Monday, May 11, 2009
Outsourcing – Does it makes sense in today’s economy?
During better economic times, we were all more inclined to off-load things we didn’t want to do and use services purely for the sake of convenience. We thought to ourselves, “Heck yeah, I want someone to clean my house, trim my yard and do my laundry!” But what about in this economy, when many families are feeling the pinch?
It might be harder to justify the added expense of outsourcing. This means that time-saving services now seem more like luxuries. Many are embracing the do-it-yourself mentality whether it’s coloring their own hair, doing their own nails, cleaning their own houses, etc.
There are still times, even in the current economy, when outsourcing is your best option. Here are three things to consider when in determining what to outsource:
1. What you don’t enjoy doing.
2. What would save you the most time (and money).
3. What can be readily outsourced.
For example, I’ve decided to outsource my housecleaning. First of all, I absolutely hate cleaning the house. But it also saves me a lot of time, especially for the price, and it’s readily outsource-able.
In this economy I think the time-value analysis becomes more important. What is my time worth? By hiring someone to clean my house it costs me $100 every 2 weeks and I save about 8 hours of time. If I were to clean my own house, I’d be doing it for $12.50 per hour. When I break it down that way it’s easy to see that it’s the right decision, the money I earn from my job is more than $12.50 per hour.
Maybe it’s time to reconsider some services that you would love to outsource – whether it’s handyman services, personal meal preparation, lawn maintenance, or dry cleaning drop-off/pick-up. Remember that outsourcing doesn’t have to be major ticket items, just things that save us time, emotional energy and many times even money.
If you’re having difficulty determining the cost-effectiveness of outsourcing, make sure you contact us for a complimentary lifestyle consultation!
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2 comments:
I have just decided to outsource--to pay someone to cut our lawn. I'm pregnant with a high risk pregnancy and my older 2 children are blind. DH travels frequently.
I really struggled with this though. I feel slightly guilty. This article helped me to put it into perspective.
Thanks for your comment vamomma. I'm glad you found the post useful, and congrats on your decision. It sounds like you definitely have your hands full. Good luck with everything.
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