When you start a small business, it's usually only you behind the whole operation. You wear many hats, from CEO to clean-up crew. As you pour your heart and soul into your business and it begins to grow, the amount of work involved grows.
Because a small business focuses on survival, you pay much attention to the bottom line. This makes much sense, but it also leads to being seriously overworked.
These days, contractors are under increased pressure to cut their prices to get enough work. And that means they need to reduce costs. New technologies and approaches in cloud computing for construction accounting give forward-thinking contractors a fantastic ability to get more for less -but in most cases, contractors' heads are still stuck in 1990, thinking they have to do everything themselves.
There will inevitably come a time when you must consider letting go of some control and paying others to take some things off your plate. Here are five signs that it's time for you to start outsourcing tasks:
1. You're overwhelmed and stressed
This one's a dead giveaway. If you find that there isn't enough time in the day, you're losing sleep, free time is a thing of the past, and you're not your usual self — you've reached burnout. This is not a sustainable place, and it would be wise to start offloading some activities ASAP.
2. You're spending time doing things you hate
Nobody goes into business hoping to spend their days completing tasks they despise. It starts with a dream or an idea for how to make things better. Or even an idea for how to make more money. Whatever the reasons you had for starting your construction business, they likely did not include doing tedious chores that you don't enjoy.
When you decide to outsource, start with functions that are eating up your time in an unenjoyable way. Once you let these go, you'll find your purpose renewed because you can focus on what you love about your business to begin with.
3. Quality of work has gone down
When you're working hard and trying to manage all aspects of your business, it can be easy to miss this sign that you're not juggling it as well as you thought. The first signs often come from a client complaint, like delivering a lower-quality product or missing something in your services.
When the quality of your work declines, it's time to hire some help. If you do not satisfy your customers, your business will begin to suffer – and then you won't need the extra support because there won't be a business to run.
4. No time to grow
If you want your construction company to grow, you need time to plan for it. If you're getting by and unable to plan your next steps, you need to outsource some tasks. When you find that you're barely holding it together to get everything done and there's no time for anything else, get help. No business gets to the next level by completing the bare minimum.
5. No personal time
When your work life is taking over your personal life, it's time to enlist some help. It isn't sustainable to work so hard that you have no time for family, friends, or enjoyable pursuits.
Did you get into business so you could work 16 hours a day, seven days a week? Probably not, but you may find yourself doing that for weeks and even months at a time. You might save a bit of money, but you will also exacerbate your stress and miss out on the enjoyable parts of life.
If that's the case, you're going to burn out. It's time to get some help.
Outsource Your Construction Bookkeeping
Anything not related to your core construction business is an outsourcing candidate.
When I say, "outsource your contractor's bookkeeping," I do not mean turn it all over to us or any other contractor's bookkeeping service because this never seems to work out well. No, I'm talking about outsourcing specific bookkeeping services related to data entry, bills, payroll processing, and preparing Quarterly Tax Returns.
It is crucial that you keep control of your money. Outsourcing a contractor's bookkeeping is one of the ways to avoid bookkeeper embezzlement. Never, ever let an outsider pay the bills, print checks, and authorize payment for payroll or any tax payments.
I suggest looking at every part of your internal contractor bookkeeping service and asking yourself a simple question: is this a unique and critical part of our construction company, and is it something that only we do? If so, it stays in-house and needs the brightest minds you have working on it. If not, it is a candidate for outsourcing, and you need to look at it more closely.
Outsourcing a competent construction bookkeeper is a sound business decision as it gives you access to expertise and guidance you might not otherwise have, and it frees up your time and money to take advantage of other business opportunities.
Final thoughts
As non-employee, we can give helpful, honest advice on improving your procedures and overall efficiency. Most employees want to fill their time and are resistant to change. Outsourcing your construction bookkeeping to us means you can pick and choose what services you want. We will work within your budget, so there are no surprises.
It's a problematic mindset shift for an entrepreneur who has spent all their time trying to save and earn as much as possible. But needing to outsource your tasks is a sign of success. When you take the leap and hire someone to share the burden, you will be pleasantly surprised by the many ways that it pays off.
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