Being a business owner is a great opportunity to be your own boss and support yourself, your family, and your community. But some also believe that being a business owner means also doing everything yourself; this is not true at all. Committing to every aspect of running your business yourself will undoubtedly lead to the ever-dreaded burn-out, not to mention leave the areas of your business (that would be better-off in the hands of a specialist) without the care and finesse they require.
So, which aspects of your business should you be handing off to professionals? Let’s take a look at four jobs you can delegate to others in your company or outsource to an industry specialist.
Web design
Whether you’re just starting out or are thinking about an upgrade, an important decision to make is whether you will create your website design in-house or outsource the work.
This decision will depend on several factors: how experienced you and your team are, the time available to complete this task, and the available funds.
Web design must address several important components:
- Marketing goals – Is your site designed to attract your target audience?
- Visual appeal – Is your design clean and crisp and easy to scan?
- Readability – Are your articles clear and geared towards your target audience?
- Accessibility – Can people with disabilities navigate your site easily?
Outsourcing your web design can easily address these needs without having to learn these processes yourself.
Remember that the web design of your company’s site will affect how your customers and the world at-large view your company. A polished site presents your company as a knowledgeable and professional presence.
Web development
Web design is about the aesthetic and usability of your website while web development takes that design and turns it into a fully-functioning website.
Web developers bring your site to life with adept coding, proper future-proofing, and perhaps most importantly, digital security for you and your customers. You will need someone who not only understands coding but how your target market accesses your site, and builds your website to cater to them.
Your web development expert needs to proficient in:
- Strong technical skills – Coding languages change and develop quickly and require someone with strong and fresh skills.
- Scalability – Ability to keep up with the demand for upgrading and changing technical requirements.
- Security – Internet safety and prevention of data breaches need to be a high priority.
Outsourcing your web development can save your company a large bulk of time and often be more cost-effective than doing it yourself.
Brand development
Establishing a company brand is an important step for your whole company as it shows your customers what your company is all about.
Brand Development requires:
- Graphic design skills – Understanding how people react to photos and art and influencing your target market through visual media.
- Marketing skills – Designing your company brand for both short-term and long-term marketing goals.
- Client and customer service skills – Knowing what the customer needs and values, and representing them well in the company brand.
Because your brand represents your company as a whole, it needs to encompass your proficiencies and values, as well as that of your audience. It can be difficult to distill this down into a visual and digital presence yourself, especially if branding is not your skill set.
This is partially because you will be inherently biased – that is to say you’re so close to the everyday processes of your company that you may not be able to objectively see from the “outside looking in.”
Brand development is a highly specialized job that requires patience, education, experience, and objectivity, which is why it is highly recommended to seek out a brand development professional for the tasks involved. Having fresh eyes with design and marketing experience often gives new insight on your brand that you may never have thought of before and that relates to your audience in ways you may not have considered.
Website maintenance
Lastly, maintaining your website is a daily requirement that can cut a large chunk of crucial time out of your routine when there’s a mishap.
Website maintenance requirements include:
- Updating company information – Sales, news, products, adding customers to email and newsletter lists, and more.
- Protection and security – Preventing website crashes and malicious actors from accessing your data.
- Technical upkeep – Upgrading your website to the latest software updates and compatibility requirements, managing databases, and more.
Because the landscape of web security and ecommerce is constantly evolving, staying up to date with these worlds is a full-time job in and of itself. Since these issues are crucial to your business on a day-to-day basis, we recommend outsourcing your website maintenance to a reliable firm and putting your focus on the areas in which you excel. You have more important daily duties to be concerned about than constant, time-consuming backend website work.
Final thoughts
Business owners are not expected to know every aspect of running a business. There are web design firms, web development experts, and brand development professionals available that cater to small businesses and can create fresh, new, innovative designs, functional future-proofed websites, and branding that is cohesive across all media and that best matches your company’s mission and values.
Your company website is your online sales and profit generator and should be running at peak performance at all times. A poorly created and managed website will deter consumers from shopping on your site. In fact, in a recent survey, 88% of respondents claimed that they were far less likely to return to a site after a bad experience. Being your own boss is hard enough. Does your brand website need some TLC? Is your website design out of date or do you need to ensure scalability because your business is growing quickly? Get in touch! Seedling Digital offers years of experience in strategic branding and design, custom WordPress web development, SEO and hosting services to allow you to concentrate on being the boss and getting back to doing what you do best.
