Why small businesses should consider outsourcing
View our outsourcing webchat: Take back business control
Whatever you went into business for it was probably because you were good at something, or enjoyed doing something, or possibly both, as the two often go hand in hand. Almost by definition therefore you are bound to be bad, or at least not so good at other things. It’s precisely these things that you should consider outsourcing to people more skilled, knowledgeable and experienced that you are.
The advantages of outsourcing
Outsourcing can bring many benefits to your business. Some of the benefits of outsourcing are:
-
It brings increased skills into your business
-
Outsourcing enables you to focus your efforts on the areas you’re best at
-
Outsourcing minimises the risk to your business of tasks not being completed to a good enough standard, or within the right timescales
-
Outsourcing enables you to raise your standards of service – by bringing in the experts you automatically raise your service levels beyond those which you could deliver by yourself.
-
Outsourcing means you only pay for the resources you need – you can vary the amount of services you buy (subject to any contractual commitments) to cope with the work you have
-
It enables you to pull in extra resources quickly to cope with increased demand
-
Outsourcing will minimise the risk to your business of key staff leaving – you’ll have no recruitment costs to replace, no training costs or waiting to bring up to the standards required – all these tasks will borne by your service provider
-
Outsourcing enables you to minimise or avoid any capital expenditure
-
Outsourcing can reduce your costs. Outsourcing cost savings include not incurring costs for full-time or even part-time staff you’re not making full use of, benefitting from the economies of scale achieved by your outsourced service provider, and having no HR or payroll costs to cover.
How to avoid some of the disadvantages of outsourcing
Outsourcing has attracted a bad press, particularly outsourcing to overseas suppliers which can cause problems due to lack of local knowledge or business customs, time zone and language difficulties. Even when you outsource services closer to home there can still be causes for concern in that there is a perceived loss of control or a lack of commitment to your own business from your outsourced service provider.
To avoid these disadvantages you should:
- Consider your partner very carefully – do they have a similar business approach to your own, what is their cost base, how many clients do they support, how many of your competitors do they support, are they registered for data protection, do they have adequate liability insurances in place,
- Agree your expectations up front, and in writing – do you want an arms length relationship with them or do you prefer to keep closer to what they do.
- Agree what’s important and what level of performance measures are appropriate eg getting your VAT returns done on time, bringing in 20 new customers a month, answering all incoming calls within a set number of rings, making sure employees are paid accurately and on time.
- Does the provider have a reasonable trading record themselves?
- Are their data back-up processes robust?
- Are they happy to provide you with reports and information about their service?
Types of outsourcing
Examples of services you could outsource include
Email us if you'd like any more information on any of these outsourced services
Why small businesses should consider outsourcing
View our outsourcing webchat: Take back business control
Whatever you went into business for it was probably because you were good at something, or enjoyed doing something, or possibly both, as the two often go hand in hand. Almost by definition therefore you are bound to be bad, or at least not so good at other things. It’s precisely these things that you should consider outsourcing to people more skilled, knowledgeable and experienced that you are.
The advantages of outsourcing
Outsourcing can bring many benefits to your business. Some of the benefits of outsourcing are:
-
It brings increased skills into your business
-
Outsourcing enables you to focus your efforts on the areas you’re best at
-
Outsourcing minimises the risk to your business of tasks not being completed to a good enough standard, or within the right timescales
-
Outsourcing enables you to raise your standards of service – by bringing in the experts you automatically raise your service levels beyond those which you could deliver by yourself.
-
Outsourcing means you only pay for the resources you need – you can vary the amount of services you buy (subject to any contractual commitments) to cope with the work you have
-
It enables you to pull in extra resources quickly to cope with increased demand
-
Outsourcing will minimise the risk to your business of key staff leaving – you’ll have no recruitment costs to replace, no training costs or waiting to bring up to the standards required – all these tasks will borne by your service provider
-
Outsourcing enables you to minimise or avoid any capital expenditure
-
Outsourcing can reduce your costs. Outsourcing cost savings include not incurring costs for full-time or even part-time staff you’re not making full use of, benefitting from the economies of scale achieved by your outsourced service provider, and having no HR or payroll costs to cover.
How to avoid some of the disadvantages of outsourcing
Outsourcing has attracted a bad press, particularly outsourcing to overseas suppliers which can cause problems due to lack of local knowledge or business customs, time zone and language difficulties. Even when you outsource services closer to home there can still be causes for concern in that there is a perceived loss of control or a lack of commitment to your own business from your outsourced service provider.
To avoid these disadvantages you should:
- Consider your partner very carefully – do they have a similar business approach to your own, what is their cost base, how many clients do they support, how many of your competitors do they support, are they registered for data protection, do they have adequate liability insurances in place,
- Agree your expectations up front, and in writing – do you want an arms length relationship with them or do you prefer to keep closer to what they do.
- Agree what’s important and what level of performance measures are appropriate eg getting your VAT returns done on time, bringing in 20 new customers a month, answering all incoming calls within a set number of rings, making sure employees are paid accurately and on time.
- Does the provider have a reasonable trading record themselves?
- Are their data back-up processes robust?
- Are they happy to provide you with reports and information about their service?
Types of outsourcing
Examples of services you could outsource include
Email us if you'd like any more information on any of these outsourced services