Home
>
Small Business
>
The Skills Gap: It Pays to Use Experts

The Skills Gap: It Pays to Use Experts

By outsourcing to skilled professionals you'll be able to grow your business without adding overhead.

Here are some of the costs associated with growing a business through acquiring staff:

* recruitment

* payroll and tax obligations

* national insurance

* employers liability

* benefits (pension, car, medical, dental)

* holiday pay / sick pay / maternity pay / water cooler pay!

* office space

* equipment or general office supplies

* legal responsibilities that include employee policies on working hours, sexual harassment, sick time, leave of absence, holidays, benefits, performance reviews, grievances, terminations

* training

* management

Do not underestimate the time and money involved in recruiting and retaining staff. Growing a business through acquiring staff is not Lean. Our focus is on making you money and saving you money.

Growth through recruitment, we believe, is a risky strategy. Growth through outsourcing involves much less risk.

Lets think about the risk of recruiting.

Put your hand up if you're a thief. Didn't put your hand up? Let me ask you some more questions.

Ok, have you worked for a company in the past? Have you been an employee?

If you have, did you ever take home a biro? Or a pencil? Or some paper or envelopes?

Did you ever make personal calls? Use the Internet during work time for your personal use? Respond to personal emails?

Have you ever taken a chair? Or a chandelier? Now I know this sounds extreme, but in some organisations we know, all of the above have been taken.

I'm a thief - I took pens and paper when I was an employee. I'm not sure how I justified it to myself at the time, but as everyone else was doing it I didn't think it would matter. That is until I started running my own business.

The point we're making is that an employee, no matter how great they are at their job, can walk away at the end of the day with no responsibilities. They may have their own hidden agenda, in fact, I bet even you were thinking about setting up your own business whilst working in someone else's!

These hidden agendas take your employee's eyes off the ball. They can't be giving you 100% when they're thinking about the argument they had with their partner or which nightclub they're going to tonight. In fact I once had a discussion with an employee which went something like this:

Me: "Lee {name changed to protect my bank balance} I've noticed that you don't seem to be getting your work done so well anymore. Is there a problem? Can I help?"

Lee: "There's no problem, I'm just kicking back a bit - I've had a few late nights with my band and my girlfriend's gone back to Brazil, so I'm a free man again! Wey hey!"

Me: "Hmm, though I appreciate that you have a life outside of work, when you're here, I expect and our clients expect that the work they're paying for will get done."

Lee: "You can't expect me to give 100% all of the time"

Me, with a curious tone: "Well how much should I expect?"

Lee: "I dunno, about 80% - let's say 70%"

Me: "Ok, lets say 70% of your salary goes into your bank this month then!"

Big smiles all around - not!

I know this guy's not completely typical, most employees probably expect to give you about 85%! That means 15% waste. We don't like waste do we! How do you finance the waste? By charging your clients more - this is the only way that waste can be financed if you want to stay in business. Do you think it's fair to be paying for that waste? Next time you're out shopping at the supermarket think that 15% of your food bill is waste (especially if you're like me and fall for those buy one and get one free tricks and end up taking stuff home that you'll never eat!) - wasted on unproductive employees with their own agendas.

It doesn't have to be this way. Think about you and the way you run your business. If you don't feel like doing something you don't do it. But you don't pass that cost on to your clients. If you have things that are bothering you, you put them aside when you're with your clients. You're a professional. Why? Because everything you do and everything you say has an impact on your bottom line. You know this. It's ingrained in your heart and your bank balance. You know whether you can afford to kick back for a while or whether you need to ramp things up and work outside your comfort zone.

And guess what, other people who are small business owners are the same as you. So by working with other professionals, who run their own business, have their agenda set out on their website for the world to see, who wear their vision on their sleeve, you will ensure you have a team who will look after you and your clients as well as you will.

Best of all, outsourced professionals have your interests at heart - if you're not successful, neither are they. Finding a team of professionals, who care about their business as much as you care about yours will add value to your clients. If your outsourced professionals treat you as well as you treat your clients, you'll all be laughing all the way to the bank!

This strategy forms part of our NotRecruiting.com? philosophy. Take a look on www.debbiejenkins.com to find out more, and to go into the details of not recruiting but growing through professional associates.

Speak Soon

'Dangerous' Debbie Jenkins
debs@debbiejenkins.com

SUMMER CAN BE SLOW FOR BUSINESS
But don't let that get in the way of your success.
This is the ideal time to work on your business
rather than in it. Get 2 F'REE eBooks and prepare
for more success with less effort here...
debs@debbiejenkins.com

I'm wondering if... You Know Other People who should be reading this too? So do us all a favour (they get 2 free books - we get a new subscriber - you get to look good) when you Pass On This link... debs@debbiejenkins.com

same day cleaning service Bannockburn ..

In The News:

Google is making a push to ensure its AI, Gemini, is tightly integrated with Android systems by granting it access to core apps like WhatsApp, Messages, and Phone.

A new green energy system is set to change how we capture clean power, and it all starts with the ocean. French startup Seaturns has designed technology that taps into the natural motion of the sea.

Cybersecurity researchers are warning that hackers have started exploiting flaws in chatbots to carry out AI phishing attacks.

Google has just made it easier than ever to regain control of your inbox with Gmail's new Manage Subscriptions tool.

Despite the benefits, residential power saver programs come with several potential drawbacks and concerns that have been raised by both customers and experts.

The Blackdot AI tattoo machine is quiet. It's steady. And according to early users, it hurts a lot less.

Attackers have started to exploit the very signals that users assume will keep them safe when it comes to add-ons to improve productivity or entertainment.

Located on Cerro Pachón in Chile, the world's most powerful digital camera is set to transform how we see the universe.

The innovative DQ Tower stands 28 feet tall with 420 square feet of living space, featuring floor-to-ceiling windows and premium amenities in a prefabricated design.

A new mmWave imaging system allows warehouse robots to scan and create 3D models of objects inside sealed containers, potentially revolutionizing shipping processes.

Family fraud endangers seniors when relatives exploit their trust, but removing personal data online and monitoring identity can prevent financial harm to aging parents.

A study analyzing 500,000 customer service interactions shows chatbots struggle with complex issues while human agents excel at matching customer communication styles.

Aigen's Element robot uses solar power and AI to provide farmers with a sustainable alternative to herbicides, working efficiently in cotton and soy fields.

The new Tesla Oasis Supercharger features 11 megawatts of solar panels and 39 megawatt-hours of battery storage, making it one of the largest solar-powered EV stations worldwide.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Cybercriminals accessed Medicare data of more than 100,000 Americans by creating fraudulent accounts, prompting CMS to deactivate accounts and issue new Medicare cards.

China's battery swap technology from CATL lets electric vehicle owners exchange batteries in under two minutes, with plans to expand to 1,000 stations across 31 Chinese cities by 2025.

Analysts at Silent Push have uncovered a widespread scam that uses counterfeit retail websites to steal the credit card information of online shoppers.

Chrome users need to update their browsers immediately as Google addresses a critical vulnerability that hackers are actively exploiting. Additional security measures are recommended.

A study found teens glance at phones for dangerous two-second intervals while driving, using devices primarily for entertainment, texting and navigation despite crash risks.

Security researchers uncovered a flaw in Windows 11 that allows attackers to disable Secure Boot using Microsoft-signed tools, requiring manual updates to protect against bootkits.

Carnegie Mellon's noninvasive brain technology allows users to move robotic fingers by thinking about the motion, offering new possibilities for people with motor impairments.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) adds an extra layer of protection to your accounts. Instead of relying only on a password, MFA requires you to verify your identity using two or more methods.

Scientists from Duke, Harvard, and the University of Otago have unveiled a game-changing tool called DunedinPACNI. It uses a single AI brain scan to reveal how fast a person is biologically aging.

A disturbing wave of fake agent phone scams is sweeping across the United States, catching people off guard and draining their savings.

The Skills Gap: It Pays to Use Experts

Small Business