Outsourcing tips for Small Business

BANGALORE, INDIA: Outsourcing has garnered a bad reputation over the years, so much so that it’s usually bandied around as a naughty word when some big multi-national is firing hundreds of staff and sending those jobs to the orient. But in small business the term has taken on a new meaning, with the arrival of sites like Elance, Freelancer and Guru.

In it’s most basic sense, outsourcing is effectively having a contractor do something that you could be doing in-house. The main benefit is the cost saving of having someone else do the job, as opposed to hiring a permanent staff member to do the same thing. There is also the time factor, with every small business owner being acutely aware of just how many hours there are in the day, and anything that can free up time is usually welcomed.

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Traditional or new?

The concept of outsourcing is nothing new, particularly when it comes to secretarial and virtual assistant services, or even something as straight forward as hiring a company to handle your IT or build your website. What has risen in popularity lately though, are websites that allow you to post a job or project you want done online, and have service providers make a publicly viewable bid to do the job. The majority of these pitches will come from foreign countries where the labour costs are cheaper, such as India, China, Pakistan, the Philippines and Eastern Europe.

Choosing the right provider

Whether you are dealing with a local provider, or a foreign-based service, there are some important questions to ask. It’s very simple for them to have a neat-looking website and a list of glowing testimonials. The key is to put in the effort to find out more about the provider, ask to actually speak to people they’ve worked with, and not be afraid to put them to the test.

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Making it work

While it might be a stretch to think that outsourcing can reduce the hours you spend working at the business to less than you can count to on one hand, there are small businesses making real use of it.

The dark side

Outsourcing by its very nature carries with it risks, after all you are effectively letting a part of your business be handled by a stranger. But there are some specific dangers to using foreign-based outsourcers as well.

Watch out for are ‘fly-by-nighters’, people who are here today and gone tomorrow.

Go for companies with lots of feedback on the project-listing websites, as they have more accountability than the smaller independents.

Source: www.nett.com.au