Small Businesses Return to “Do-It-Yourself” Over Cost Concerns


In today’s tough economy, small businesses are looking to reduce costs and become more efficient wherever possible.

The mantra is no longer “time is money,” it’s now “money is money.” Services that were once viewed as time consuming are now being viewed according to how expensive they are. This includes healthcare, payroll, social media and other services. Instead of outsourcing or “D-I-F-M” (do-it-for-me), many businesses are trending back to “D-I-Y” (do it yourself) and handling more services in-house.

Craig Wolfe, CEO of Celebriducks, made this decision when he recently brought a number of financial and account functions, including bookkeeping, invoicing and royalty reports back in-house. Craig said this switch to D-I-Y, “…was simple for us…It’s a long term investment. To make (our business) work meant cutting all unnecessary expenses.” Wolfe estimates that he is saving $5,000 to $6,000 annually from this change.

Nick Harrison, who runs a creative agency, recently switched from an outsource payroll service to using Quickbooks.

“We were spending a significant amount to cut each employee’s paycheck and sometimes they didn’t arrive on time. Now we can print them on demand to ensure that our employees get paid when they are supposed to. Plus, we have saved thousands of dollars.”

Experts estimate that only around 7% of all small- and medium-size businesses are aware of the benefits that are associated with moving back to a D-I-Y model. The return to D-I-Y isn’t just a matter of dollars. Businesses also fail to realize outsourcing isn’t always the most efficient way to handle some tasks if one factors in convenience and control. It’s often inconvenient to wait for items to be printed, checks cut or records retrieved, for example.

With information security, the less hands handling your data, the less risk involved. These are just a few of the factors needed to take into consideration before deciding if D-I-Y would benefit your business.

 


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