What Tim Ferriss Taught Us About Outsourcing

If you don’t know about Tim Ferriss, you should. He’s the author of The 4-Hour Work Week, a book about how to maximize results while minimizing time spent on an activity. His philosophy about outsourcing has changed lives.

The Secret to Successful Outsourcing

Ferriss’s bestselling book advocates contracting out any activities that aren’t absolutely necessary. By outsourcing the tasks that would normally take up a great deal of time, entrepreneurs are free to focus on what really matters.

One of those activities is building business relationships. In his book, Ferriss recounts the tale of two customers. These two clients were causing stress in his personal and professional life. Ultimately, he told the two customers that they needed to shape up or ship out. One customer got the message; the other decided to do business with someone else.

Part of Ferriss’ appeal is that he encourages readers to ask themselves, “What would excite me?” instead of continuing to ask themselves, “What are my goals?” This question makes them prioritize what they really want in life. When they have the answer to this question, they’ll stop working towards a goal that isn’t actually what they want. They’ll begin pursuing what truly makes them happy and gives meaning to their lives.

Outsourcing in Action

It doesn’t matter how big your company is. Every entrepreneur has activities that he or she doesn’t need to perform personally. Those activities take up valuable time—time that could be better spent making money. Cyril Peupion, Australian time management expert, says that many entrepreneurs believe that they should complete urgent tasks first. However, Peupion recommends that what they should be doing instead is completing the tasks that will have the most impact.

Peupion asserts that business people should be focusing on how they can add value instead of working on things that take up time and don’t add value. What are the things that add value to your business? Ferriss and Peupion would argue that maintaining profitable clients makes your company more valuable. Spending time on clients who are only causing you problems, wasting time on meetings, and writing emails that aren’t absolutely necessary should be avoided.

Ferriss has inspired legions of entrepreneurs to outsource many of their less important tasks to assistants. While there aren’t any reliable statistics on how many people have read The 4-Hour Work Week, the US Census Bureau’s figures on small businesses that rely on contractors rather than employees tell a compelling story. In 2013, there were over 30,000 non-employer firms in the US that brought in between $1 million and $2,499,999 in revenue.

Partnering with a Trade Printer

One area of work that you can outsource to increase your profits is printing! Whether you are a printer, a print broker, or a company that would like to add printing to the list of services that you offer, outsourcing your printing to a trade printer is a great idea.

Outsourcing your printing to a trade print partner helps you minimize the amount of time and resources you spend on repetitive tasks. It frees you up to focus on other more value-adding tasks like finding more clients or managing your finances.

Not all trade printing companies are created equally, though. You need to select a printer that produces high quality, professional-looking materials for a reasonable price. The company should also be reliable. The experience you have with this company should make you want to be their customer in the long term. We recommend partnering with a trade printer like SinaLite, which offers a full range of high quality marketing materials at exclusive wholesale prices.

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