The 10 Benefits of Outsourcing for Creative Small Businesses in 2025
You know that thing in your craft business that you hate doing? I know you've got one! Have you ever thought about having someone else do it for you instead?? What a thought, right? How much more amazing would your work week be if you didn't have to do that one silly task?
Maybe it's (let me take a wild guess) meticulously typing out the descriptions for your product listings. Or your product photography. Or tediously creating smaller products in an assembly line format.
It kind of makes you think...didn't you start your own creative small business to be, well, creative?
Enter: outsourcing*.
It's the answer to a handmade business owner's nightmare tasks, and also a one way ticket to putting you back into your zone of genius…not to mention, saving you time and resources. Many companies outsource tasks or entire processes to help streamline their business and become more efficient.
Once you understand a little better why outsourcing is important, you'll likely be more inclined to start thinking of which daily and weekly tasks you can hand off to someone too.
You’ll also find there are many benefits of outsourcing for small businesses. In this post, we'll cover 10 benefits of outsourcing that you may have not considered, so that you can see if a similar setup could benefit you and help you run your craft business more profitably too!
*Note:
There are various similarities and differences between 'outsourcing' vs 'contracting'.
Outsourcing often refers to handing off a task to a specialized expert (who doesn't require training) in order to cut costs and free up time.
Contracting is similar, you'll likely pay less, however you'll have less control since you're not paying them taxes or benefits. Contractors might have many other jobs they are doing too, so they may not be as reliable either.
It's a fine line, but for the purpose of this post I'll be using the term 'outsourcing' as a general definition for contracting as well.
10 Benefits of Outsourcing for Creative Businesses
So let's talk about these benefits! When talking about outsourcing we first need to distinguish between the two types of tasks you take in your business. Core functions vs. non core functions. Aka, important tasks that you should be handling vs. tasks that don't necessarily need to be completed by you.
I know as small business owners (especially when you're just starting out!) it can feel like EVERY task is important, and you should be handling every last detail. However, if you eventually want to scale and grow, it's just not sustainable.
Your craft business needs you to be focused on revenue and scaling, and you can't do that successfully when you're being distracted by the color of your hang tags (I get it, I've been there, I promise, just let go. LOL).
Once you're able to come to terms with which tasks you don't need to be micromanaging, you'll more easily be able to hand them off and discover some of these incredible benefits:
1. Focus on Your Zone of Genius:
Arguably the most amazing part of handing off mundane tasks to someone else - being able to focus on your zone of genius and less on administrative or operational tasks.
I mean, you didn't start an art business to spend all day packing up orders, right? When you’re able to free up your time and energy from tasks that don't need your specific attention, you make your time so much more valuable.
For example, if you're not having to spend hours mixing and measuring paint, ordering beads and organizing them, or hammering out the same charm over and over again, instead you can spend your time building out your next product line. Or reaching out to shop owners.
Essentially, you’ll be focusing on activities that will really move the needle and help your handmade business grow, instead of being distracted by repetitive tasks that take up your precious time.
Etsy Shop: Oakand9th
2. Access to Specialized Skills and Expertise:
When you're not the one doing everything, that means you can hire or contract people who are EVEN BETTER AT THAT SKILL than you are to handle it!
You can search from a literal global talent pool if your task can be completed online (like having a virtual assistant list your products weekly in your shop) or hire someone with a specialized expertise to bring even more value to your business. How cool is that?
Think about it - right now you might hate hate hate product photography. The photos in your shop clearly won't show off how amazing your products are because you don't know how to effectively capture them through the lens of a camera.
Now, imagine you start working with a professional product photographer...you spend your time making the best products you can make, then hand them off to get photographed.
Your edited images come back 10 days later and your shop now looks incredible! Your customers notice, you start making more sales, and getting more magazine features and opportunities. Plus, the best part is you're no longer having to take the photos. It's win win win!
You can do this with so many tasks in your craft biz, this is just one simple example :)
3. Cost-Effective Solutions:
We can already see the benefits of outsourcing, but consider this angle next - did you ever think about how much 1 hour of your time is worth in your business? (Hopefully you already know this if you're selling products already! If not, go read my pricing handmade items post next).
Ok, so now that you have that number, you realize your time is kind of pricey I bet. Because you are more of the expert here. But guess what? You don't have to pay someone else that much. You can actually train them and pay them less because they don't HAVE to know all the other things that you do. They just need to know how to do that one thing.
Of course, if you're hiring an expert jeweler to help you craft charms for 700 bracelets, you'll probably end up paying the same $$$ per hour you’d pay yourself, if not more.
But, you could also hire someone with no jewelry making background who wants to gain some real life experience so they can go out on their own later to assist you at a lower rate which matches their experience level anyways.
This is the perfect way to create cost effective solutions and lower labor costs, while offering experience and creating jobs for creatives who are not on your level yet.
4. Increased Flexibility and Scalability:
Guess what? Another perk of outsourcing? If you're not stuck behind your desk working on repetitive tasks, you can be doing whatever you want with your time! The amount of flexibility and scalability in your business will increase drastically.
If you only have to focus on the needle moving tasks during the week, you can free up your time to open up your schedule. That might mean only working 4 (or 3!) days during the week so you can spend more time doing personal tasks, or working 5 days a week regularly but taking one or two long vacations per year. Regardless, you'll have a lot more TIME on your hands!
Having more time will also allow you to help scale your business. If you're pushing your business forward, that growth and revenue will allow you to outsource and hire even faster (if that is something you want to continue doing). Sky is the limit here!
5. Improved Efficiency and Productivity:
Something that is easy to overlook when we are too deep inside of our business is our efficiency and productivity.
Let's say you have a polymer clay jewelry business, and you need to create 40 sets of clay earrings for an upcoming wholesale order. But...you also have a show coming up, AND a few custom orders to handle that require your unique touch.
This is where outsourcing comes in. Instead of just you making all 40 pieces alone and trying to work FASTER (aka frantically!), you can hire someone to handle the smaller, more time consuming parts of the process that don't need as much attention (ie: cutting and shaping the clay, measuring out the beads and chain, etc).
This way, you're able to free up your time to focus on the custom work that will not only bring in more money, but will also require your curatorial eye. You get all your work completed more quickly with the right amount of attention on each project!
Etsy Shop: Lizkohlerbrown
6. Better Time Management:
Constantly improving your time management is essential, especially during the growth stage so that tasks are completed quickly and you can hit your revenue goals every month. This is another area where outsourcing will help out as well.
If you know that you don't have to worry about an entire part of your making process, you'll be able to relax and work even more efficiently.
Maybe you're working with a manufacturer overseas and they are creating the base of your products, like a cotton dress that you will print on by hand later.
Once you get that first part of the process streamlined with the shop, all you need to focus on is the printing side of things. You don't have to worry about the fabric, or the sewing, you just know the day the box of dresses will arrive to your studio (what is this, heaven?).
From there, you'll more easily be able to break down your printing time per piece:
spend 5 minutes setting up
spend 40 minutes printing the dress
spend 20 minutes doing touch ups
spend 15 minutes heat setting
spend 5 minutes packaging
When you don't have to think about the first stage of your making process, you'll be more efficient, you'll move much faster, and save time and money!
7. Reduced Overhead Costs:
One huge benefit of outsourcing is that you will likely have reduced overhead costs as well! Remember the last example where you outsourced your sewing to a manufacturer? Guess what? Because you did that, you now don't need the space to do all that sewing work! You don't have to store those big bolts of fabric because the shop is doing that.
This allows you to work more affordably from a smaller art studio, or even your home. Your rent costs will decrease significantly just for that reason. And who doesn't want to spend less on rent ;).
Less overhead means less money coming out of your pocket, and more money in your bank account, okaaay :).
8. Enhanced Quality and Consistency:
When training someone to execute simple steps in your craft process, you can also start monitoring for quality. By adding in some simple checks, you can be sure that the quality of work you receive from your employee or contractor is always up to par.
This applies even more when working with a manufacturer. You'll be asked to approve pieces at the beginning of the process so you are both in agreement on exactly what will be produced and delivered. There will be no surprises.
You may have to sign off on certain fabrics, thread, stitching patterns, colors, finishes, etc before the making process begins. That way, everyone is on the same page and everyone is happy with the end result!
So needless to say, when you start outsourcing, your quality and consistency will be much more stable and predictable. YAY!
9. Reduced Stress and Burnout:
Playing off that last point, because your process is even more stable and predictable, you'll feel reduced stress on your end, and boy do we like the sound of that! Being a handmade artist is not all rainbows and sunshine.
You'll have days when your customers are not happy. Or even entire seasons when you're barely selling anything (hope you planned ahead!). The list goes on, and it's easy to work too hard and get burned out.
But knowing that you can rely on your outsourced work can offer some peace of mind. You know that at least that side of things will be taken care of, and you can focus on any other issues at hand.
You won't be rushed with your time to get orders finished at the last minute (unless you really are that unorganized!) and your days and weeks will become easier and more pleasant because of it.
10. Long-Term Business Growth:
Last but certainly not least, let's talk about long-term growth. By allowing others to handle tasks that are sucking up all your time, you're less stressed, working more efficiently, not to mention saving time and money.
By outsourcing accounting, outsourcing digital marketing, or even just the assembly of your products, whatever you choose to hand off, you'll be allowing your craft business to grow at a faster pace.
I've spoken with many artists that want to manage every little aspect of their art business. They are determined to be permanent solo-preneurs, having full control over every moving part.
I used to be like this. My business is my baby so I couldn't imagine trusting someone to take over some of my printing work, or even the sewing (which I'm terrible at). It felt uncomfortable and risky.
However, I started realizing that as I grew, I wanted (and needed) to be spending my time on the big things that mattered. I noticed there were certain tasks that I no longer wanted or needed to do.
The thought of passing off those tasks became easier to swallow because it meant I could keep working in my zone of genius for longer. You can do the same...and you should! The sooner you outsource, the faster you can start growing and scaling.
How Outsourcing Works
So we've covered the many benefits of outsourcing the less important tasks in your handmade business...but how does it actually work?
The first step in learning how to outsource is to figure out which tasks require more of your specific attention versus the ones that don't. This is a unique and subjective activity because what might be easy to hand off in one business, might need to be handled by the CEO in another.
I would recommend writing out a list of every task you might do in a day (ideally into some kind of project management tool, (I LOVE Asana for this!) I also would include how often that task will generally need to be done.
Next, start organizing them in descending order of how much control you want over those tasks. This might look like:
Create Instagram posts for the week (1x per week)
Handwrite thank you note (weekly)
Review marketing KPI's (weekly)
Pitch 5 shops for wholesale opportunities (weekly)
Research new trends and brainstorm (monthly)
Quality check each order before sending out (weekly)
Engage for 15 minutes on Instagram (daily)
Add new listings to shop (every Monday)
Assemble clay earrings and attach to earring card holder (daily)
Package orders (weekly)
Check inventory of shipping supplies/reorder if needed (1x per month)
Check inventory of all jewelry supplies/reorder if needed (1x per month)
Etsy Shop: MariquillaSandia
Towards the top of the list you can see I've placed the tasks which an owner might want to have more control of...of course this list is subjective.
Personally, I like to have control of the social media content that represents my brand, so I would want to be the one to create and post it. Another artist might really dislike Instagram and would LOVE to pass that off! So it depends.
You'll also see towards the top there are some higher level activities where you're just keeping an eye on things (reviewing KPI's, quality checks), plus, some activities that will help you move your craft biz forward (pitching shops, researching trends).
The activities towards the bottom of the list are likely to be easier to pass off. Hiring a contractor might be the perfect solution for product assembly, listing your products online, keeping track of inventory, and/or packaging your orders.
Now that you understand a little bit about how outsourcing works and the tasks you want to hand off, let's go over how you might start finding companies and contractors to work with! (Reminder that outsourcing vs contracting is slightly different, but I'm using them interchangeably here).
The first way I would recommend finding the right people would be through word of mouth. Do you have any business friends who might already be outsourcing? Start asking around and see if you can get some recommendations.
No friends with businesses? Facebook groups for creative entrepreneurs are GOLD MINES when it comes to hiring specialized help. Always check the rules before posting, and make sure you're specific in what you want so you get a good response.
That will probably get you moving in the right direction, but if not, next up I'd head towards your new best friend, Google. You may be able to find companies where you can hire a virtual assistant, a photo editor, etc.
Another option is to check out Craigslist. Select your city (unless you don't care where they live) and head to the 'Creative Gigs' section. Create a job posting and prepare to be bombarded by emails :) You can do the same on Upwork or Fiver where it's a little more organized!
Follow these tips and you'll be on your way to outsourcing quickly :)
Types of Outsourcing for Creative Businesses
Now that you have your list of tasks ready, you might be realizing you'll have to pick your top 1 or 2 most annoying or time consuming tasks and slowly outsource the rest over time.
Don't worry, when deciding what to outsource first, think about how much time and or money you'll be saving for each task once you don't have to do it anymore. You'll quickly realize which will allow you to get the most bang for your buck!
If you're still not sure, here are some services that are commonly outsourced by creative businesses, so you have an idea what's possible and how it relates back to your business!
Accounting services:
Who doesn't love doing taxes and bookkeeping? Joking, joking, it's pretty common that most of us crafty folk absolutely despise this part of our job. So outsourcing accounting services for small business could easily be the first thing you hire out for. Imagine how less stressed you'll be around tax season!
Digital marketing:
Marketing for artists is also not something that many creatives are thrilled about, but it's a necessary evil! And hiring a marketing manager that can plan out and create content that brings in your ideal customers for more sales is a pretty solid investment if you ask me. Outsourcing digital marketing might be the perfect way to start handing off work and let the experts do their thing (and better than you can!).
Making stuff!:
Aka: outsourcing fulfillment services for handmade items. Like we touched on earlier, having someone prep and/or assemble the more simple parts of your products, so you can focus on the finer detail work. This will allow you plenty of time to work on your business behind the scenes and even take on more custom services if you desire.
Printing services:
This one's for the 2D artists out there. Outsourcing printing services for illustrators, collage artists, painters, etc...if you're wanting to sell prints, this will probably be a big one for you. I'd recommend talking to other artists and see what printer they recommend and what minimums are required so you're not jumping into something blindly.
Don't be afraid to reach out to artists you don't know on social media either! Most of the time they are happy to help as long as you are not direct competition ;).
Photo editing:
Outsourcing photo editing for artists' portfolios, websites, listings, catalogs and more is a popular pick with creatives as well. If you don't have the time or the skills, then having someone take over your editing could be well worth it.
Virtual assistant:
What the heck can an artist do with outsourcing a virtual assistant you may ask? Oh...let me show you the way! Even though you run a handmade business, you'll soon realize there are a ton of tasks you can hand off that are solely online shop related.
Have your virtual assistant (VA) write your product listing descriptions, upload your product photos, and add hashtags. You can have them update your website (basic things that require little training), have them take whatever marketing content you're creating and repurpose it across multiple platforms. Have them email customers and research trends for your next collection. There are so many opportunities here!
Professional development:
When running a creative business, you have to always be focused on two things - working IN your business and working ON your business.
When working IN your craft business you are fulfilling orders, packaging and shipping products, buying supplies, designing new products, working a craft show. These are things that need to get done in the day to day.
Working ON your business include tasks that move it forward. That might look like automating selling on your website, making a training manual for your virtual assistant, researching more affordable packaging options, or looking into how to hire a creative business coach. By outsourcing your professional development, you're working with an expert who can help you grow even faster!
Photo: Etsy Shop Izrbeams
When to Outsource
How do you know when to outsource? Well, it can vary from business to business. You might think that when just starting a new creative business it might be too early to seek outsourcing services. But if you want to move fast and you have more money than time, then your business operations would benefit more from outsourcing right away!
I would say I'd consider passing work off when hitting one (or more) of these markers:
You have less time than money to invest in your handmade business
You need to speed up production and streamline in order to expand and take on bigger orders
You are really struggling in one area because you lack the skills to do that task well
These are just 3 reasons you might want to turn to others to give you a boost. Successful outsourcing in this case can really make or break the future of your craft business.
When Not to Outsource
This whole post has been about the benefits of outsourcing, but are there times when it's not the best move? You should definitely be aware of when not to outsource, so let's get talk about when that might come up.
Yes - there are outsourcing disadvantages in some cases. For example, if the task you are hiring out for will cost more to pay someone to do it than if you did it yourself, I would say that doesn't make sense.
Your goal as a business owner is to cut costs, not increase them. The exception would be that if handing off that task would save you such a significant amount of time that it would allow you to increase sales elsewhere and make up for that cost and then some.
Another area you should not hand off is outsourcing creative control. When you have customers ordering custom work or high end pieces from you, they must be executed flawlessly.
Customers are wanting YOUR unique touch on the product they ordered and (most of the time) only you can do that. It's generally better to focus your time on your more expensive products so you can guarantee your best buyers stay happy!
When working with an outsourcing company, you're often working with minumum order requirements. If it's going to be a struggle to hit that minimum, or you don't have enough demand and are worried you'll end up with a ton of expensive inventory sitting in your closet, then either find another production company, or wait to take that big step.
Always consider your demand, as well as hidden costs that may pop up after learning more about their services.
One last thing to keep in mind, the security of your intellectual property. When working with contractors and workrooms, you'll want to cover yourself in case the relationship ends (poorly or not poorly!) because at that point, they know how to make your product.
It would be fairly easy to recreate it and sell it themselves if you have not protected yourself legally. Of course it's nice to give people the benefit of the doubt, but imagine if someone really ripped off your personal designs...super violating! Make sure you research your options and trust the people you are outsourcing to.
While there are many advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing, I still feel that overall it's the best way to streamline and grow your craft business quickly! Just be smart about it :)
Leverage Outsourcing for Artistic Success
So there you have it! Ten benefits of effective outsourcing for artists who are ready to scale quickly and focus on their zone of genius. Strategic outsourcing will not only enhance business growth, but it will allow you to enjoy your day to day even more!
You'll be spending more time doing the things you love and are good at rather than getting buried by tasks that NEED to get done...just not necessarily by you ;).
Remember that before jumping into outsourcing for help, spend some time carefully considering which tasks or stages will allow you to free up the most time or save you the most money if you decide to hand them off.
Do your research and ask around to get recommendations. If you take the time to research and plan effectively, then outsourcing can only help your business and profit grow!
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