Investing in your business and earning too.

How you present your business or product is really key when trying to differentiate yourself in a competitive marketplace.

As much as it is tempting to try and do everything yourself in a small business, sometimes picking your strengths and delegating tasks is an effective way to develop your business.

Whilst traditional suppliers might provide a turnkey solution, there are other options to getting the services that you need in a cost effective way. Freelance platforms such as PeoplePerHour or UpWork give you access to skills in a very competitive way.

Having a look through these sites will show that whether you need a logo, website, lawyer, admin staff, writer or accountant there are many people offering a wide range of resources to your business.

As with any contract it is important that you define your project clearly, and select the provider carefully. Freelancers are only as good as their last job, and will be expecting you to check their portfolio of work, and feedback on other jobs. Do this.

Whilst the freelancers are doing their thing, you can get on with earning the money to pay them. Whilst this is investing in your business and not doing it yourself, the outcome from a specialist is likely to be better than what you can do as a jack of all trades.

Pick a small project, and give it a go - why not have a logo designed, a social media banner, or hire someone to organise a contact list for you. Hopefully you will see the return of having an extra pait of hands doing something your business needs.

Of course the truly entrepreneurial amongst the readers of this blog will realise that there is also the opportunity to sell your services into a wider marketplace. This can be especially useful when cashflow is tight, or between larger projects. It can take a bit organisation, but it can be very worthwhile.