they need to complete the job. Fill them in on your company and your mission, and let them know how they can best serve you.

Not Managing Outsourced Work Well

Just because you have less employees working in-house does not mean that you won’t need people to manage the processes. Someone still has to make sure that all of your freelancers are completing their jobs on time and at high levels.

Miscalculating Savings

Outsourcing parts of your work will save you time and money, but maybe not as much as you think. You will still have to communicate with your suppliers to make sure that everything is running smoothly, and there are bound to be occasional glitches in your system.

Outsourcing Too Much

Once you do have your outsourced tasks running efficiently, however, it can be very tempting to outsource too much. Resist this temptation—too much outsourcing puts your company at risk for a decrease in brand cohesiveness and for poor quality returns. Even the most qualified suppliers won’t have the same commitment to your company that you do.

If you are looking to reduce your costs, improve your quality and maximize your productivity, outsourcing is a fantastic way to do it. Just be sure avoid these six common mistakes.

Informational Credit to Meyers Transport Ltd