Outsourcing

News: May 2011

Outsourcing

In the current economic climate, many small and medium sized businesses face the same challenge – they want to expand, but their current level of turnover means that they may not be able to afford to take on personnel with the right qualifications to drive the business forward. As a result, many firms have decided to buy in these skills through outsourcing.

Where a particular skill or level of expertise is required, businesses can outsource and employ staff on a contractual basis, rather than hiring staff full time. The benefit of this approach to the firm is that they can hire top-notch professionals but only pay for the work done. This can be a one-off expense, but some firms pay professionals for a few hours per month on an ongoing basis rather than hiring a full time, salaried employee.

The benefits are quite clear – the business saves money and top quality professional services are now within the budget of smaller businesses. Until quite recently, there were only a few business functions that small and medium sized firms outsourced, such as book keepers, management accountants etc. Today, largely thanks to the internet, it is possible to outsource virtually anything from phone answering services to website management.

As the internet has provided access to overseas outsourcing, businesses can also benefit from exchange rates. For example, if a service provider is located in a country where the currency is quite weak, the business will be able to buy in professional services for a lower price than the same services might cost in their home country.

There is one golden rule that businesses should adhere to when outsourcing – you get what you pay for. Yes, there are cost benefits to outsourcing globally, but if you aren’t willing to pay at least a reasonable rate for the outsourced services, you’re probably not going to get a very professional result!