In today’s conditions and the constant pressure of the global market, only those companies succeed that lead the business in the most efficient way and try to lower the operational expenses and to keep the highest quality of services at the same time.
Information technologies move very fast, which gave a push to outsource development that has been growing to a great extent so far.
Outsourcing, as you probably know, is an organizational decision to delegate some of the business functions to other people outside the company.
The essence of outsourcing can be described in the following principle: I do what I can do best and let people outside to do things they do better than me.
Most often, companies use outsourcing when they need one-time services from legal experts, marketing specialists, system administrators, writers, etc.
If you haven’t outsourced before, maybe you need to try, especially if you can relate to any of the following statements.
1. Your Employees Cannot Handle Certain Tasks
Let’s say you have a significant technical one-time task to handle. None of your in-house employees can do it without special studying and preparation. Of course, you can spend a lot of time looking for new employees to hire, but it will only postpone the task. Moreover, they wouldn’t be able to do the best possible job due to the lack of experience.
Outsourcing here is the perfect solution. You hire a professional who has the skills to complete this particular task and, if the same necessity occurs in the future, you just hire him or her again. It saves a lot of time and effort. So, unless you have a perfect team that can cope with pretty much every task, you can use outsource from time to time. The most important thing here is to find good people for these jobs.
2. Your Budget Gets Tighter
Outsourcing is cheaper it is a fact. Delegating certain company’s functions (bookkeeping, IT, product support, PR, marketing services, etc.) to outsource will help you cut operational expenses and increase profit.
Having in-house employees is always more expensive. The salary itself is usually higher not mentioning all the other costs such as work insurance, sick leaves, paid vacations, pensions, taxes, etc. Moreover, having in-house employees require many other expenses such as computers and other devices, different software, education and office supplies.
With outsourcing workers, you naturally do not pay for all that and save a lot of money. So, if your budget is not very flexible at the moment, outsourcing can be a solution.
3. You Don’t Progress Because of the Routine Tasks
If you notice that your company stays in one place for a long time, it is a sign that something is definitely wrong. Your marketing department, for example, may be too busy dealing with everyday routine tasks that they do not come up with new ideas for marketing your product.
Outsourcing these everyday tasks gives you time to focus on your primary goals and to lead your company to success it deserves.
4. Your Employees Don’t Provide Fresh Ideas
If you have been on the market with the same group of employees for a long time, there is a chance that they fizzle out a bit and do not supply epic ideas anymore. It is quite a regular thing, as they’ve seen it all and done it all. Instead of firing all of them and getting a new team, which is also an option, but very time-consuming and costly one, you can analyze the freelance market and hire some people who will have a fresh look and different approach to your business.
They may offer new, different directions that your company can follow. It is simple, they will give you some ideas, and your employees will fulfill these ideas. It sounds like a win-win strategy.
5. Your Managers Are Overloaded
Good outsource companies are reliable and responsible. You don’t need to control their work all day to make sure they do it. If your managers are too overwhelmed with responsibilities, you can help them by trying outsourcing. Thus, they will have fewer people to control and will be able to do their job better.
6. You Have Irregular Tasks to Do
Let’s say you have a small or a medium sized company. From time to time, you want to launch a marketing campaign starting from slogans and finishing with the complete media planning. Logically, you cannot afford to hire the in-house team of professional marketing specialists. Moreover, you don’t need to do it as you do not launch marketing campaigns every day.
That is where outsourcing comes to help. You simply hire professionals when you specifically need their services. That is a smart way to arrange things.
7. You Cannot Find Real Professionals
Let’s say you are looking for the top programmer for your company’s needs. You have been looking for a couple of months, and no candidate has hit your standards. If you fail to find that true professional, you can try to outsource as there may be lots of great programmers in other cities that would nail your tasks remotely.
The intensive market development shows that outsourcing gradually becomes standard practice for both big international companies and small local ones. Even considering disadvantages of outsourcing such as insecurity or risk of disclosure, you cannot deny the obvious benefits, which seem to outnumber the cons. You just need to choose your outsource partners right and to sign contracts.
Companies decide to outsource according to their needs and financial possibilities. Some companies delegate two-three functions some are comfortable with having ten in-house employees and giving the maximum amount of work to outsource.
The goal usually is to increase the flexibility of the business model and to lower operational expenses. Considering the growing popularity of outsourcing, it does this job very well. So, if you haven’t tried it, and you see any of the described signs in your own company, go ahead and test it.