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Every small business owner should focus on what the customer values.
Your Business Professor was struggling to manage my part of a $200 million dollar project at an All-Staff Meeting. There were whispers between my directors and some of their back-benching assistants. Something was odd about their conversations. Their language was off-kilter.
In hushed tones I heard, client specs … I stopped. Were they talking about – me?
I looked at the very well-dressed attendees and played a hunch.
“If your paycheck does not have my company’s name on it,” I asked, “Please indicate by raising your hand.”
Two-thirds of my “team” were outside consultants.
I got mad. For no reason. I wanted control-control-control of everything, everywhere.
I thought that I had to be “hands on.” “The Old Man In Charge.” “The Source” of all wisdom and to be the giver of directions. I was somewhat confident about my authority over the consultants and their far-flung staff. But I feared that my influence would not extend outside of that conference room. I was, of course, an amateur manager. And insecure.
But I would learn. I would start by becoming an (out)sourcer’s apprentice. I had to learn what was important and what was less so. Some parts of my business deserved more of my immediate attention than others.
Customer Values
Entrepreneur Richard Koch writes on this discernment using Pareto’s Principle:
“Unless we have numbers or 80/20 Thinking to guide us, most things always appear more important than the few things that are actually more important.
Even if we accept the point in our minds, it is difficult to make the next hop to focused action. Keep the “vital few” in the forefront of your brain. And keep reviewing whether you are spending more time and effort on the vital few rather than the trivial many.” (Koch 1998)
Author Andrea Gabor recounts the story of Jack Welch, former GE CEO, in “The Capitalist Philosophers.” Welch speaks of the difference between the ‘critical’ and ‘core’ parts of a business:
“In the late 1980’s, during a period of intense competitive ferment, [Peter] Drucker was summoned back to GE …
“Make sure that your back room is their front room,” recalls Welch. It was a statement that helped define Welch’s approach to a wave of outsourcing.
“In other words, don’t you do guard services at your plant. Get someone who specializes in guard services” to do them for you. Get rid of in-house printing, in-house conferences services, any business than isn’t the core of your focus.
Explains Welch, “[Drucker] made it very clear what a waste” it was to be in marginal activities where, inevitably, GE would put its “weakest people.” (Gabor 2000)
(I advise students to only work in the core of a business because that is where the owner is going to put his best people.)
How does the small business owner determine the difference between the core of a business from the merely critical component?
The core of any company is what the customer walks away with after dealing with your small business. Critical functions support the core.
The non-core, critical parts of your business should be delegated to outside companies. For example, payroll is critical to any business, but it is usually a back-office role. Anita Campbell, the Founder, CEO and Publisher of Small Business Trends, suggests that this is a function that should be outsourced. She outlines three reasons:
- It frees up time and resources to focus more on your core business.
- It gives you access to more technology and expertise to perform payroll well.
- It reduces costs and risks.
Outsourcing can be more efficient (faster, better, cheaper) and effective (advances organizational goals).
This is an opportunity for small business creation. If your passion is lawn care service then create a landscape business. Do not lead a grounds maintenance operation at an accounting firm.
If your passion is bookkeeping, then build a bookkeeping firm. Do not manage the back office bookkeeping at a lawn care company.
Core for one company is critical at another.
Critical at one company is core for another.
The focused CEO cares about core. Because core is what the customer values, it is of first importance. ‘Critical’ is an unfocused blur of support units.
Outside Consultants
My project team was a majority of outsourced talent and these consultants were then doing their own outsourcing. Seamlessly (to me), the consulting firms were sub-sub-contracting downstream to the Indian sub-continent. Or Kansas? I didn’t know.
And it didn’t matter. The service was Fast, High Quality and Less Expensive.
I majored in the minors and minored in the majors worrying about issues that would not affect what the customer needed.
I stopped my madness. I was getting my core needs met. The customers were delighted. The consultants and all those non-core, critical tasks were getting done in other time zones.
I didn’t need to micromanage and over-control competent staff. I didn’t need to be everywhere and to do everything. My team and the various consultants were able to get my project done on time and on budget. Which was more than this amateur deserved.
Outsource Photo via Shutterstock
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When outsourcing, just make sure you’ve clearly communicated goals and any stipulations. Then let them do what they do best.
Robert, you are exactly right: managing an outsourced vendor is a challenging as managing any remote office/employees.
It requires non-stop, over-communication — see: http://www.yoest.com/2016/02/29/november-6-does-working-apart-really-work-management-by-the-book-365-daily-bible-verse-one-minute-management-lessons-for-the-busy-faithful/
Cheers,
Jack
If a company is having a lot of success, the managers are doing a superior job of assigning the right roles to the right people. Typically, if a company is successful, the employees are happy, and the customers are satisfied. If a manager tries to control too many aspects of the situation, they lose sight of their goal: to run a successful business that generates profit. I believe that managers do this because they feel that their way is the right way or won’t be done right if they don’t do it themselves. I like to live by (and hope to carry on as a manager) trust but verify. Trust that your employees (or outsourcing) are doing their job correctly. Then, take extra steps (if necessary) to ensure that it was done correctly. This alleviates the “need” to micromanage but also provides that the job is done correctly. It is essential that a manager learns how to delegate tasks to others and also utilize others’ creativity and ideas. The mindset of “it’s my way or the high way” will not allow your company to grow, as well as other hard-working individuals.
I like the part that talked about the non core of the business being outsourced. This is good for the economy because there is more money being circulated and the velocity of money is greater. It changes hands faster and gives many people the chance to make money and a difference. Outsourcing can benefit all people. It benefits the parent company because it can be more cost efficient and it benefits the smaller companies by creating jobs and creating more work. It also stimulates the the world economy because some big companies outsource to foreign countries. Also, it takes the monopoly from companies by having more people involved in the process and more small business.
One of the things I learned about running a business is that you cannot really control everything. You just have to let some things go and learn to trust your employees every once in a while.
Aira, you are so right, as race car drive Mario Andretti say, “If you are under control, you’re not driving fast enough…”
Management is defined by taking calculated risks and making decisions: see http://www.yoest.com/2016/02/29/november-3-women-in-management-fear-not-the-uncertain-breaks-management-by-the-book-365-daily-bible-verse-one-minute-management-lessons-for-the-busy-faithful/
Good Point,
Jack
I really enjoyed how this article speaks on doing what you are passionate about, and making it its own thing and how outsourcing can help you to do so. If your passion were lawn care it would make absolutely no sense to work out of an accounting firm. Out sourcing can be a great thing and can provide some advantages as far as different people to work wit whom have different ideals. As the title states offshoring can sometimes come about when outsourcing. The offshoring may occur to help you find a different location to be more successful as a company, due to more work being done during different time zones. Outsourcing can often help smaller startup companies to flourish.
Sarah, good point — when the personal passion matches the core of the business, the staffer will find that all of the staff in the business share that same passion.
The Alert small business owner looks for that shared interest.
Well done,
Jack
I enjoyed reading about following your passion. If you do what you are passionate about, it will show in your work. Working in your passion will make your work a central aspect of your life, and you will flourish. It is also important to try to work within the center, core of a business. Working with your passion will allow you to to do this. If you are passionate about what you do, then getting to the core of a business will be easier to achieve.
VP, I like your phrasing: work at the ‘center’ of an organization.
And you will be centered…
Well Said,
Jack
Micromanaging can often lead to delays and focusing on trivial matters. It’s important to understand that everyone has their own responsibilities and duties. Especially for employees working in the non-core areas of the business, the manager should focus more on their productivity and efficiency rather than their personal dedication to the company. As long as they are achieving what is being asked of them, the manager should let them be. Then, the manager will have more time to do his own job and focus on the core parts of the business.
I think that it is very important for businesses to focus on what consumers value. This is because if a product or service is not perceived as valuable to a certain degree to the consumer, then he or she will not purchase or spend his or her money on it. In order to effectively focus on consumer values, one should be most concerned with the core of business. All other parts of a business that are not the core are “critical components” and should not be considered to the same extent as the core. Outsourcing can be an effective practice because it allows a small business to obtain a lot of outside talent.
“Critical functions support the core.”
This statement especially resonated with me, when considering the relationship management aspect of business. It does not matter what area of business you practice, your success is dependent on the relationships fostered between peers, as well as a company’s relationships with it’s customers. If a company is having a lot of success, that means the managers are doing a superior job of assigning the right roles to the right people. Typically, if a company is successful, that means the employees are happy and the customers are happy. If a manager tries to control too many aspects of the situation, they lose sight of their goal: to run a successful business that generates profit. If managers are able to manage the relationships they have with their employees, and place their faith in their abilities, that will translate throughout the company down to the consumer.
I think and agree with the article that it is crucial for a business to focus on what is important and the “core” part of their business. I think that many times businesses try to have a part in every single department and over exert themselves. They then begin to lose focus on the core parts of their business and as a result the core can be lost and consequently customers could also be lost. By outsourcing you can easily avoid this detrimental problem because it allows outside people to take care of non-essential and non-core parts of your business. As a result you can maintain happy customers and a healthy business by having the ability to focus on core activities.
This article highlights the importance of prioritizing the core of a business. At the end, the writer states that “I didn’t need to be everywhere and to do everything.” As the owner of a small business, one must focus on what the customer gets out of the business. These are the core functions, and it is easy to focus on the wrong priorities. A core business should have highly efficient employees that feel strongly about the mission and greater food of the company. They should perform well and keep moral values. On the other hand, sometimes owners of a business waste time unknowingly by trying to control every part of the company instead of focusing on the core.
I thought this article was very interesting and informative. I found it very interesting and useful when you advised students to work with the “core” of the company. You can determine what the core of the company is figuring out what the customer walks away with. If you want to be a critical member of the company, you must work in the core in the company to secure your position. This makes complete sense, and it is great advice to take away when looking for jobs. You want to work in a company where you interests highlight the company’s main goal.
I think this article proves such a great point, that no matter our title, we cannot do everything. In business it is easy to get caught up trying to do everything yourself. Most especially because most business men and women tend to have alpha personalities. However, there are certain jobs that we were not cut out to handle. In order to free up staff to complete the work they were cut out for we need to cut down on workload in the office and outsource. There are so many advantages to outsourcing jobs that are not a part your company’s area of interest. It will free up time, money and stress.
Micromanaging is never a good thing to do in a company. As a manager they should be more focussed on different things, instead of trying to tell everyone what to do and how to do it constantly. They should let the non-core part of the business employees be because this will allow them to work more efficiently. By doing this the manager will be able to focus more on what he needs to do and focus on the core parts of the business.
This article brings up the very important concept of separating core and critical aspects of a business. While all aspects of a business are important, the core parts of the business are where the consumers’ values are met. Therefore, the business manager should focus his or her full attention on these core parts. The critical aspects of a business are often better off and more efficient when they are outsourced. This is due to the fact that by outsourcing, these critical parts are getting done faster and cheaper while still being of good quality. Overall, separating core and critical aspects of a business can be extremely beneficial and will allow managers to direct their focus on what the customer walks away with, as opposed to worrying about micromanaging every component of the business.
“If your passion is lawn care service then create a landscape business. Do not lead a grounds maintenance operation at an accounting firm.” This statement summarizes this whole article. Focusing on the core of your company is clearly the most efficient way to get your company to flourish and by outsourcing you allow yourself to focus on the core. Leading a grounds maintenance operation at an accounting firm you are not accomplishing anything. When you focus on the core and stop dealing with unnecessary projects you will soon realize the customers become more satisfied because the core of your company is what the customers actually value.
I agree that outsourcing anything that does not support the core of your company, is essential for any small business. Your staff should only focus on what adds value to your product or service. Administrative functions should be outsourced so that you have more time to focus on improving your business. I think what Koch notes is important, “…keep reviewing whether you are spending more time and effort on the vital few rather than the trivial many.” By keeping all non-core operations in house, it is keeping management from spending time on the core of the business. The non-core parts of your business should be delegated to outside companies so that you can focus on the core of your business.
Customer value and satisfaction are key in order to succeed in marketing. The customer may not always be right but you better make sure that they’re happy if you want to do well. Core values seem to be the most useful in realizing customer value because when you stay true to your roots your customer will always be able to rely on the product you are trying to sell and once they trust you they will come back for more. You’ll have them hooked on your product once they notice that it is valuable to them not just valuable in general and that’s when the customer will be satisfied.
I think that what is most important in business is ensuring your customers needs are met in a timely and efficient manner. If you are doing so in an ethical way, it does not matter through what channel you are achieving this. The customer will appreciate that you are meeting your needs. I think, like you mentioned, new managers are often uneasy delegating tasks to someone outside of their sphere of influence. But, delegation allows you to focus on the important aspects of a business that need your attention. Then, someone else can worry about the smaller things. Delegation is key to the success of any business person.
I agree that outsourcing can be more efficient and effective for a company. It can possibly free up time for a company to focus on more important aspects that the customers really care about. What the customer values is crucial and their feedback is also essential to creating a better business. The CEO of a company has to be focused on that and should delegate people beneath him to worry about less significant areas of the business. Being a CEO of a company can obviously be stressful as you can not be everywhere at once. As long as outsourcing does not hinder the integrity of a company or their “brand name”, then it is a wise choice.
“Because core is what the customer values” I would have to agree with this statement. Core values and customer satisfaction come hand in hand. Core values define the success of a company. They also shape the identity of the business. The focus of business determines the type of clientele that is attracted. For instance, Nike’s core value is to strengthen, inspire and challenge people. This idea motivates not only people within the company but also buyers. With this core value, company employees will be eager to create market strategies and customers will be excited to purchase workout clothes and equipment to get in shape.
This is a very interesting read! There were a few things that stood out to me as particularly interesting. But the main thing was to read that Prof Yoest had said “I wanted control-control-control of everything, everywhere” and “I was, of course, an amateur manager. And insecure.” This was something that surprise me as I always felt that managers know what they were doing (or at least look like they do), especially Prof Yoest after being a student in his classroom, but after studying a leadership class this semester I have come to learn otherwise. What I have learnt though is that you don’t need to be control of absolutely everything. It is vital to trust your staff and their actions, as Prof Yoest mentioned in class “the manager is there to make decisions”.
Running a small business can be very challenging. You not only have to satisfy the customer, but you have to satisfy your team of employees. If you can build a trust in your employees, that can help you to focus on satisfying the customer. When people want to work for you, they are going to come to work happy, therefor working harder. As the owner, you should never stop until your customer is satisfied. At the end of the day, they are the ones paying you and possibly writing a review on your company.
This article touched on a few different important aspects when dealing with your business and outsourcing. In the beginning of the reading it touched on knowing what deserves more time and what deserves less so you aren’t wasting your time. One of the ways to not waste time is to out-source so you can get professionals to get the job properly and in a more efficient manner rather than to struggle trying to do it yourself.(like the guard example used above). Outsourcing makes life easier on a manager if the job is communicated properly and effectively to the outsourced business or partner. It also frees up more time for the manager to focus more specifically on his core business rather than the outside components of the business which is very effective.
The article expounds on the need to focus on the core things in a business for the sake of effectiveness both in production and cost. Customer value have been said to be among the priorities on should pay attention on in order to achieve a smooth progress of the business. Admittedly, one has to know the fundamental issues of the business and should operate them in their respective places. One should not mix the cores of business since they won’t work at all. The article also touched on the relationship between the workers at the workplace. Every means has to be applied to make sure there is a healthy relation and not quarreling like we see in the article. Lastly, businesses should aim at producing quality products and satisfying the customers at a minimum cost possible.
Having to run your own small business must be a hard thing to do, but through outsourcing the little things that could slow you down will be taken care of. As stated in the article outsourcing can allow a business owner to figure out which particular tasks need to be done and to pick the right people to do it. This puts your business in a almost decentralized organization where you allow other people to handle different tasks throughout the organization and report back to the owner. This allows the owner to focus on what he needs to get done rather than other tasks that he could easily appoint someone to do. Through outsourcing you provide the business owner with the most important aspect and thats time, the more time an owner has the more production will get done and with more production comes more revenue.
Professor Yoest, I commend you for taking the humble approach and becoming an outsourcer’s apprentice. In doing so, you learned that in order to achieve organizational goals, you need to outsource and make your actions in the company mean something. Make sure they serve some purpose. The core of the business should be critical for the business, and vise versa; if it isn’t, then you’re probably in the wrong business. The idea is to focus on what the consumer values that is what is critical for a company’s success. Simply stated, “critical functions support the core.”
From reading your article, and having conversations with managers myself, I have come to realize that one of the most detrimental mistakes a manager can make is micro managing. I believe that managers do this because they feel that their way is the right way, or that if they don’t do it themselves, it won’t be done right. Something I like to live by (and hope to carry on as a manager) is trust but verify. Trust that your employees (or outsourcing) is doing their job correctly. Then, take extra steps (if necessary) to ensure that it was done correctly. This alleviates the “need” to micromanage, but also ensures that the job is done correctly. It is important that a manager learns how to delegate tasks to others, and also utilize other’s creativity and ideas. The mindset of “it’s my way or the high way” will not allow your company to grow, as well as other hard working individuals. By outsourcing and delegating, a manager can then focus on the core of the company: customer satisfaction. At the end of the day, if the customer isn’t happy, then your company will fail. Focusing on the core values, delegating, and outsourcing is a necessary foundation in a successful company.
Renee, remember-managers micromanage because they are nervous because:
1) they don’t know what they are doing, or
2) the staffer doesn’t what he’s doing.
Best,
Jack
Having the ability to own your own business is something that not a lot of people get to have and if you do own your own business, it demands a lot of responsibilities too. As the boss of your own company, you have to worry about the big things that matter, like for example being able to make sure that your product of what you are trying to sell is at the best is can be and not having to worry about the little things like that people that work for you and the things that they do. I mean yes, you should worry about the people that work for you but really to a prefect extent, because if they person is causing a small problem in the office space and that worker is not doing what they are asked to help sell this product to the customers, than the managers of the branch or office can take care of that instead of you. With that being said, you do not want someone working for you that does not know what they are doing, because if they do not know what they are doing, than they are going to hurt you and your product in expanding it and making it a product that everyone will want to buy. So by outsourcing, just make clear goals that you want to be accomplished and let the workers do their best, but if they do not do their best and do not understand what to do like I said before than you might have to let them go.
Andrew, and let’s remember the other challenge of the Small Business Owner: Making Payroll.
Best,
Jack
Outsourcing sometimes receives a bad rep in the business world. However, it is honestly efficient, cost-effective, and popular. In the efficiency aspect, instead of the primary company depleting all of its resources and manpower to produce various parts for its final product, it will delegate these various tasks to other companies who specialize in the creation of these parts. By doing this, they company is saving precious time and resources. In the cost-effective aspect, by using their own man power and resources, their total costs will increase; however, by delegating certain tasks to other companies (yes some foreign companies as well) who charge at a low rate, the total costs of the final product will be very reasonable. In the popular aspect, it is simple countless companies outsource work to other companies. They see the beneficial side of the lower costs and the higher efficiency rates, additionally, they are providing business to the other companies. These other companies are able to profit off of being delegated assignments from another company. Anita Campbell hit it right on the head when she stated her three reasons to outsource: “It frees up time and resources to focus more on your core business. It gives you access to more technology and expertise to perform payroll well. It reduces costs and risks.”
Tim, well said — The entire planet is a resource to compete for projects.
See: https://twitter.com/JackYoest/status/756172588007784448
Cheers,
Jack
I am a manager at my summer job and what I hate most about managing is when other managers are also working, but not managing. If I’m managing, and another manager is on to serve, for example, it starts to be a case of too many chiefs and not enough indians. I’m not saying I’m the worlds greatest manager, however, I don’t need somebody to walk by my side and coach me on what to do. Especially when there are other jobs to be done! If somebody is taking time away from their very busy job to make sure I’m doing things correctly, there are holes in the system. Things are probably most likely getting forgotten about- usually the little things. And when the little things aren’t being tended to, the big picture goes askew. And then that usually comes back on me with little repercussion for the micromanaging co-worker. The same goes for a bigger business. When there are 100 chiefs, managers, whatever you want to call them, working at once to try and achieve the same goal of being the top dog, the littler tasks get left for dead. When the little tasks get forgotten about, a domino effect transpires and eventually can effect the reputation of the company. Everyone has a job to do somewhere to make a company run smoothly, otherwise they wouldn’t have been hired.
Zoe, your experience points us to a another fact: Most service jobs cannot be outsourced — food service, auto mechanic, surgery, brick layer and most marketing innovation.
Cheers,
Jack
Outsourcing, given the current political climate, brings thoughts of less domestic jobs – which to an extent is true. When companies outsource work or even their entire manufacturing process, those are lost opportunities for American workers. Although not all outsourcing is overseas, the reality is outsourcing is cheaper. I do think that maybe less outsourcing would take place overseas if there were more businesses in the country that specialized in “critical components.” Basically, whenever a business spots a need for outsourcing, that creates business opportunity for someone else that is able to provide that service.
Ryan, outsourcing may be cheaper — but it also conserves that most scarce resource — management time and attention and talented staffers.
Well done,
Jack
This post is really helpful because it displays two of the most important leadership qualities. First of which is the ability to communicate. The companies that are being outsourced with need to know exactly what you want to have done and exactly how they should do it. The second thing is trust as a manager it is important to trust the people you have working under you, until they give you a legitimate reason not to. The important thing is to trust in the people you have placed on your staff and make it clear what needs to get done.
Bill, organizations work best on trust — it reduces ‘transaction costs’ — but trust must still be ‘earned.’
Cheers,
Jack
I found this article especially interesting because micro-management has come up often at my summer internship. My manager is very hands-off. He’s there for me if I have questions, but he doesn’t like to breathe down my ask or ask how my works coming every hour on the hour. Last summer, I had a super micro-manager and the biggest difference I’ve noticed between last summer and this summer is my stress level. With a micro-manager, your stress goes through the roof and I don’t put out the best quality of work. If I have room to breathe, maybe get a bit creative, I tend to output better quality work. I feel like my employer trusts me. Because of this, I am more confident in my work (which makes me put out better work) and I am fiercely loyal to my manager. I am incredibly grateful for the chances he gives me and the trust he puts in me, so in return he’s earned my best work and my loyalty. Every company should be customer satisfaction focused. In order to satisfy customers, employees need to give them a pleasant experience. By treating employees well, trusting them, and giving them room to grow, they will put their best effort and work forward, leading to greater customer satisfaction. It’s all connected in the end.
Michelle, there is no hyphen in ‘micromanagement…’
I would insert a smiley face emoticon here if I were a few decades younger.
A well written comment.
Cheers,
Jack
I agree that outsourcing non core tasks is a great way to increase focus and production in a company. If people aren’t distracted by all of the things that don’t matter to their customers then they will be able to focus all of their time into things that do matter to the customer. Outsourcing also reflects strong leadership. The best way to get the most out of your employees is to trust them and not micromanage their work. Giving up that kind of control is something that most managers struggle greatly with. However, once you let your employees do what they do best work gets done faster, people get more focused and company moral increases. Not to mention the serious reduction of stress on the manager.
Daniel, good points — and ‘outsource’ only means outside the company — it doesn’t necessarily mean outside the continental United States (CONUS).
Best,
Jack
Basically, if I decided to run some type of company, let’s say making watches. I should only focus on making watches and outsource the advertising and sales to others? Or should I keep those aspects still a part of the watch making business? I also have no plans to go into watch making.
JT, I can certainly advise you about a business you have no plans to go into…
Because there are some universal truths across the small business universe.
Marketing and innovation are the two categories that companies should be slow to outsource to another company. And these are what Peter Drucker said USA does best.
International companies might be the exception to keeping advertising in-house. McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It” was developed in China. See http://www.yoest.com/2006/03/23/chinas_new_statue_for_brotherh/
Cheers,
Jack
I completely agree that you should want to work or be involved in the core of a business. If you’re studying auditing or banking then obviously you want to be working for investment firm or auditing firm. I mean, thats the point of going to school right? We pay for an education to learn how to operate in these industries. We expect that once we graduate we’d be working for a company in a position that we’ve been studying for 4 years. I agree that large corporations shouldn’t waste time with industries that aren’t their core focus. This allows them to focus on their main service or product while receiving cheap expert services from other companies. This allows companies to focus on a select few objectives. They are focused on their job and don’t have to worry about all the excess side work that in the end, just distracts them from the main goal. Great article.
It is important to focus on the core, while also ensuring that criticial tasks can be properly carried out. The story of Jack Welch outsourcing the critical but non-core tasks is one that carries a lesson applicable to everything we do. In fact separation of labor defines the success of society since we started habituating cities; moving from cottage style production to assembly line and beyond. The military has many bases with residential quarters, landscaping needs, office needs, facilities management etc., but the core of their ‘business’ is to protect and defend. So why would they assign soldiers trained to battle in war to mow the lawn? It may be critical that the lawn is maintained but it is not their core, so they outsource to a company that landscapes as its core. In the end both companies gain productivity, soldiers are no longer siphoned off the battlefield fulfilling duties that are irrelevant to the core. But at the same time it is necessary to identify those roles that are critical, because if those are not fulfilled the company will be unable to fulfill its core. The lesson is clear, focus on your core while ensuring all things critical are executed; aligning tasks so all tasks are fulfilled by people who consider that specific task their core. Focus, focus, focus.
Outsourcing
I believe that outsourcing certain things in a company isn’t always less risky. You can ruin your brand name and take on huge risk by outsourcing by not really knowing certainty or having control behind the results of that outsourcing. And to outsource so much takes a lot of trust and relationship in the companies you are outsourcing to.
“I didn’t need to micromanage and over-control competent staff.”
This statement points out key a key aspect in having a successful business. Having a completely “competent” staff is imperative for all aspects of the business. Even if one team member is less than competent, it can ruin the entire flow of business, just as one bad apple ruins the bunch. If one team member is failing to do their job, then another is left to pick up their slack which in turn risks that person’s own work being compromised. Also, micromanaging can lead to a very unsuccessful business. The business owner cannot be everywhere at one time, nor can they do all that needs to be done and still run the business successfully. A “team” that works efficiently together is a must.
The biggest advantage to a small business is the close relationship the business can make with its consumers. This creates an absolute necessity for small business to have a strong core because humans themselves have strong core values and the benefit to a small business is the human interaction. Often people will hear of big businesses and think of computers handling all the business transactions and a general lack of care for the customer. With small businesses, customers feel valued with the attention they receive and will come back to get the same affirmation. By developing a company core, a small business will develop more of a human attraction to the consumer and will enable customers to come and enjoy the human interaction perks of a small business. Without a core, a small business will seem like a fickle person that does not have a dedication to its customers. Once a core is established, customers identify with the business and feel at home using its value. In order to increase customers, it is imperative that small business develop a strong core that will withstand an increase in customers because more people will be attracted to the business once it has a strong core.
There are many qualities that a manager must possess, one of those is passion for what he or she is doing. Having this passion makes the manager more determined to ensure the product or service is the best it can be. One responsibility managers have is to make sure their employees are performing according to the standards to accomplish the goal of the product or service. However, its equally as important for the manager to understand when to draw the line. The manager should be confident that he or she hired the right employees for the job. When hiring employees, the manager should scrutinize the benefits and costs of hiring an employee; there should therefore be less scrutiny when it comes to the employees work, allowing the manager more time to address other issues/aspects. A good manager should have the passion that gives the desire to examine the employees so closely, but also the prudence and fortitude to know that he can allow these employees to do their best work.
Before reading this article I pictured each part of a business working towards benefitting the core project and bringing each piece of the core to the project as a whole. I never considered that a ‘core for one company is a critical for another’ and vise versa until after reading this. It would make sense to split your company into core workers and critical workers to finish a project as quickly and efficiently as possible. It’s almost as if you are assigning a smaller piece of the project to a critical worker, but to them, that smaller project becomes their core project. I think outsourcing to consultants can provide a sense of urgency and diligence for those outside consultants because the job they are assigned becomes their top priority that they can focus on. As long as you, as the project manager, distinguish exactly what you are looking for from the outsiders and they stay on schedule, it should lead to a successful project as a whole.
I have seen many people struggle to be their best, and perform at a prime due to worrying about the small things in a project or even company. As a manager these details should not be his or her worry but those of the person working on it. The idea that a company should only focus on their core is important if success is pictured in the future. No person or company can create success if they allow small unimportant tasks or hiccups to accumulate and get in the way. I am for outsourcing these tasks but to a degree. Nowadays many people outsource in an unethical manner paying people overseas the smallest amount possible. Not only this, but living situations and work environments are not always kept up to standards. But as a general idea it can benefit large and small company’s in the long run to promote the creation and presentation of their best product.
I agree that micromanaging a company is not the best way to manage one. This article shows the benefits from outsourcing when it comes to tasks that are not part of your companies core work. By outsourcing you will save the company time, money and become more productive overall because now the company can direct all focus to their core work and not worry about the little stuff that can be outsourced to other companies who specialize in that field. Such as the payroll of a company. However I also agree with one of the other comments that outsourcing to the wrong company could backfire and make your company look bad. Thats why when outsourcing you must know what other companies your are dealing with.
I think that this point is important for every person of authority to understand. Although, we are raised believing that if you want something done right, then you should do it yourself, there are times where we need to take a step back and let others take on some of the workload. It becomes difficult to do so when you want to ensure something is done correctly and up to your standards, but once you step back and realize how much easier it has made your life to not micromanage, you become comfortable with letting other people carry out important jobs.
Outside opinions are sometimes the best opinions. The people who are advising you do not have a reason to hold back any information or thoughts. This is the best constructive criticism, but could also be what tears the group about. You need someone who finds the medium between the two extremes, to get a point across without being too critical. Outsourcing also takes some pressure off those on the job daily. There is no problem with outsourcing it just needs to be constructive and allow the project to move forward smoothly and with no added issues.
I particularly enjoyed the phrasing of Majoring in what’s Minor and Minoring in what’s Major. this line caught my attention immediately and connected with me. I believe, agree with the article, that it is imperative to match your passions and skill sets with a business that aligns preferably with you. By finding a business whose core mirrors my own passions, I can enter into a business relation that booth helps me grow in the business, and as a businessman and I can actively help that business grow stronger.
I enjoyed reading this article. I find it especially informative and true when it brings to light the importance of recognizing the core of a business or company. It is easy to get carried away or want to focus on many aspects of a business. But sometimes it’s better to focus in on the major core objectives and goals in order to fully flourish and deliver to customer needs. In addition to recognizing core objectives and goals, it is also important to have core employees and core business ethics within a company. With this, employees become highly efficient and are passionate about the mission and cause. Improved moral values and practices will rise within a core business as well. Although it is easy to want to control every aspect of every person or thing, it is more efficient and effective to focus on the core.
Doing everything on your own might seem like a great idea for a small business owner, especially one who may feel like they need to control everything in order to reach success for their business. However, this article does a great job of suggesting outsourcing and then talking about all the positives it provides for businesses, especially those that are on the smaller side. Outsourcing may take some of the control off the small business owner but it also allows for the owner to spend more time working on different ways the company may be able to thrive. They will have less of the busy work to do to keep the company successful and more time to explore and see all the new markets and areas that the business would be able to thrive in.
Having a passion for what you do is important and it showing in your work. If you are passionate in what you do, you will want to get to the core of a business. With being passionate, you have to make sure you are not too controlling. You have to listen to other people and focus your attention on other parts of the company. The core part is the one in which the customer gets away with something and where you want the best people. Outsourcing can be a great way to keep customers and get new ones. Especially outsourcing that makes it fast, easy, and cheap.
It is an advantage to a small business to have close relationships with their consumers. It is a more intimate situation as customers feel valued. However, in saying this it is important to correctly run the business. Although it is enticing to do things yourself (especially in a small business), it is important to take a step back and let others take control in certain aspects. If you want everything to be done correctly you can’t do everything. It will become too much and things may not be completed or done the best they could be. It is better to let those who are in control of their work, be in control.
This article brings up many interesting points. The point that I found most interesting was when the article mentions “Core for one company is critical for another” and “Critical at one company is core for another”. The point being made is that the customer values the core and a good CEO should do the same. It is important not to mix what is core and what is critical for a company. Focusing on what the business does and always trying to improve will separate a good CEO from a bad one. When a business cares about its core it will lead to customer satisfaction, which then leads to success for the company.
Delegating responsibilities is something that many leaders struggle with. The thought of someone else being in control of any aspect of a company or service that you consider to be your “baby” is difficult. You do not want them to mess up because it isn’t just an error on their part, it reflects the entire team and corporation. Nevertheless, delegating certain tasks and outsourcing them from your company is important for efficiency. If your company is spending hours doing something that can be handled by an outsider at a reasonable cost, it is sensible to “outsource” it. This gives your company and employees more time to focus on the internal aspects of the business itself in order to meet the wants and desires of the customers. “Happy wife, happy life” is similar in businesses seeing that so long as the customer is satisfied and continues to come back, the business can “make it work.” It wouldn’t be possible to give your customers 100% if certain tasks are not delegated which is why this practice of outsourcing is so essential to the success of any corporation.
I believe that it is crucial for a business to focus on the “core” parts of the business because those are generally most important to the main functions. I think that leaders usually have a hard time delegating power to others because they want to have more control over every department and aspect of the business. But once they do learn to delegate, I think they will find that their company will run more smoothly. It will allow the internal workers to focus in on the core elements and the external workers to focus on the less direct aspects of the business. Outsourcing will allow for this smooth flow of work and also allow each group, whether internal or external, to do their specific job. With that, all the customers will remain happy and the business will be healthier because each job is delegated to the appropriate group.
Finding the core values of your company is a difficult thing today especially when you company is expanding. I liked when you said you were majoring in minor things and minoring in major things, this shows that when running your own business, you really need to know what to focus on in order to be successful. You need to make sure you are giving the customer what they want and do it to the best of your ability.
I believe that outside consulting is a good thing because they won’t be afraid to challenge what you have say and try and bring in different ideas.
It is important for businesses to comply with what is considered core for them and with what is considered critical for them. Businesses must take care of what it is critical for them because that is what will most likely be the most important components when operating. However, they must be in compliance with their core as well, which can be challenging when businesses face adverse or questionable situations and dilemmas. When a company is seen operating according to its core and meeting its critical needs, it portrays a healthy and strong image for outsiders and especially current/potential consumers. Outside consulting can also be a great and beneficial option for businesses as it allows another opportunity for open-mindedness that might have not been discovered prior to a business considering outside consulting.
In this article I realized that going off shore could be very beneficial by saving time and energy. I learned that it is okay to ask for help or get assistance from outsiders. Outsourcing can be beneficial because it can allow you to focus on more important parts of the company as far as expanding and promoting the company. Furthermore, outsourcing can be a big help in reducing risk because when you outsource you can pick a person or a firm that you trust to do all the tedious work and do it right. Sometimes when we have too much going on this can leave a lot of room for mistake and this is why outsourcing is useful.
This article gave me great insight on how a successful manager works and manages his team. I agree that it can be very difficult wanting to micro manage and control everything and everyone. However, by doing this, it will not help the company become the greatest that it can be. It is important to stick to the core of your business and focus on what is very important to the company. Non-core values can be delegated to other companies so that your company, as a manager, is focused on the core values. The best success is when everyone works for the core of the business. I liked when Professor Yoest said, “that the core of the business is what customers remember when leaving a small business.” It is very important to stick with what you know best and be great at it.
Outsourcing can be a loss of control, and a test of trust, because outsourcing also can give company information and responsibility to people outside the core team, and for a small business it is important to have facets of control, particularly concerning financials. That being said, outsourcing actually helps support small business because for each outsourcing, another company’s core job is being performed and met.
Sifting through countless, time-sensitive projects can often be more challenging than completing the task itself. As a Captain in the Army, you may have not adjusted to the civilian world just yet. I am almost certain you, as an officer, were challenged with ensuring all assignments go as planned, making you “The Old Man in Charge”. It seems as though in the civilian world, not all details are as important as the most important ones. Aside from the different past experience you may have had from your coworkers, everyone can benefit from learning to administer to the immediate needs.
I found this article to be inspiring to find what job I am really passionate about. It is wrong to settle for anything less in life. Your job is a big part of who you are. You want your job to reflect the kind of person you are, and help you to grow in your life. I have gotten something out of every job I have done whether it be working in a restaurant or babysitting a child. These jobs do not reflect what I am passionate about, but they will lead me to figure out what makes me happiest in life and choose my career based off of that.
For owners of small businesses, sharing control may seem like a ridiculous and intimidating task. Maintaing complete control may seem like a favorable choice to managers, but sharing the wealth of the control will benefit the company and business in the long run because it emphasizes the importance of teamwork. This is why outsourcing is an important aspect of business. Obviously the company’s core values are the pinnacle of importance for mangers and if the core values gain the most attention by the company, then the company will experience great success in the long run.
In many ways outsourcing means losing control, but an outside opinion is not always a bad thing. It can bring on a new perspective and save the company money. Outsourcing also allows the company to focus on things that are more important. The saying if you want something done right do it yourself does not always apply, it is not a bad thing to ask for different opinions.
I found this article to be really informative. Especially now, where outside consultants are popping up everywhere. Especially true in DC, where an entire neighborhood of offices is dedicated to the different consulting companies. So when managing a team that works with outside consultants, a manager can be welcomed by many different problems fully internal teams do not have. Focusing on the Core of the company is crucial. Once you understand the core, everything else comes fairly easily. Understand the mission, the leading departments, and the market of the company. Once you find that, you can then delegate to different teams or outside consultants or contractual employees. By delegating, you free up resources and put people with certain strengths in a position where their strengths are relied on. Nobody likes a micro-manager. Like Prof. Yoest said in a comment, micro-managing only happens when the manager or those under a manager don’t know what they are doing. So delegate, eliminate the waste, and focus on getting the jobs done.
Having a clear set of core values is extremely important for a company. The values allow managers to measure their team members and see if their work meets the standards set in the core values. If a company does not have a clear set of core values, the management will have a more difficult time measuring their team members performance. In general, management should strive for their team members’ work to match the standards and expectations set in the core values.
I think that this article shows a great point, we are always faced with tasks and often times we have too many to handle. No matter what our title is, we must remember that we can’t do everything. Especially when one is newly hired at a job, they tend to say yes to their boss in hopes of impressing them. But that can actually hurt them, instead it is important to show your boss that you have boundaries. It is important that we understand that we cannot accomplish every task and even we need to know that we aren’t cut out for every task. In turn, it is also important that bosses know that we can’t do everything and that using outsourcing maybe a better idea.
The images that come to mind are commercials during football games, promoting American made trucks and products. Though highly criticized, outsourcing has become increasing popular and cost efficient. Companies are able to delegate services and save time, resources, and money. Managers who feel the need to micromanage every detail will lose time that could have been used to increase the company’s value. Using “in-house” employees increases costs due to salaries, bonuses, and benefits. Outsourcing lessens the cost dramatically; companies involved function using cheap labor. Customer value is at the forefront of outsourcing. The manager’s goal is to maximize value for the customer and provide a better product served at a faster speed.
A good leader knows he cannot do everything. Yo9u must understand what is in your realm of responsibility, and what is not. These things that you are not supposed to do, you must be able to delegate to others that can get it done well. There is no point in over stressing yourself with every little detail. You are in charge of people that have those little details as their only focus. You are taking away their work by trying to do it yourself. Things will get done faster and more efficiently if a leader of a company is able to delegate tasks to the people that will best get it done.
I really like the concept of this article. It’s good for a business owner to ask themselves, “What is at the core of my business?”, and “What aspects of my business should I have direct control over, and what aspects should I outsource to other companies?” There’s nothing wrong with business leaders hiring a consultant to help them answer these important questions. The non-essential, outlying aspects of a business should be handled by outside organizations. For example, a bakery, owned and operated by bakers, should have someone else do the accounting work. It is essential for business owners to outsource work to other businesses that align with the company’s core values, and who want to see the company continue to grow. Businesses who outsource part of their work to another company should also develop relational bonds with the company helping them out. Additionally, a business that outsources should ensure that the companies assisting it are not engaging in corrupt, unethical business practices. Finally, businesses should not outsource to another business simply because that business offers the most competitive price for its consultants. Price is one of many factors that should be taken into account when considering outsourcing work. When a business outsources the exterior part of its business endeavors to another business, it enables itself to engage in what it set out to do in the first place.
In my experience working with Startups and Entrepreneurs, they have all had one truth that they repeat again and again– “your product does not matter if you have a bad team.” This is true for starting a company as well as gathering a group for a project, your group should be filled with people who are all capable of doing their own specific duties very well, and able to communicate effectively to make sure all the different parts are done. As a manager, you let go of the smaller specifics within the project– if you have efficient people on these specifics, they will achieve their specific goals better without you and get them done up to code. As a manager, your job is mostly to make sure everyone is communicated to and knows what their task is.
This article does a great job stating the benefits of outsourcing. Although some business owners like having control of all matters of their business, this shows great reasons why outsourcing is helpful and useful. It provides more free time to focus on the core business and to better certain areas that are lacking. It also reduces costs and risks, which would be a great thing for any company. Outsourcing can be super efficient, making things faster, easier and creating a better profit. Ths article does a great job focusing on the benefits of outsourcing and giving supporting details of its efficiency.
When running a small business it is important not to micromanage. As a manager or an owner it is your job to focus on the core of your business and then allocate jobs to trusted members of the company in order to keep things in order. If a manager believes he has to be in control at all times, he needs to reevaluate who he has working for him. Consultants and other outsources can give helpful information to the company about things they might not be seeing on a day to day basis within the company. I believe that with a strong manager, trusted employees and critical outsources, a small company will be able to run efficiently and effectively.
“The focused CEO cares about core. Because core is what the customer values, it is of first importance.” I think this quote is very important because it highlights exactly what the core of a business is. What the customer values is extremely relevant in business; if your customers aren’t happy, there is no long term business. The core of the business is a reflection of what the customer walks away with. This touches upon the idea of being passionate about what you do. If you are passionate about what you are selling or servicing, you will typically see that in return. Core values play a major role in the success of a business.
Owners of small businesses often have trouble handing control over to outside sources. It is important to ask for help and advice when running a business, because by outsourcing with experienced consultants, the company can benefit greatly. The article mentioned that when searching for a job, it is typically an advantage to work for the core company rather than as an outside source. The manager and CEO pay closer attention to their core employees and tend to promote from within the company. Overall, the owner of the business cannot handle every task on their own, and sometimes asking for help is for the better of the company’s needs.
This article tells the truth in many ways. Specially with the part that says “If your passion is lawn care service then create a landscape business. Do not lead a grounds maintenance operation at an accounting firm.” Not only it applies to what the article talks about, working with the core of the company, but you can also relate it to everyday life. If you analyze this statement what it is telling you is that you always have to focus on the core, instead of going around it or not at all. If you focus on the core, the, you will be successful and there will be no need for micromanaging, which in the long run is not good at all for any small business.
While I can see the benefits of outsourcing non-core aspects of your company to another company, I also see a few problems, at least for a few industries. In the defense industry, there are many things that are starting to be outsourced because companies find it cheaper to do so. Departments such as security, grounds keeping, and others are being outsourced. In many companies this may work out fine, but in an environment where companies have to ensure a certain level of security this can prove to be a serious problem. It requires a trust that takes time to build and will not just come out of the blue. So yes, outsourcing can cut a companies cost and its need to micromanage, but it could also create a whole new set of issues.
What the article says is very true, one must pay a lot of attention to the core of the company. Customers will pay attention on how your company makes decisions and how they work together. The core is what the customer values and is what they walk away with after doing business with you and your company. Focusing on the core of your business will allow you to be successful as well as help you do business with others.
This article was very informative. It is interesting and useful to advise people to work with the core of the company. We can figure out what the core of the company is by figuring out what the customer leaves the company with. A critical member of the company needs to work with the core in the company in order to secure a position. This is great advice to take when engaging in a job search.
I believe that consumer values should be the focus of any good business model. The product or service needs to have a value to the consumer, that makes the consumer step back and say, “I need that”. If the product or service doesn’t have value to the consumer it won’t sell, if the product doesn’t sell that means your profits go down. To effectively implement consumer value as your focus you should definitely be most concerned with the core of your business.
In trying to be a great leader, having a passion for what you’re doing is so important on this journey. Having passion for what you’re doing in a business makes it so much easier to relate, and therefore succeed at the center of this business. Having this passion instills instant confidence in yourself, and being confident is such an important factor in being a leader.
Micromanaging is a mistake that managers can make that has the chance of ruining their businesses. Often times, it is taking away time from getting bigger projects done. Outsourcing also takes away jobs from the local workers. But, it is cheaper and can conserve manager’s time. It also can draw in experienced workers from other locations, which can be beneficial for your business in the long run.
Professor Yoest makes a very interesting point in this article. This is not something I have really thought about before. While all part of a company are very important, it is true that the core of the company is the most important to the CEO. While outsourcing may be kind of tricky, it is true that if you get the best of the best to work that portion of the company, you will succeed. It is so nice for a CEO to not have to worry about things that are not part of the core of their company.
Outsourcing can be a scary thing to many small businesses. Small business usually like to keep things “in shop” and like to have control over everything in their business. But that can lead to micromanaging. I think that a small business must also be comfortable with outsourcing their work to others and trust the others to do the best work they can do. Without this trust, this is when you start seeing the micromanaging and forgetting about the core of their business. There are only so many hours in the day, and managers are only human. If a manager can trust that the work that he/she has outsourced will be done properly, then they can get back to focusing on the core of the business.
I had various personal takeaways from this. The first thing I learned is that in the future, when I am looking for jobs, I need to do my very best to be working for a directly “Core” business and not as mere staff of a “Critical” operations amidst a company. Second, when I am eventually managing a business, I must work hard to find the top notch “Core” companies to sublet my “Critical” operations out to; so I may have full trust in all my operations…even if I know my sublets are subletting further, I will trust them to also sublet to only the best.
This article, like many of the ones we read for Marketing 345, made me think of business in a different way. I now have a solid knowledge of core business and how it is important when looking for a job in the next couple of years. It made me question some companies and my future when it said “f your passion is lawn care service then create a landscape business. Do not lead a grounds maintenance operation at an accounting firm” and it is so true. If you have a passion for something, go for it. Do not do something that you kind of love in a company that kind of captures your dreams.
The CEO of GE Jack Welch once said that if you aren’t the first or second in your industry, you have to get out of it. The best way to get ahead in business is to maximize personal strengths that you have. If you aren’t playing within the arena of your strengths, you are likely to be playing catchup to people who are experts in whatever you are pursuing. By focusing on narrow industries and narrow goals, small businesses are able to best serve their customers by providing the most value that they can. By deciding to go after only one or two particular segments, a business is able to better identify their market and preform a SWOT analysis of their new environment.
This is an interesting article because it touches on a few points. People are not good at everything which leads to my first point, outsourcing. It talks about outsourcing and how it is not good to be in charge of everything. Outsourcing and working with other people help get jobs accomplished better and faster. It is beneficiary to a company because people have their own specialties and a company is not the best at everything. Core values are also needed in a company because they help establish a basis on how to perform. A company is like a machine, if the core performs correctly, then the rest of the machine will follow in place working just as smooth as the core.
The manager to whom i truly gave all my attention for was the one who did not micromanaged me. Employees tend to work more when they are not frustrated by what the manager will say in the next minute. Managers who control too much do not have a good relationships with their employees, and they don’t always get their expected result from them. Employees offer the best of themselves to managers who are nice to them because it is hard to deceive someone who is being nice to you. Being nice does not exclude control over the nice, but it puts everyone opinion and effort together to succeed in the business. Small business managers should empower their employees and work with them for the good of the business.
If a manager spends too much time micro managing those who work for him, he/she will not get what he needs to do, done. A manager’s job is to be in charge and to delegate, give instruction etc. Micromanaging is not part of that job description and there are many problems which it can cause. It can slow things down, can drive a wedge between managers and employees and can cause the manager to under perform. A manager needs to have confidence in his staff and believe that they will do their jobs correctly. A manager should not be hungry for control, rather let it come to him or her.
This article was correct to state that the customer values the core of a business the most. This is because the core of a company has interaction with the customer. If the interaction between the core and the customer is good it will affect the company positively. However, if the interaction is negative it will greatly impact the way the customer feels about the business. That is why it is important to employee the best people to work for the core of the company. They should be educated, respectful, and kind in order to complete tasks in the core. In my own experience I have witnessed more positive business to customer interactions when the employee involved demonstrates these traits. Having a strong core is critical for a business.
I enjoyed reading about following your passions in the business world. I have always believed if you do what your passionate about, it allows for better work and an overall happier life. It is important to work in the center core of a business, and following your passions can allow you to do this. If a person genuinely enjoys what they are doing, he or she will easily get to the core of a business. I liked the quote, “Core for one company is critical for another. Critical at one company is core for another.” If you are passionate about what you do and willing to put in the work, the rewards can be endless.
One take away I have from this article is that “Critical functions support the core.” No matter what type of business you are in, you are a team player. Your success not only depends upon your relationship with your co-workers but it also depends on your relationship with your customers. In order for a business to be successful it must have efficient employees who believe in the mission of the company. When those in position of higher authority micromanage every aspect of the business they lose site of the mission, which in turn makes employees less focused and willing to do their job.
Micromanaging is not a good way to manage a company, it is true what they said in the article: you cannot control everything. As a manager, you must make sure the people you are hiring share your passion about whatever it is that your company is about. They must know the “why,” why it is that you are in this business, and that should be your core and the core should be what drives your company. If they share this passion with you and they are hard workers you should not have to micromanage because you should trust that these people have the best interest of the customers and the company as a whole.
I agree that we should only work in the core of a business. I feel that it is important because you will be contributing to the company, you will influence what the customers walks away with.
Do you think it’s okay to work for the non-core, until you figure out what your passions are? What if you were managing the back-office bookkeeping at a lawn care company then realized that you have a passion in bookkeeping. Next you can build a bookkeeping firm.
I am currently trying to find my passion in the Finance industry. I do not know what core I want to work for yet. But when I do I want to be in the core of the company.
I also believe that customer value is one of the most important aspects within a business. Without the customer there would be no business so the values of those customers should be top priority. I agree with the article that the non-core parts of the business should be outsourced so that the business can prioritize their tasks and manage the company efficiently. Outsourcing within a company can have a positive impact so that the staff can understand different ways of how companies are ran. As a manager, it is important to have an overview of the whole company, but that does not mean you need to run the whole company.
In the article it states that “Core for one company is critical at another”, I agree with this statement because the customers value core. If the CEO’s can focus on the core of their company by outsourcing the “critical” to someone else, it will free up time for them to passionately run their business. I like how the article touched on following your passion by saying you should work where you want, not just a well paying job. Outsourcing is a great way to work with different people and gain new ideas and knowledge from that can positively impact your company.
What stood out to me most in this article was the statement “core at one company is critical at another.” This article challenges the reader to pursue the core aspects of business that they are passionate about. This is extremely important because, as this article states, the core of the firm is most valuable to the customer. Having passionate, skilled people performing the core functions of a business and outsourcing and delegating the other critical aspects of operation ensures that the customer is receiving the best that the firm can offer.
I admire how you advise your students to focus on striving to work at the core of a business because that is where you believe the owner is going to put his best people. From my past internship experiences, this concept is true. I noticed that when working at my desk adjacent to my Congressman’s secretary at the U.S. House of Representatives, I felt I didn’t have a good sense of understanding of his motives and goals than when I actually sat in his office during his meetings and took notes. I found I was more of use to the Congressman when I worked alongside him because I was aware of his next moves, just as he found me a more valuable asset to his office. While outsourcing is beneficial for the efficiency of a company, most inherent leaders should strive to work in the internal place in a company rather than remotely. This is valuable because you can build relationships with the leadership and actively contribute to the company’s core decisions.
Managers need to be able to distinguish between managing and micromanaging. Just like the article we read last week, employees need to have freedom in order to succeed. A manager cannot get everything done himself, so he needs to be able to trust his employees. Nothing will ever get done if there is no trust. I also thought it was interesting when the article talked about understanding what is in a person’s control. There are many things in life that are out of our control. People need to focus on what they can control, and let everything else work itself out. Being obsessed with control only leads to more problems.
The idea to build a business that has one core function is interesting. Having businesses that provide a specific service or sell a specific product would lead to those businesses working together. This would make all participants more efficient and well off, which would increase the revenues of both and create a better product for the consumer as well. Building a strong core and solidifying it over time can really lead to the long term success of a business, which is why it should be a goal for any business.
Having payroll outsourced has just been a norm that has developed throughout the years. I know from my job that they also outsource their payroll, but they still have someone that monitors it from inside the company. I believe that outsourcing is inevitable. In today’s world it is just more efficient to outsource. In the example for pay roll, it would help you focus on the core business, save time and also save costs. The advancement of organizational goals is well said because in the end you are more efficient. In the end, this article shows how the world is changing and that its starting to become a norm.
This article is interesting, because it talks about the simple things in business that are regarded as “secrets” to many. For example, surrounding yourself with a efficient team, and being able to not over manage them. There are different strategies to this, I believe some managers prefer a team they can trust, and be friends with. However, I believe other managers just want the absolute smartest people surrounding them. Both of these strategies have pros and cons, but I think that it is still most crucial to let your team be individuals. Another significant part of this article is to have people under you do simple tasks for you. This way, you can focus more on focusing on the customer and always making sure your clients are taken care of.
In business it is important to be realistic with yourself and the people you work with. This comes down to knowing the business you’re in as well as the state of the business. If you are a struggling company you cannot believe you are successful, you must be aware of your situation. Some bosses are so confident in themselves that they believe they can run all things without help which ends up hurting their company. If you want to be a successful company, you need to stay awake to your flaws.
Even though there are so many aspects to companies, each should have one core that holds the company together. Without a core to bind the different branches of managers and employees together, the success will diminish because it is crucial especially when trying to reach new goals or fix old flaws. Everyone involved wants the goals of the company to prevail successfully and for customers to remain loyal while attracting new ones. Although outsourcing may be necessary at times, it is important for the key players in the company to remain involved and participate on the hands on aspects because it will only strengthen the companies relationships.
I particularly appreciated this article’s emphasis on passion in the work force. I truly agree and believe that without passion in your work, or even a genuine interest in what you’re doing, it is almost impossible to do work well. Work should not always feel like “work” and should be driven by that kind of passion and interest. It is much easier to do something well when it’s something you care about.
Having done federal contract work for several years for several agencies now, the first line of the article hit very close to home. Focusing on what the customer/ client values will determine your value and whether you are essential in my line of work. This is also difficult at times because the customer or client does not always know and cannot always articulate. It is important to put the items we do know together to try to anticipate that need or look for “value moments” to build on or add to.
Finding passions is definitely more difficult in a federal place of employment, but I always ensure I select work that I feel attached to os passionate about. Because I have lived in a natural disaster area through several hurricanes and have a brother on Active Duty, I seek contracts that align with those life experiences. This makes me more attached to and devoted in a non-profit like position, but with better pay. I strongly believe in following one’s passion, but interest and connection to that certainly does not hurt.
Outsourcing, I would say is the most cost effective way of running any kind of business. In my opinion, which aligns with the article state that, if outsourcing helps large multinational corporations to reduce costs and save money along with the opportunity to focus more on serious and core issues, then this concept should also work with small scale businesses which always struggle out with finances and constantly look for ways to become sustainable. At the same time, it also helps those small scale businesses to sell the customers with goods and services which the small business is skilled at producing.
A small business owner should always look seriously into the company’s core issues, the areas where he or she needs to devote more rather than handling everything by themselves. Outsourcing also makes a small firm more efficient in its operation as the article speaks the reality. Contracting the manufacturing products and services to a third party firm can save a small scale business owner tons of money which he or she desperately needs to survive in the business. While running a small scale business owner should only focus on the job in which he or she is having their expertise on and whatever they are not expert in, they should outsource to those companies who are actually good at doing those particular jobs for you.
This article explains the importance of how to organize priorities of any core business. I completely agree with the article that it’s crucial for a business to focus on what is important and the “core” part of their business. The article gives recommendations to students to work with the “core” of the company. When I was reading the article, I have noticed a significant concept of separating core and critical aspects of a business. Because all aspects of a business are important, the core parts of the business are where the consumers’ values are met. In my opinion, outsourcing can be more efficient and effective for an organization. For example, it can help a company to have free up time to focus on more important aspects that customers really care about.
I agree with the article. Customer values are really important. To improve this customer values, small companies need outside companies to help them to be more efficient and effective. Outside Consultant are an important tool that can help management the core of any company. Companies need to understand what core purpose mean, and its more about the “why”. If companies implement a strong Core Purpose, they can lead to improved performance in staff motivation, innovation, successful deployment of new initiatives and bottom line results. As the author mentioned Outsourcing can be efficient and effective. Teams inside the company can be external consultants. External consultants help the manager to don’t be over–control of everything. They can help the manager to be able to get their project done on time and on budget. This outsourcing is considered as a way to grow and help to the division of work for the company. Some of the benefits of outsourcing are : Cost advantages, increased efficiency, focus on core areas, save on infrastructure and technology, access to skilled resources, time zone advantages, faster and better services.
I appreciate this article on outsourcing for a couple of reasons, not only for its catchy title, but also for the real advice it provides. First, if I change jobs, I will try to find a job within the core of the organization for which I am working. I would not want to be working in a periphery function of the organization if management decides to outsource such function. I am not sure I would be prepared to move to the Indian sub-continent, or Kansas.
Another reason I appreciate this advice is that if I were ever to start my own company, which is highly unlikely but not impossible (anything is possible – we put a man on the moon, the Soviet Union dissolved, the Cubs won a World Series), I would take into consideration the outsourcing of non-core, critical functions. It makes sense to focus on the core functions of one’s business and let the experts of the non-core functions support you. There are enough distractions and detractors in the workplace. It is best not to further divide one’s efforts in tasks at which one is not adept. Trying to do everything internally can place undue burden on the workforce.
I found this article really interesting, I believe it is all core parts of a business is important at the center of an organization, all other parts are just routine. The majority of time and budget needs to be spend on core and critical aspects of a business. Focusing on main points will lead the business to success instead of wasting time and energy on unnecessary tasks and projects. Among all other values, customer satisfaction is more vital. You should never ignore them, they are the real pillars of your company and its products and the reflection and feedback of customer reviews will build the business reputation and success.
In today’s hyper competitive environment customers have instance access to unlimited, quality information about with whom they do business. And professional sales forces readily and willingly sell their “insight” to prospective clients looking for a better deal. In industries with narrow operating margins, there is little margin for error when it comes to allocating resources in a small business. Small business leaders/managers lead and manage under perpetual pressure to increase value: value for customers, value for interested stakeholders. And difficult decisions have to made with imperfect, even faulty, information. Therefore “outsourcing” non-core activities and/or support functions makes sense in our complex, highly-interdependent, specialized world. Whole industries were borne out of performing fundamental, universal business functions that most, if not all, unique companies with little tolerance for waste, need done for them.
The Business Blogger is being hard on himself, albeit rightfully so. It’s difficult to accept less measure of control over something you’re ultimately responsible for. At 42, I now understand that the ability to do so comes easier with age and experience. But let’s be honest, a micro-managing superior’s ways tend to rub off. This is where “managing up” comes in! Help the boss set priorities if can. After all, if everything’s a priority, then nothing is.
This article gives great advice when it says to work at the core of a company. It is so important to work with people who you can constantly be learning from and the core is where you can find these people. They specialize in the main job of the company and know all the ins and outs of the business. The end of the article mentions that he didn’t need to micromanage because of the competent staff that was on his team. This is important to remember because we will often be in the position to be that hard working team. We need to make sure to perform ethical, hard work that will make the leader’s job as easy as possible.
I found this article very insightful as I truly enjoyed the emphasis on the value of focusing on the core components of one’s business. By doing so, companies can save time and money on departments such as payroll for example. Focusing on what’s important to the business is what will help companies better serve their clients in a timely and professional manner.
I believe that companies should stick to what they’re best at, and allocate other tasks to outside consultants/contractors as needed to ensure the most well-versed individuals are working on all tasks at all times.
Outsourcing has a lot of benefits, especially for small business. You can focus on your customer values and make sure great service will be provided. It is not an easy task to manage outsourced service, but sometimes you cannot control everything or be excellent in absolutely everything, so “if it is not core, it is going off-shore”, is a great way to put it. I found this article very interesting and I agree when the author says that critical activities that are not core, but still are important for your business should be delegated to outside companies. When you do that, your employees can be really focused on the core business, be more effective and efficient and have better results, as consequence. Outsourcing generally reduces costs and risks, since you are hiring someone else’s expertise to perform a certain job. You want your client to be happy and satisfied and to ensure your customers’ needs are met in a timely and efficient manner.
This article is just another level up!!!! I really enjoyed how this article speaks to the core critical functions of a business because that is where the owner is going to put his best people. Every day as more and more companies try and be more lean, there’s a massive drive on creating incremental customer value. I totally agree that the non-core, critical parts of your business should be delegated to outside companies as outsourcing can be more efficient (faster, better, cheaper) and effective (advances organizational goals). Using such a strategic approach in business can really be the difference between winning or losing. The key takeaway is let’s focus on what we do best and partner up with the best to produce the best.
Indeed the advantages of outsourcing are many and well documented. There are cost advantages associated with outsourcing such as costs savings, proven increased in efficiency and therefore increase production, focus is given and encouraged on cores business areas, there are saving made on infrastructure and technology, easy access to skilled workers and specialized workers that bring another way of doing business, and last but not least, faster and better service which translate in better bottom line for businesses outsourcing some of their businesses. Not to mention the fact that by outsourcing a company is actually sharing the risk as those who are been brought in are experts in their respective fields. However, and nothing being perfect, there are also drawbacks about outsourcing. When a company small or big outsource it will ultimately lose some control over the part of business being outsourced. Outsourcing also has some hidden costs not known when the deal is signed. But, in my opinion the most important drawback in outsourcing, is the security risk, because by outsourcing a firm have to communicate to outsiders some of its data, and other trade secrets. Having said that, the trend nowadays is for companies whether big, medium or small is to outsource some of their businesses. Would that trend continue? I do believe it is too early to conclude.
Thank you for this insightful article, prof. Yoest!
I completely agree with you that prioritization is a key for a successful business. Focusing on the core element of the business can really take you a long way. Managers cannot manage everything all the time, so they need to trust their employees’ capabilities and decisions. One important part of a business is to ensure that your customers’ and employees are happy and satisfied.
I agree that one should focus on the “vital few” and let other manage other marginal activities of the business. It is so important to follow your passion without losing your focus on the details of core part of business. In today’s world, “outsourcing” is a crucial element in a business and a good recipe for success.
Therefore, “minoring in the minors and majoring in the majors and stop worrying about issues that would not affect what the customer needs is the best approach to run any business.
This article emphasizes the importance of focusing on the core to build a better business. Indeed, separating core from context is essential to the success and growth of any great company and a smart way to do it is outsourcing.
Outsourcing helps the company to grow while saving money. However, the advantages of outsourcing go beyond simply cutting costs. It benefits for both, the business and the clients.
Cost advantages: the primary advantage of outsourcing is the cost savings that it enables. Because the business is no longer responsible for back-end processes such as technical support and customer service, you can perform your core business functions at a lower cost while having more time and resources to do it well. The same level of support and service can be performed at a fraction of the cost.
Core area focus: Another benefit of outsourcing is that it allows you to focus on the most important functions of your business. In periods of rapid growth, the back-end operations of a business expand and require a high expenditure of resources. When you allocate more resources to performing secondary activities, you have less money to provide quality front-end services. Outsourcing frees up more of your resources so that you can use them where it counts.
Thank you for the sharing Professor.
Kind regards,
Belinda
Outsourcing allows companies to create avenues in which they can put their most valuable employees to enable them to enhance the core critical functions of the organization. Outsourcing can be a great tool for any organization to cut costs, improve processes, get more experts on projects, and free up resources that can increase innovations in new, emerging core areas. It also can be a drawback. The risk of losing sensitive data, the loss of confidentiality and the control of operations and deliverables, public backlash and potential moral dilemmas. However, it is all dependent upon how well you communicate to your vendors the goals of the organizations and to see if you all will be a good fit. I think that even though outsourcing can create cheaper services for the organization, it is of paramount importance to ensure that the vendors are willing to champion your organization’s values and goals. Depending upon the service that is outsourced, employees and/or customers don’t go directly to the company, they go to the vendor. If the vendor is mishandling situations, then that not only reflects poorly on the company but, also can decrease the inflow of customers as well as affect the bottom line.
Thank you for this article, Professor Yoest. As an entrepreneur, this reminded me of the importance of the core of a business. Sometimes I want to be in control of every part of my business but instead of helping my business flourish, it makes it stagnant. I had to realize the importance of delegating tasks. It will not only help me save time but also help me give my whole attention to what I can do best. This will make my customers feel heard and valued. Like you stated in this article, a small business owner should focus on the core of their business while allowing the outside consultants to focus on the other tasks.
Hi professor Yoest,
I completely agree with your view of working in the core business of your company. As someone who has done both, I could see for myself the difference on how I was treated and all the opportunities that were given to me by doing so. Not only that, but by focusing on the core business, you get a full understanding an sense of the business as a whole, where it is going and about all of the current and future opportunities, which gives you a leverage when building your career. I haven’t had all that much experience outsourcing, however I can see the value it brings, by taking away activities and chores that do not have to do with the reason of the company for existing, employees will have more time available for critical projects, that could end up being major in terms of new revenues.
Outsourcing is a great tool for businesses to use. It promotes global trade, collaboration and allows a company to focus on what it does best: bringing its product to its customers. Outsourcing gives the job of producing what is not core to the company to the experts of that production. Meanwhile it frees up resources for the company’s own experts to use in what they excel. As apt a title as any, if it’s not core, then it should indeed go offshore! One interesting point to note is that with the majority of the world’s supply chain outsourced to places like China, if something devastating were to happen in those outsourcing countries (such as the current global coronavirus pandemic or a significant government change) major markets would inevitably be disrupted. While outsourcing is a great tool a business needs to be wary of the geopolitical climate of the outsourcing country. Outsourcing to a volatile country has the potential to bring more harm than good.
This article definitely makes some very good points about the need to have value within a company. It is often significantly cheaper to outsource responsibilities to contractors these days especially with how expensive it is to offer competitive benefits. When I would do my yearly evaluations with my team, I would ask them how they have made themselves more valuable as an employee and to the company. When hours got slimmer, I would look to those who could do multiple tasks and gave them the hours. I do also appreciate the point about payroll. There is no need to keep that in house these days. It’s often cheaper to have someone else do it especially when you take into consideration the training and software necessary to be productive. I think more and more companies will come to this conclusion as well and that position will become contracted out like security and janitorial positions.
Outsourcing is basically awarding contract to a vendor that has the time, expertise to efficiently carrying out functions that are critical to growth of the business. The beauty is: these functions can be done onsite or offsite. This enables the company to focus on deliverable areas that core to its expertise. It helps save the company time, money and probably unnecessary lawsuits. Outsourcing does not necessarily mean absence of talent. It just a smart approach that saves the company from the crucibles associated with hiring and retention. The goal is to get the job done, ensure customer satisfaction and profit maximization.
It is fair to state outsourcing could be daunting and risky especially when its offsite. Companies sometimes incur unnecessary lost and eventually end up in the sea of litigation. Trust and confidentiality are an expensive enterprise in outsourcing. Information such as company’s trade secret can be compromised.
Outsourcing also creates a tension between existing staffs and vendors. This often undermines the company’s legitimate interest
This article appealed to me so much that I actually sat and thought about my career afterwards, the different decisions I have made, and what factors were behind them. It makes a lot of sense to bind yourself to the hub of a business for job stability. And to make sure your role is focused on what you specifically offer and want to offer will get your more personal satisfaction too. I would argue that outsourcing is more nuanced than this article suggests though – for example in project risk management, outsourcing can be a high-risk strategy – with potential issues with deliverables occurring out of sight and unknown to a project manager until late in the schedule; so it is not always the ideal option. Finally a brief thought about micromanagement. Usually it is considered in a negative light: and truly one cannot control everything, nor should it be attempted. However, sometimes perceived micromanagement is happening for a good reason – perhaps the group/person under management is new, or not very productive – in this case monitoring is needed, though it may not be appreciated by the subjects!
Micromanaging comes from not fully trusting your staff. When you run a small business, so much of it belongs to your heart and you want everything to be done well and to reflect your essence. Unfortunately, with small business, however, it’s small. You’re right ontop of one another and any micromanaging can be felt more intensely. I once worked for a small business (less than 10 employees) and the owner, my supervisor, was very involved in every aspect. It wasn’t until I proved to her that I could handle very difficult situations at the drop of a hat, that she eased up on watching me so much. It was also at this point that I started enjoying the job. Great post as always.
Outsourcing perhaps has its benefits, but one major issue that must be looked at, is the motive. A company that has dedicated employees to a personal company cause, may out-perform say an outsourcing company that has no personal interest in the company they are hired to outsource, as the outsourced company’s only motivation is monetary gain. Monetary gain cannot replace dedicated employees that believe in their company’s success. On the other hand, the outsourced company may outsource themselves to numerous companies, with numerous different longterm goals. The outsourced company hired by these numerous different companies will therefore be detached from any longterm goal, other than money. The foregoing considered, how good is the outsourced company’s services when they are only motivated by greed?
This article is a different take on outsourcing than I’ve noticed, and quite frankly it helped to change my mind on it. It is true that a company should focus purely on what it is that they do, and not deal with distractions. It rarely works that a company can have branches unrelated to their business and make a profit off of them (the only examples that come to mind are from massive companies that have money to throw around, such as Disney Entertainment operating theme parks). I used to take the idea that outsourcing was bad because it would lead to people losing their jobs, but indeed the opposite is true. It ensures that people are employed exactly where they should be. It’s much more likely for a janitor to make a good living working for a firm that employs and sources janitors for buildings than for a janitor to be employed at an office for paper supplies. Beyond that, it is quite clear that this sort of setup can help many more small businesses grow, as they both don’t need to hassle with things they aren’t dedicated for, and put those resources to better use, and outsourced needs will be met by companies specializing in those fields. While one can debate the merits of overseas outsourcing (something I will maintain an opposition to), domestically it seems to be nothing but a win-win for all involved.
When I read this article, my first thought was, ‘well, he will surely burnout if he wants to have a hand on every transaction the business does. He must know how to delegate his work.’ The issue was he does not trust his team, he thinks that without his involvement, business will surely fall.
In order to succeed in business (and still have a work-life balance you desire), one must believe that his team will finish the job without further assistance from him and identify the difference between essential work from the work with you involved in daily tasks. Learn to focus on things that matter. Take advantage of outsourcing tasks that are not vital to your business. You may be an expert on doing your core business, but there may also be someone out there that specializes on carrying out your core business’ critical tasks such as filing your taxes or doing accounting entries. But then, if you are afraid that outsourcing may mean hiring somebody to do your stuffs, another solution will be to find a software that can automate your tasks especially, routinary tasks. Let’s take the case of filing taxes, there are now TurboTax or e-File.com or for bookkeeping, QuickBooks or InTuit. These licenses can not only save you money (because it is less expensive buying these than hiring), they can also save you time specifically on repetitive processes due to automation.
Whatever your options are with outsourcing, the important thing is they can surely help you provide more attention and prioritize the tasks that are important for your core business.
This article was correct to state that the customer values the core of a business the most. This is because the core of a company has interaction with the customer. If the interaction between the core and the customer is good it will affect the company positively. However, if the interaction is negative it will greatly impact the way the customer feels about the business. That is why it is important to employee the best people to work for the core of the company. They should be educated, respectful, and kind in order to complete tasks in the core. In my own experience I have witnessed more positive business to customer interactions when the employee involved demonstrates these traits. Having a strong core is critical for a business.
This article allowed for me to better understand and differentiate what critical and core roles are within an organization. Prior to reading this article, I would have said payroll is a core function to any organization. Without payroll, who will work for the organization and if no one is working for the organization, then who will take care of the day-to-day functions in order for it to run. However, I understand that there is a definitive difference now. The core roles and functions are more of what the company actually does in terms of services and products. It’s what the customer is given when they interact with the organization. It’s important for an organization to lay down the foundation and roles and for each individual to know what their individual roles are. This comes into play when we discussed job positions in class. By outsourcing roles that are not core functions allows for the business to focus on the key roles and are not bogged down with or have time taken away from roles that are as meaningful.
This article explains very well the importance of the core in a company. Most inexperienced business owners want to manage everything; for most of us, outsourcing can make you feel “out of control” or “insecure”. However, as the article explains, outsourcing can be helpful. There are certain jobs that could be done more effectively and faster by offshoring companies. This will allow the firm to focus more on the court which is what the customers value. 15 years ago, Paula Sanchez who is a Colombian businesswoman, wanted to improve her marketing strategy. She was so focused on this project that she did not realize the country was going through a tough year. The core of Lisan Motors was client satisfaction. Because the economy was going down, her employees had more personal difficulties. Therefore, their job performance was affected. After she let the marketing project go, and hire an outside company, she focused more on her employees and clients. Her sales remained consistent and her team together. After that experience, she realized that she could not control everything. Since then, she has had different subcontractors in several areas. Delegation is key to being successful.
In order to have a truly great business that will succeed by surviving the daily challenges of the economy and constantly shifting consumer needs, you must have a team that is able to anticipate those changes and be willing adjust their approach as necessary. Outsourcing can begin with something as simple as handing over daily operational duties to someone else, so the owner (or President, or CEO) of an organization can continue to focus on the big picture of growing their business through networking and establishing a vision. If they allow themselves to get bogged down in the weeds of managing a growing business, the business will most likely stagnate. Outsourcing begins with finding the best people and placing them in the right positions to run and maintain your core business. Then you can find other companies who may be able to take even more of the work off your team by handling things they do “well” that your team is only “good” at, like payroll, logistics, or marketing. Being able to trust your core team and delegate or outsource unimportant, but necessary tasks will enable your team to work faster, harder and be great at the important things. This will trickle down to lower levels and create a culture of hiring the best people for the job and trusting in their decisions to handle the important things and delegate to others for the rest. This creates a strong foundation, allowing the executive leadership to simply sign on the dotted line when decisions are being made because their team has already done all of the work before bringing a finished product to them.
Micromanaging employees can lead to a toxic work environment and cause employees to leave the job. However, I understand why small businesses micromanaging their employees because they don’t want their businesses to fail. In this case, the employees must prove that they can be trusted by working hard and be able to solve difficult problems. But this comes down to passion. People do well on the job when they have passion of what they are doing. This article is showing us how an individual can be more productive when following their passion. You will always succeed when you are doing something that you are passionate about because you will work hard with joy. Something that I learned from running a small business is that you must trust and believe the people you are working with. If you trust your staff and believe that they can do a better job it will gives you more time to focus on other aspect of business. You become exhausted when you are trying to control everything. This comes when the business owner doesn’t believe that the people his working with can make the right decisions.
I am not typically a fan of outsourcing, as I believe having a full understanding of how your work impacts different and all parts of an organization is important, but this article does make a strong case. I think this form of company organization is done successfully only when task of those workers, and the vision and goals of the company are clearly communicated to all employees. The addition of added outsourced workers does add a layer of complexity to developing teamwork on more complex projects. Working for a company where the core of your business is fantastic advice, and ultimately those who will find the most enjoyment in their work. It’s important to understand what the core is, and how to contribute to it.
It is 2021 and many companies are already on the bandwagon of outsourcing! In this article, it highlights the meaning of what business owners consider doing throughout the lifespan of their business- outsourcing. Outsourcing is transferring the responsibility of one or more tasks to another person or company. There are many benefits to outsourcing but it’s main goal is to maintain efficiency within the business, which means advancing a company’s mission and legacy. Additionally, outsourcing brings great additions to a company such as increased productivity, quality service and the most important factor is that it is inexpensive.
Likewise, outsourcing is a crucial component in a business that allows and indicates for economic growth. When business owners decide that they need help with a specific task, they want the best to handle the job. So they reach out to companies that specialize in that particular task, for example: payroll, onboarding, administrative assistance, cyber security, customer service, etc.
Outsourcing is a great milestone to achieve as a business owner. However, it can be an overwhelming decision if a company determines that outsourcing is a better option due to budget constraints and various other factors. One of the reasons why outsourcing is viewed as a bad decision is because it stops bringing money into the community that supplies individuals with a sustainable income.
Outsourcing comes with risks and, therefore, a business should carefully consider all of its pros and cons. A business may experience problems with service delivery and conflict due to changes at the outsourcing company. On the other hand, outsourcing can help a business become more flexible, allowing it to become better able to adapt to changing market conditions and the challenges that arise. When properly utilized, outsourcing is an effective strategy to reduce time and money. At the same time, it is a concept that can easily divide business professionals.
My first reaction to outsourcing is to think of the extreme example – firing domestic workers and outsourcing almost entirely overseas. My best friend’s father, a VIP to the core, lost his position (along with many others) for that very reason. However, as my exposure to more varied business practices grows, I realize the everyday practicality of outsourcing, particularly for small businesses. When you can share risks, reduce costs, and pull-in those experts to increase efficiency, it seems there is very little downside to the scenario – at least if you are sure to carefully select the right vendor (consultants in the case of this article) and clearly communicate your needs, visions, and goals. I particularly like Yoest’s breakdown of core versus critical aspects, especially in the light of passion for your work, “If your passion is lawn care service then create a landscape business. Do not lead a grounds maintenance operation at an accounting firm….If your passion is bookkeeping, then build a bookkeeping firm. Do not manage the back office bookkeeping at a lawn care company.” As the article points out, can be so easy to lose sight and feel that everything is important, that you need to control every aspect of your daily business. In business, as in life, focus on the core, and the rest (with proper care), will follow.
Wanting to have control of every aspect of your company or project I feel is pretty normal. This goes much deeper than just working along side people on something, this is a represenation of you and what you plan to put out. Even when other people are the ones working on it in the end it has your name and stamp of approval. That is why outsourcing can feel so much conflict as a manger or leader. These are people that are not being directly paid by you so they do not have your same “approval” as someone who does. Outsourcing is a great use of time and resources and gives an outside look of things by bringing in different people which I think is important. The biggest thing is that if there is proper and open communication about the companies goals and expectations than the relationship between and boss and employee will be strong. If there are not clear set goals for projects and steps that is when there will be conflict.
This article took me back to the first company I worked for when I was starting my career. Most functions of the company (HR, Accounting, Business Development, etc.) were done in house. All solutions to any of the many problems had to come from within. If we wanted better accounting practices, it had to come from within. This was the same for every business function within the company. What ended up happening is that employees spent a lot of times trying to come up with solutions that already existed outside of the company. The quote “Do not manage the back-office bookkeeping at a lawn care company” is a mantra that this company needed to follow and did not. If they did, they could have spent a lot more time on the important work. Outside consultants could have helped this company. Most solutions that need to be solved were temporary. They could have brought someone in with expertise, received training and a great product, and used it as a business practice moving forward. This would have saved valuable employee time and company dollars. I know that outside consultants can have a bad reputation, but if utilized correctly as the article state they can make your company more productive and give a manager less to worry about over the long term.
Being good at your work and passion about your responsibilities are important for most people. It is never fun doing work you aren’t passionate about or don’t enjoy. I would guess we can’t remove everything we don’t like, but we can limit them. While I don’t work for a small business, I see the value in having employees well trained in specific aspects of my organization. For specific work that requires specific duties I want individuals who are highly trained and highly competent at the task, I don’t need everyone trained on the task. Having someone who enjoys the task makes my life easier and they enjoy coming to work.
As a manager I have learned to let go of specific tasks or responsibilities. This was a hard lesson to learn, it took some mistakes and bad calls. I can see this as being valuable for small businesses as well. Life’s too short to do things you hate, when you can use consultants how enjoy the work and are good at it. Finding the right individual, company, consultant, etc. to do the job is going to make everyone’s life easier. Find the right person and move on to other things.
I think something we can all take away from this article in our personal and professional lives is that we can’t control and do everything. The idea of having everything under you own umbrella so you understand what’s happening in the company is a normal idea, but many times is not feasbile. In regards to outsourcing, I believe as much as possible, it should be kept within the company or at least within the company. By keeping it as close as possible, there is more control and it goes directly back to our economy then.
But the bottom line is that letting some control go in situations isn’t always bad.
This article really makes one think about the status of their position. Do I provide a Core function to my company or is what I do critical? Outsourcing has become increasing popular in the recent years to provide a “cushion” to the financial integrity of a company. I believe that if you can get a professional into a position in which they specialize then that is the best bet for your company. Finding someone that is better at the position than someone that you can train is always going to be better in my opinion. Outsourcing can seem intimidating to a company that has been established for years and already has the professionals in place. But if there is a need for tightening of a financial belt or just an improvement in the way business is handled then outsourcing is a great and convenient way to do so. If persons that are already on your team feel offended by this then at that point this can be brought up in a review for them or there can be an offer to go and learn/train for the role in which is being replaced and a possible company and job change. Sometimes all it takes is a refocusing onto what is right and proper in terms of procedures.
Its important to focus on what the customer values. As the saying goes “Customers are the life blood of business”. By paying mind to the customer and their needs a business can grow to suit those needs and gain potential repeat customers. By gaining this strategy on how to gain customers and potentially repeat customers a business can properly identify how to grow and expand its enterprise. In my own case, when we are attempting to recruit a player to our program we attempt to deify what that recruit likes in a program and attempt to show that recruit why we fulfill that requirement. Ultimately customer satisfaction can help a business grow larger and larger potentially expanding its enterprise
I really enjoyed this article as it brought back many memories from a company used to work for. It was a company that thrived on being the provider of payroll and HR outsourcing. The sales people would tell companies that they should focus more on what they do as a “core” business and to then outsource its payroll and HR duties to them. While this worked very well for many companies, it did not work for every company. When, for instance, an owner or manager wanted to fire a person that was not working out, they had to come through us first, and has you can imagine, this created an extra layer of issues that many did not like. Many tried to side-step this “extra layer” which in turn created bigger issues for everyone. While this was not a huge issue it did cause some owners to rethink about what to outsource and that to keep in house. Outsourcing is a great idea as long has an owner is willing to give up that particular control. If the owner is not willing to relinquish some or all of that particular control then perhaps something else should be outsourced. Outsourcing should be utilized whenever possible, but I feel that what is outsourced differs from company to company, based not necessarily on what the company does.
Micromanaging is in fact a task that takes a lot out of a capable manager forcing him/her to exert efforts on the minor issues that at the end of the day the client is not going to see. In fact, the little day to day activities of a work place impact the employee’s satisfaction and productivity and in turn client satisfaction. If all the office tasks are kept within house it is an added responsibility for the manager to follow up and creates a distraction for him/her from the main objective of the company.
With many startups popping up in the country, and with virtual media becoming the new way of working, opportunities are created to access many talented people throughout the country and even off shore. Not only does it allow the manager to focus on the core objective of the company which is customer satisfaction, it also lets companies run a successful business without actually hiring too many staff members who will be needed only for occasional tasks, like those done for example at pay time. Hiring too many people means managing too many people and paying too much money. Outsourcing payroll to a company such as Gusto or billing.com to take care of the company’s payments means paying only that company for a specific task. These companies have experts on payment transfer, tax and all other issues that are related to payment. Their core objective is payment, for all other activities they would in turn outsource. Another example is janitorial services. Imagine hiring 3 Janitors and expect them to clean an office and manage their work (or hiring a manager to supervise them). That is one unnecessary task added to the manager and to the company’s budget. Outsourcing it to a cleaning company takes care of that headache and it is one load off the manager’s shoulder. Similar experience is with the translation and interpretation services out there. With people of diverse cultures and communities living in the country it is likely for companies to interact with immigrants who speak different languages other than English. A company would never be able to hire full time employees who speak different languages to interpret or translate, which is why outsourcing the task to those who can provide interpreters and translators is important. It allows companies to reach as many clients as possible without language limitation and guaranteed satisfaction.
This would of course not be a good way forward only for a company to run a smooth business but it also means business opportunities for small startups. It creates an interdependence among the companies’ creating opportunities for each other and leaving more room for growth. It is also creates better opportunities for the experts to get involved in different types of companies and developing their skill sets.