When to outsource your back office (and what to keep)

Outsourcing isn't all-or-nothing. The trick is knowing what to hand off and what to hold close. Keep anything that is your core advantage — product decisions, brand voice, key customer relationships. Hand off the functions that are essential but not differentiating: media buying, development, analytics, bookkeeping. These need senior skill but don't need to sit in-house, and trying to hire all of them at once is slow and expensive.

The right partner gives you that capability on day one, with one point of accountability instead of a patchwork of disconnected providers. The warning sign you've waited too long: the founder is the bottleneck on marketing, the site, the data, and the books all at once. Outsource the back office, keep the steering wheel, and put your hours where only you can add value.