DIY? You could. But should you?

Three examples that show why outsourcing makes good business sense

Do you do your own taxes by hand? Maybe you do, but chances are good that you use a software program, or you have an accountant or tax specialist do it for you. Sure, you could do it yourself, but your time is probably better spent on something you want or need to do. It seems like a no-brainer, but often, people forget to apply the same logic to running their business. After all, shouldn’t you be out drumming up business or dreaming up new ideas?

Let us introduce you to three businesses that exist to save other organizations time and money.

Saint John, N.B.

If you ever needed proof that we’re living in the information age, fire up a computer at just about any organization. No matter what the business’s primary function is, overwhelming piles of data and paperwork are a pretty typical side effect. And, according to Mike Carroll, general manager of Shred Guard — Atlantic Canada’s leading document destruction company for both paper and digital files — privacy regulations can complicate matters even more.

“For the most part, businesses lack knowledge,” says Carroll. “They don’t understand, or are not aware of, privacy regulations. They don’t realize what needs to be destroyed and what doesn’t. Finally, they may simply be overwhelmed and ignore the problem, hoping it will go away.”

Together, Shred Guard and DocuGuard (its sister company for records management), help businesses solve that problem, not only by educating them, but also by helping them manage both their paper documents and their data.

“Most businesses use expensive office square footage or self storage units,” says Carroll. “Factor in the use of staff to retrieve boxes, move boxes or shred paper, and it tends to cost more than using our DocuGuard services. Not to mention the added security and chain of custody we provide.”

Shred Guard is more than qualified to do the job, with certifications from NAID (National Association Information Destruction), CPI (Credit Card Privacy), CSDS (Certified Secure Destruction Specialist), and Prism Privacy Plus Certification (Professional Records and Information Services Management). Plus, they’re based locally, right here in Atlantic Canada.

Dieppe, N.B.

Maybe you’re a lawyer or an accountant. Perhaps you run a graphic design studio, or you own a dance school. Or maybe you don’t do any of these things at all. But if your business owns a physical building, you need to know how to manage it.

Unfortunately, most people don’t know. And even if they do, they’re wasting valuable time that could be better spent working on a case, designing a new logo, or… dancing. But hiring a property manager can help.

“Since we are in the business of operations we can take a proactive approach,” says Jocelyne Dupuis, property manager at Adelin Properties. “We can set up regular maintenance so that major problems don’t arise, and since we do this for several buildings at once, we have the knowledge and experience to get it all done quickly and costeffectively.”

And Adelin Properties is prepared to handle just about anything. They have years of experience in construction, maintenance and management, and they can handle anything from repairs to accounting and business decisions. Perhaps best of all, they have existing buying power and relationships with contractors that ensure good prices and good work.

And, according to Dupuis, they care about your business.

“We want your business to succeed as much as you do,” says Dupuis. “We involve our customers as much as they want to be involved. And we spend time at each of our properties, so that we can make connections with the tenants.”

Dieppe, N.B.

As a business owner, time management has to be the most ironic thing you can possibly waste time on. And yet, people do it, all the time. Probably without even noticing the irony, which may be the saddest thing of all.

But, about 20 years ago, the founders behind Dovico noticed, and decided to do something about it by creating software that aimed to increase both productivity and profits by automating timesheets and helping with billing. It even lets users schedule reports on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

According to Shelley Butler, VP of Sales and Marketing, one of the biggest challenges for business owners is convincing their employees to adopt new technology, but they’re able to help with that, too.

“We implement the software with their live data, usually from Excel,” says Butler. “We also train their employees.”

Once Dovico helps their clients over that hurdle, it’s generally smooth sailing from there.

“Our claim to fame is we ‘get you back to work,’” says Butler. “Instead of wasting time trying to calculate time spent for billing purposes, our software handles it all for you, with the click of a button.”