SUNSHINE Coast entrepreneur Mark McRae has owned and managed more than 30 successful businesses while balancing a family life that includes a wife and three children.
He has interviewed and hired more than 1300 people and generated $280 million in online and offline sales.
His secret? Outsourcing.
“For many small business owners, outsourcing is a dirty word,” he said.
“In today’s environment of rising costs, a very high dollar and shrinking margins, small businesses simply cannot afford to think this way. Outsourcing allows us to cut costs, access skilled experts, reduce overheads, get flexible staff, increase efficiency, reduce turnaround time and generate more profit.”
He cited his present business Eagle & Cross Marketing Pty Ltd, which is run by a team of four employees based in USA, India, Malaysia, the Philippines and South Africa.
“Realistically 80% of the tasks in most businesses can be outsourced. If you have a member of staff that uses a computer as the main part of their job, the job can probably be outsourced,” he said.
“Outsourcing can give you access to a dizzying array of highly skilled professionals from all over the world. For example, to produce a professional documentary, I hired a script writer in the USA, film crew from Canada, post-production team in Croatia and editor in Serbia.
“With new technology, work is no longer a place, it’s a function, which can be performed anywhere at any time,” he said.
Listen: Hear Mr McRae talking at a presentation to The Executive Connection in Brisbane here.
Mark McRae’s advice on outsourcing:
1. Focus on your strengths and outsource your weaknesses
2. Have a process in place before outsourcing any task or operation
3. Vet contractors or partners thoroughly by reviewing past employer feedback
4. Set clear and measurable objectives for your contractor
5. Evaluate their performance against these objectives
