Outsourcing is the movement of workload to another source which can provide assistance in that particular area for an agreed price either as a onetime service or as an ongoing complementing service. In doing so, the principal company can effectively save time, get staff to be more committed and speedier work results. The essence of outsourcing is simply engaging the services of an individual or organization outside your full time staff to handle certain aspects of your business plan. These aspects may be public relations, marketing, clerical and administrative functions, or IT management. In fact, with today's virtual environment, there is really no part of the business that could not be outsourced effectively. Of course, the big question is whether or not there are any benefits to outsourcing, especially for persons who are building their business on the Internet. There are several good reasons to outsource certain functions. Often times, an Internet business is set up with a shoestring budget and one person doing all the work. As the business grows, it is easy to get caught up in dealing with general office functions, such as answering emails, handling correspondence and maintaining client lists. By outsourcing your clerical support needs, you can spend more time focusing on the expansion of your business, not the day-to- day details of running it. Second, promoting your online presence is a full time job all by itself. You can hardly manage that and still be involved in making the big decisions that impact the overall operations of your company. Using outside agents to promote your presence and to stimulate sales makes it possible for you to do what owners need to do, which is grow the companies' roster of goods and services. Last, outsourcing allows you not to get bogged down with employee taxes, withholding and providing a benefit package. When you outsource to an agency or to another individual, they will not expect a benefit package to go along with their pay. You will save a great deal of time and money on accounting functions; these savings can be pumped right back into your business and used for expansion. Outsourcing is a great way to expand your online company without undue stress on your resources. Why not look at your present situation and see if you would benefit from outsourcing a function or two?