If you want something done right, ask someone who knows how to do it
Of all the simple, sure-fire ways to get ahead in business, getting outside help is often a surprisingly hard concept to come to terms with.
As evolved and rational as we like to think we are, there is still something in the back of every business owner’s mind that thinks “I know how to do this better than anyone, changing things would just slow me down.” Sometimes there can be real validity in that thinking. Transitioning to new systems can be costly and time consuming, and if you aren’t in a great financial place you might not be able to afford the risk of missteps.
However, more often than not the costs of treading water and maintaining the status quo adds up quickly. And worse, failing to take advantage of help where you can get it, whether it be better tech or actual hired humans, eventually wears you down, slows you down and that in turn can impact customer satisfaction and your business’ bottom line .
The longer you go without accepting help, the more out of step you begin to feel. What was before a genuine belief that you knew the very best way to get things done quickly becomes a corner you’ve backed yourself into. Sooner or later one of those balls you’re juggling will drop, so why not just hand a few to someone else before they do?
But where do you start?
Well that’s easy, start with something you’re not very good at. Yes, you are perfectly capable of pushing yourself, wading through logistics that aren’t your specialty and coming through with the job done in a fair to middling manner. Great.
In the meantime though, you’ve stressed yourself out, neglected the areas where you could have been more productive and potentially only managed a 3/5 final product. In the same time a specialist in the area of ‘Things you hate doing’ probably could’ve knocked out twice the work, costing you a comparably paltry amount in comparison to the steep opportunity cost you’d lost doing stuff yourself.
Deciding to outsource one aspect of your business is a high-level strategic decision that, when done correctly, can change the entire value proposition of your business. Undoubtably part of the benefit is freeing up your time and energy, but it also can drastically impact the quality of your product.
Let’s talk about shipping and logistics – sure you can pick and pack and wander to the post office. And whilst your business is at start up or still really small or you’re truly getting a feel for what works and what doesn’t, that’s great. But there will come a day when you really want to put more effort into growing your business, taking on more customers or going out to investigate more stock or partnerships, etc, but you’ll have orders to pack and get out and it will start to hold you back.
The same could just as easily be said for doing your accounting or admin, etc. Let go of what does not serve you to do yourself and you give yourself time for the cost of pursuing the next set of opportunities.
Heck, it might even be allowing yourself to actually have a holiday. The internet never sleeps, which can make it very tough to take a break when you’re the one doing everything.
What you want to do is completely flip your weakness into strength. By taking your ‘average job’ and handing it over to someone whose entire business is shipping and logistics (or accounting/bookkeeping, etc) – ie: something they just love, you’re putting a renewed focus on the end result of your customer interaction, significantly improving the level of customer care and, in turn, customer loyalty.
If you’d like to chat about turning what you perceive to be meh jobs around shipping and logistics into greater customer value, we’d be delighted to help. You can always give us a call on +61 2 9828 0111 (Sydney), +61 3 9240 6300 (Melbourne) or +64 9 263 8855 (Auckland) or drop us a note via the form below