An Outsourcing Case Study
Managing Yourself or Outsourcing to The Professionals?
I’m known for being hot on systems but if you are just starting out or if you have properties yourself, what can you outsource and what should you keep in-house?
When I first got started, I managed everything:
- Marketing
- House administration (ie utility bills, insurance)
- Tenant administration (ie rent, paperwork, viewings, moving in/out)
- Accounts receivable
- Account payable
- Maintenance
- Business development
- Book-keeping & Accounts
And a whole heap more that took time and effort to do.
And the thing is, nobody is ever going to be great at everything – it isn’t possible.
It took me two months to figure out that it would be better for somebody else to take on the jobs that I wasn’t good at and let me focus on the things I was good at. It actually took over five years to properly set up our systems and processes to allow me to hand 90% of the business to outsourced and in-house staff.
Here’s how I did it:
| Year | Outsourced Task | Why |
| Year 1 | 1) Annual accounts and tax returns straight away.2) Gardening & cleaning after 6 months3) Maintenance | 1) Whilst I understand numbers, I haven’t got the energy to do them myself.2) By doing it myself, I knew the time and standards required3) No enjoyment so why do yourself?! |
| Year 2 | 1) A Property managed as a test | 1) First manager had conflict of interest; second manager rescued things! |
| Year 3 | 1) Marketing for tenants2) Book-keeping
3) Management of portfolio
4) Opened up lettings business |
1) Tested a PA on marketing tasks. Then outsourced lead generation.2) Moved to accountants.3) Gave management of properties to manager.
4) Systems and people already in place so made sense to expand where we could. |
| Year 4 | 1) Developed systems in all areas
2) Expanded lettings business |
1) Expansion = slippage without standards. Systems created to ensure consistency across portfolio2) Systems = Expansion. |
| Year 5 | 1) Accounts Payable / Receivable2) Bad debts3) Office
4) Apprenticeships |
1) Outsourced to Experts.2) Still trialling different companies.3) We hope very soon
4) To assist with administration/customers |
This is only a snapshot but allows you to follow a logical progression and consider how your business can benefit from outsourcing.
Outsourcing and modifying systems never changes but you can quickly get to grips with the right ones for you by understanding the organization you need to run your business for you.
I cover this in my 6 Week Online Masterclass launching 7th October as well as in my book. For more 1-2-1 assistance, my mentoring programme launches next week and you can work directly with me to build your systems and processes to world-class level in just 6 months. To apply to be part of the programme (before anybody else –ssh!), click here.