Among the reasons prompting decision makers in small businesses to hire virtual assistants, one of the most common is to minimise the time spent internally on non-core business tasks.
There’s no doubt this is a solid reason to outsource, but it’s not always clear what “core” and “non-core” actually mean in practice.
That’s why we’ve put together this guide to identifying activities to outsource. It covers what you need to know if you’re planning to outsource for this reason, starting with how to identify which business activities can be categorised as non-core—or better yet, can simply be added to your outsourcing list without worrying about the core/non-core label at all.
The Dangers of Core/Non-Core Categorisation
It’s probably time for businesses to stop thinking in black and white terms about core and non-core tasks. In reality, drawing clear distinctions between these two labels isn’t straightforward.
For instance, if “core” means an activity adds value to your business, then human resources (HR) management is a core task. Without the ability to manage employees and employment properly, your business won’t get far.
On the other hand, you might define “core” as a key competency that underpins your business’s reason for existing. In that context, if your business is software development, you can hardly classify human resources management as a core activity.
So should you outsource your human resource management activity or not? The answer is far from obvious. This confusion perhaps explains why businesses don’t always get it right when deciding which activities to keep in-house and which to outsource.
An Alternative Approach to Outsourcing Decisions
The good news is there’s a more effective way to decide which activities you can outsource to benefit your business. Instead of thinking in terms of core and non-core, try evaluating your activities against these criteria:
- Does the activity provide your business with an advantage over your competitors?
- Is your business equipped with strong internal capabilities to perform the activity?
Taking the hypothetical case of HR management in a software development business, you might first consider whether managing HR practices drives competitive advantage. In itself, it probably doesn’t, since your competitors have the same employment responsibilities.
Perhaps though, by practising superior HR management, you could acquire and retain developers who are more highly skilled than your competitors’ teams, giving you a competitive advantage.
Therefore, if your business has strong HR capabilities, keeping human resources management in-house makes sense. If that strength isn’t present, you’re probably limited to basic HR management practices with no particular competitive advantage, making outsourcing the better approach.
By outsourcing HR management, or elements of it, to a virtual assistant with HR skills, you’ll free up internal resources to focus on activities that do drive competitive advantage.
This evaluation of competitive advantage and internal capability saves you from the subjective decision about whether HR (to stay with our example) is a core or non-core activity. Instead, it helps you look objectively at the choices in front of you.
Activities to Consider for Outsourcing
The example above illustrates how subjective the topic of core versus non-core activities can be, and why our suggested approach offers an alternative way to decide which tasks to outsource to a virtual assistant.
If you’d like more specific guidance on tasks you might consider for outsourcing, try using our suggested approach to assess these activities:
- Bookkeeping and accounting
- Payroll processing
- Invoicing and collections
- Customer service or support
- Website development and maintenance
- Content writing and copywriting
- SEO research and optimisation
- General administration
- Calendar and email management
- Phone answering services
- Lead generation and qualification
- Mobile app development
- Research and reporting
- Market research and competitor analysis
- Social media management
- Technical services and IT support
- Digital marketing campaigns
- Data entry and database management
- Podcast editing and production
- Video editing and content creation
This list is comprehensive but far from complete. As the virtual assistant industry continues to mature in 2025, the range of service specialties keeps expanding.
AI tools and automation have made VAs even more capable, particularly in areas like content creation, data analysis, and customer service. This makes it even more important to evaluate all activities in your business to determine if you might benefit from outsourcing them.
Outsource What Makes Sense
You really don’t need to pigeonhole your business tasks into categories like core and non-core. Where activities have the potential to help you compete more effectively, and your in-house resources have high capability, keeping those activities internal will make the most sense.
On the other hand, if you can access superior competencies externally and the activities don’t offer much competitive advantage, the benefits of outsourcing to a virtual assistant will probably outweigh keeping the tasks in-house.
The right formula differs from business to business, so the most important thing is to analyse the pros and cons of insourcing versus outsourcing thoroughly. Do this on a task-by-task basis, using an objective method of evaluation.
With Virtual Done Well, Australian businesses have access to skilled virtual assistants who understand local business needs while offering the flexibility and cost-effectiveness that modern businesses require. Whether you’re a startup looking to scale efficiently or an established business wanting to optimise operations, the key is finding the right balance between what you do best internally and what can be better handled by skilled external support.
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