There are many arguments and debates relating to outsourcing, but the general consensus is that it has many advantages and not that many disadvantages. Certainly, plenty of businesses benefit from outsourcing a lot of jobs and tasks. It is perhaps seen as a small business thing to do, but loads of huge companies and corporations will also do it.
The question is, when will you know if it’s right to outsource or not? In essence, much will depend on your company and the position you’re currently in. Still, here are some instances where outsourcing will make sense for your business:
You want to reduce your operating costs
Outsourcing can help you slash your operating costs by reducing how much money you spend on staff. Paying another company to handle jobs for you is much cheaper than hiring employees to do so. There isn’t a debate here, it’s simply factual. Especially when you add up the total costs of hiring and employing someone – think about benefits, salaries, etc. With outsourcing, there’s a set fee whenever you need the services, which can often be a monthly charge. It’s so much more affordable.
Not only that, but outsourcing delivers an incredible ROI. Every penny you spend will help your business in one way or another. You pay for an outsourced marketing team, and they repay you by helping you generate more sales.
You need to hire people to work in the background
Certain areas of your business are more in the background and hidden away from the regular goings-on. They’re still integral parts of the business, it’s just that the work that’s completed is done behind the scenes. Here, it makes a lot of sense to outsource companies to deal with jobs like this. That way, they can get on with the behind-the-scenes stuff while you focus on work that’s more front-of-house.
If you look at your company, many things spring to mind that fall under this category. Look at your website, who is running this and keeping everything online? Who’s dealing with the site design and maintenance? Here, it makes sense to take advantage of outsourced web development instead of hiring a team of developers. The chances are you will never speak to your development team – they work in the shadows. So, save money and outsource; it makes sense.
You want your employees to focus on their strengths
Another reason to outsource is that it lifts burdens from your employee’s shoulders. You want your employees to focus on their own work rather than worry about little things here and there. Sometimes, your employees find themselves doing their own work, but also having to do other bits and bobs as well. For example, you may have an admin assistant that’s answering calls and working on your schedule, but you also have them managing social media. They’re not a marketing expert, so the extra hours they put in trying to manage social media stops them from doing what they do best.
This is where outsourcing really becomes helpful. You can hire companies or individuals to handle the tasks that your employees don’t want or need to do. In turn, it lets your employees focus on their strengths, streamlining your entire operations. Everyone works on what they’re best at – including the outsourced service providers. Taking the above example, you now have social media management experts handling your social media. So, the overall result will be better!
You’re downsizing or working remotely
The traditional way of working puts everyone in a big office together. This can work, but what if you want a smaller place to work? What if you’d rather downsize to a tiny office with limited space, seeing as it’s cheaper? Or, you want to say goodbye to the office altogether and work remotely.
In these cases, you have no need for large teams of employees. If anything, you need to cut down on how many employees you have – particularly in the case of the smaller office. But, you also realize that letting people go will be detrimental to your business performance. So, you outsource! Outsourcing means you can still get the services you need, but with less need for people being in your office. It’s perfect if you’re looking to downsize or work remotely.
You want more efficient customer service
Outsourcing customer services is almost essential for most businesses. When you think about outsourcing, this is the original idea that comes to mind. Everyone has thoughts of a contact center full of thousands of customer service agents on the phone. Well, that’s what a lot of customer service providers are like – but that’s beside the point! The point is that good customer service means you’re available 24/7 whenever a customer needs you. Providing this level of commitment with your own in-house customer service team is absolutely impossible. You’d need a team of people working around the clock, possibly swapping shifts – it’s expensive and inefficient.
By contrast, outsourcing your customer services is the opposite. It’s more cost-effective and highly efficient. You will ensure that your customers receive a response from someone right away. It improves the level of customer service you provide, improving your customer satisfaction rates.
You want the best talent
A short one to end, but outsourcing often gives you access to the best talent. Not only that, but you have access to talented teams with experience working together. It is a lot easier for you to outsource some services and access the best talent than it is to try putting your own highly talented team together. The experience an outsourced team has with one another is also highly underrated, but it can mean they deliver the best results.
When all’s said and done, there are plenty of instances where outsourcing makes sense for your business. Still, don’t assume that you should get rid of every employee and outsource everything – usually, a combination of the two will work best for companies.
