This article is contributed by Jason Dirkham

As your business grows from start-up to international conglomerate, it is important that you know how to manage the expansion. As a start-up, your business probably outsourced a lot of different functions from IT to HR. Now that your business has grown, you should consider bringing those functions in-house as the work mounts up. 

While the main function of your business in your client’s eyes remains the same, the requirements to meet their demands will change. When you think of a huge retailer, you probably don’t think about the person who organizes payroll or the cook who feeds everyone in the building at lunchtime. But those people are there and they’re just as important. Think of this as the village growing into a city – it takes a lot of people to keep everything running. 

You might be thinking about which technologies your business needs to thrive but let’s think about the people for a few minutes.

Legal

The legal department might not sound like a big deal and many companies get on fine outsourcing, if your company has frequent legal requirements, it’s often best to get some dedicated staff in-house. This is particularly pertinent if your company has a lot of employees. 

Corporate legal software is a popular option as it allows companies to go paperless in an age where paperwork is seemingly endless. From HR to litigation, having all the information in one place makes handling all your legal needs a lot easier.

Accounting

Choosing the right moment to bring an accountant in-house is vital. Too soon and you will be paying too much for a member of staff who isn’t needed all the time; too late and you may find that you don’t have as close an eye on your numbers as you thought. The key, then, is to work out when an accountant can add real value to your business and giving them enough of a head start to be able to implement worthwhile change. 

For a large corporation, accounting is an essential aspect of business. Even small expenses can soon rack up to become inordinate costs because someone took their eye off the ball for a few minutes. 

HR

An HR department may start with one person adding the duties to their usual role but as a business grows, so too do the responsibilities of an HR department. HR isn’t just about making sure that everyone is okay; it’s really about managing talent, expectations and acting as a go-between for management and employees. If there’s anyone who can improve a business culture, it’s an HR manager.

Bringing HR in-house might sound a bit much but the way your business functions often comes back to HR. Having someone there to look after your employees, advocate for them and even discover new talent is something any business can use. 

Most articles at the moment are about reasons to outsource but bringing various functions back in-house is a necessity once you become a big fish in your industry. And, let’s be honest, a few small businesses could do with these departments too – even if it is just one employee. 

This article is contributed by Jason Dirkham