What are some of the reasons for outsourcing? In this article, you will learn the pros and cons of outsourcing. After reading this content, you can make an informed decision about outsourcing.
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Outsourcing is the practice of hiring a party outside an organisation to perform business tasks. These tasks would have been done by the company’s own employees and staff. The company contact for outsourcing could be a freelancer or another company. The rise of digital nomads makes it easier to assess outsourcing partners.
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Any company can decide to outsource no matter the size. For large companies like Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft; outsourcing enables access to countries that have comparatively cheap labour and large number of people. Small and mid-sized companies can also benefit from outsourcing. This is because outsourcing is a good solution to many operational issues. However, it can become a futile attempt if not tackled properly.
Outsourcing can be done on any business task, even the ones relating to your core business. You start by identifying the business tasks that you will be outsourcing. Next, you communicate this in writing so that you can make reference to it. Also, create a contract that binds you and the other party. This contract will protect your organisation from legal issues. Target companies that specialise in the tasks you are outsourcing for best results.
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Business Tasks You Could Be Outsourcing
Here is a list of some tasks you should consider outsourcing:
- Business Registration – The business registration process is a hassle sometimes. When you don’t understand how the process works, it’s even harder. You should allow business registration experts like ReDahlia to do the job for you, while you focus on the business operations.
- Administrative tasks – Tasks like scheduling, data entry, typing, and other admin tasks can be outsourced. This frees up your time. There are a couple of virtual assistants, that can assist with these tasks.
- Social media activities – Social media is easy for some entrepreneurs, and hard for others. It can be hard to consistently post on social media, place ads, and generate leads. You should consider outsourcing these tasks to people that will give the desired result.
- Marketing – Marketing tools like website design, branding, content creation, email marketing, online marketing, and search engine optimisation can be outsourced. These consultants often give a view that internal employees may not.
- IT Operations – The average business is limited in knowledge and expertise in managing the information technology aspect of the business. It can also be expensive to manage IT in-house. Hence, outsourcing IT operations is good for your business.
- Human Resources – Hiring, policy formulation, reference check, and employee documentation can be outsourced. These tasks are done by human resource consultants. Using a consultant can save you legal costs. Another benefit is cost reduction that will be otherwise spent hiring full-time staff.
Reasons For Outsourcing
Here are four reasons why your company should be outsourcing:
Outsourcing Saves Time
One of the reasons for outsourcing is the time that it saves. In the digital age, it is easy to want to do everything yourself. This may be because you don’t see the reasons for outsourcing tasks. However, this can sometimes be disadvantageous.
Outsourcing separates a solopreneur from an entrepreneur. A solopreneur executes all business activities by himself. An entrepreneur focuses on growing his business and delegating tasks. By delegating tasks, you save time and focus on being productive.
For example, you may consider building a website yourself. This requires taking time to learn how to build, design, and then create the website. This could take time and there’s a high chance that you will not be happy with the result. Whereas, a web expert could deliver your desired website in less than a week.
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Outsourcing Saves Money
Hiring full-time staff to handle some business tasks can be more expensive than outsourcing the same tasks. This is the case for tasks that do not take up a lot of time. Observations may reveal that some employees can accomplish the tasks for the month in a week. Outsourcing these tasks will save you money and recurring costs. In addition, you will also reap the benefit of getting specialised service.
Outsourcing Increases Efficiency
Utilising the time and energy saved by outsourcing will increase your business efficiency. This is because you can focus on your business. You get to spend time on important tasks and less time on unimportant tasks. You will, in turn, achieve more client satisfaction and business growth.
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Outsourcing Is The Fastest Way To Scale And Grow
The goal of every business is to scale and grow. Outsourcing can enable you to achieve this. Outsourcing is a powerful growth-hacking tool. It makes you to quickly scale your business without taking on a bunch of fixed costs. You leverage for growth as you are doing things in parallel, rather than do one thing at a time. You are also able to access the latest technology and high-value talent who you may not otherwise be able to afford. This will lead to rapid business growth.
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Reasons Why You Should Not Outsource
Here are some disadvantages of outsourcing:
Outsourcing Can Be Time-consuming
Writing a job brief and communicating it can be time-consuming. This is true for one-off tasks. Also, you don’t have control over the timeline for the job delivery and the quality of the work delivered.
The upside, however, is you can reuse the same job brief over and over. And, you have to conduct due diligence on the company or freelancer to ensure they are reputable before choosing to work with them.
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Outsourcing Can Be Costly
Outsourcing tasks to the wrong people can cost you money. This can be a painful experience as the time and money lost cannot be recovered. There are legal damages concerns if something goes south. For example, getting sued for hiring a content creator that plagiarises content. Do your due diligence on people. Ask questions. Ask for references. Write contracts in a way that absolves you of any legal issues.
In making a decision to outsource, the pros far outweigh the cons. You can access freelancers by using freelance sites such as Fiverr, or Upwork. Look at their reviews. You can also get referrals from your network.
As you outsource your work, remember that your business needs visibility to grow. Contact Entrepreneurs.ng to help increase your sales, revenue, and put your brand on the world map.
What has your experience been with outsourcing? Will you consider outsourcing your business tasks? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section.
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