Time to Outsource?
Knowing when to outsource your work can be crucial to finishing big projects on time and under budget. Outsourcing all or even part of your work is often a sore spot for business owners and homeowners alike. It tends to be a big shot to someone’s pride and of course costs money to do. But, in the long run you’ll see that if done correctly you are ultimately saving time and money (and often your own sanity in the long run).
Harbourview Property Management prides itself on being the one phone call a person needs to make when it comes their home, cottage, or business. However we are sometimes forced to accept that there are some things, though few and far between, that are either out of our scope of expertise or not cost effective to the bottom line. Take electrical work for example. Harbouview can offer amazing renovation services to your home, but we keep in mind that currently it’s not cost effective to have a license electrician on staff. And there’s no way we are going to skirt the rules and complete a job without having our legislative ducks in a row. So for the time being, we outsource our electrical work to reputable companies that we would trust to work on our own homes. In the short term, it is money out of pocket. Of course, from an instant profit stand point, we would like to keep everything in house. But when you factor in having that employee on staff year over year, it simply makes more financial sense to pay out that little bit extra to get the job done when you need to.
It can also come down to a factor of time. Last year Harbourview Property Management had a good size playground to tackle. All of the old dated equipment was to be removed and new equipment was to be installed. The hiccup was that the job required over 100 yards of dirt to be removed along with it, and sand to replace it. Now we had quoted about 4-5 days to accomplish this portion of the project (which was still under budget for the project). Thanks to outsourcing this portion to a local company Tinney’s we shaved down that time to about a day and a half. Not only did we save the time it would have taken our crew to complete that task, but it then allowed them to get started on another project down the road. They say time is money, and in this case…Money well spent!
To quote the philosopher Brett Wismer (who I’m sure stole this quote from someone else), “It’s not your salary that makes your rich, it’s your spending habits!” Don’t be hesitant to outsource some items. Just ask yourself “What is my time worth to me?” Harbourview has a long list of services we offer to our clients, but the one thing that sums it all up is Time. Whether you’re planning on cutting your lawn, or renovating your entire basement for an in-law suite, keep in mind that “You’re Busy. Let us do the work!”