The Outsourcing Worksheet

Outsourcing is a great investment and a great way to grow your business… when you do it the right way. And this outsourcing worksheet will make sure you get it right. So, roll up your sleeves and put this worksheet to work for you…

What Should You Outsource?

First off, you need to determine what to outsource. This may include any and all parts of your business. Circle any of the following tasks that you may be interested in outsourcing:

  • Blog posts.
  • Newsletter articles.
  • Social media content.
  • Creation of ads and sales letters.
  • Product creation (ebooks, courses, videos, apps, etc.).
  • Web design and development.
  • Website maintenance.
  • Customer service.
  • PPC advertising.
  • Social media strategy.
  • Affiliate management.
  • Video production (voice over, scripts, overall production, etc.).

Now write down any other tasks not listed above that you may consider outsourcing:

_________________________________________________________________________

Next, take each of the tasks from your “interested in outsourcing” list and write down how much time it would take you to do the specific task.

EXAMPLE: If you want to outsource blog post creation, then take note of how long you want your blog posts to be, how long it would take you to create them, and how much time you would need to devote to the task daily, weekly or monthly.

Next, determine how much your time is worth. That way, you can figure out how much it costs for you to do a particular task yourself. Here’s how to make this calculation:

  • Start with your annual income. If you are just getting started with your business, then you may use your projected (goal) income. For this example, we’ll say you want to make $100,000 per year.
  • Note how many hours you do (or intend to) work to achieve that income. For example, if you work 20 hours per week for 50 weeks of the year, that’s 1000 hours.
  • Finally, divide your income by hours worked to get a per-hour figure of what your time is worth. For this example, $100,000 /1000 hours = $100 per hour.

Next, do some research to determine how much it would cost for a freelancer to complete each of the tasks you want to outsource. You can search Google, get quotes from freelancers, and look on freelancing sites such as UpWork.com or Guru.com.

TIP: Don’t use the cheapest price when determining how much it costs to hire a freelancer. Instead, use the median price, and keep in mind that it may cost a little more or less than that price.

Now that you have all of this information, you can list your tasks here, along with the time required and cost for you to complete each one. Then write down the estimated cost for a freelancer to complete that same task.

Add more lines as necessary:

Task                           Time Required             Your Cost        Freelancer Cost

_____________                     ______________        __________    __________

_____________                     ______________        __________    __________

_____________                     ______________        __________    __________

_____________                     ______________        __________    __________

_____________                     ______________        __________    __________

Finally, take a look at each task and ask yourself:

  • Are you GOOD at this task?
  • Do you like to do this task?
  • Do you have experience with this task?
  • How long would it take you to do the task (vs. a freelancer)?

Pull It All Together

Once you complete this worksheet, it will become clear to you which tasks you should outsource and which ones you should do yourself because it’s financially advantageous.