Outsourcing may sound like a business is giving up control but in reality,. it’s the complete opposite. Outsourcing is an excellent way to streamline and control business processes and increase your bottom line. This is the reason the savviest business owners are choosing to outsource. 

Running a successful business effectively is no walk in the park. It takes a lot of hard work and strategic planning. For a business to run smoothly, there are a wide range of  business processes and tasks that need to be completed every day. Outsourcing some of those  tasks to an outside provider is a great business strategy, which allows your business to run more efficiently  and be  more focused on the core business tasks, including implementing growth strategies. 

Here are some quick facts about outsourcing: 

• Around 300,000 jobs get outsourced out of the United States every year.
• Nearly 54% of all companies use an outsourced support team to connect with their customers.
• Before the pandemic, the market size for worldwide outsourcing reached $92.5 billion.
• 71% of financial service executives outsource or offshore some of their services.

Outsourcing has been around for decades but is becoming increasingly popular as more and more business owners understand  the benefits and how it could help them scale their business. Some businesses will outsource just one task while others will outsource several of their processes. The most common services that are outsourced are: 

• IT-related functions
• Customer service/call center 
• Web/software development
• Graphic design 
• Manufacturing
• Back office support, including data entry
• Accounting 

Outsourcing Benefits

Cost Savings

Business owners are always trying to find ways to cut costs and increase their bottom line without sacrificing quality. With  increasing salaries and overhead costs, many business owners struggle to have enough capital on hand. Outsourcing is an excellent way to streamline processes and get tasks successfully completed for a fraction of the cost of doing it in-house. Cost saving is the primary motivation behind business owners’ decision to outsource their processes. 

Offshore outsourcing in particular cuts labor costs down dramatically since there is a huge wage gap between countries. Labor intensive tasks are the most common jobs outsourced overseas since companies  could hire foreign workers to successfully complete the same tasks for a lot less money. You not only save on the reduced salaries but also not needing to have the office space, technology and supplies for the additional employees. Also, several countries offer attractive tax breaks, alternate tax and regulatory benefits, and financial incentives to entice foreign companies to outsource there.

Increase Productivity

There are many ways outsourcing increases productivity. One is that you have skilled workers handing your projects without the need for to hire, train and onboard a new employee to complete the job. The professionals are already on staff with the outsourced company waiting to tackle your project right away so the  jobs get done quickly and accurately by experienced experts. 

Administrative duties are tedious and time consuming, which is why they are oftentimes the first to be outsourced. While they are essential  and important for the smooth operation of business, they don’t directly bring in revenue. Outsourcing those duties allows you and your in-house employees the time to focus on the core tasks of running your business and functions that generate revenue. So you are able to delegate tasks that don’t bring in revenue and tackle tasks in house that directly bring in the money, which is a much more productive way to spend your limited time and resources. 

Access to the Experts

Let’s face it, hiring skilled professionals who  are experts in their respective  fields is a costly initiative. Skilled talent has the knowledge and experience needed to complete a task so you really need them.Thankfully, you could outsource the task to an organization that already has the expert on staff with the skills you need, but at a fraction of the cost. They already have the experience and knowledge so they can  hit the ground running with your project immediately, moving your project along quickly. Otherwise, you may not be able to afford the skill level if you tried to hire someone in-house. This is the beauty of outsourcing. 

Hiring and training

Hiring and training is a full-time job in a company which makes it a costly task. You  could potentially spend a lot of time on training  only to have an employee quit on you. Or  an employee gets sick while another is on vacation which leaves you in a jam and scrambling to quickly find coverage. This slows down operations and the completion of projects. When you outsource, you simply don’t have to deal with those problems. You contract another company to tackle the job with a deadline and it’s their responsibility to handle it. It saves a ton of time, stress and money, which is a compelling reason to choose outsourcing.

Ability to Scale

When you outsource you get the benefit of having dedicated departments completing your business processes without the additional overhead costs. This allows you to offer more competitive pricing to crush your competition. You could use the savings to fund other projects like additional product development to separate you from your competition. The savings could also be used to increase your marketing efforts and take your business to the next level. 

If you outsource your customer service you will have a team available 24/7 to handle any questions or needs that arise at any time which will add to a pleasant buying experience for your customers. When a customer is happy with your products and services they will naturally tell their friends and family about their great experience. Then their friends and family will come buy from you, get the same great service and tell more people. Some of your customers will also go online and give you positive reviews which others will see and be the deciding factor of buying from your business. 

Studies show United States consumers will pay 17% more to purchase from a company that has a reputation for great service. So great customer service is free marketing and an excellent way to scale your business. 

Focus on Core Business Tasks

When you are not spending your days with the tedious time consuming tasks that need to get done to run your business you have the time to really focus on the core business tasks. You will have time to do any research you need to, including checking out what your competition is doing. You have time to brainstorm with your team on ways to improve efficiency and growth strategies. 

Sometimes there’s much more brain storming needed to successfully run your business than you have the time for. If you are always needing to spend time on every single process in order to ensure it gets completed you won’t be as successful as you would be if you have the tasks completed by your outsourcing team. When you outsource you have a team leader that is in charge to oversee your processes to ensure they are done correctly so you don’t have to think and worry about it all day. As a business owner time is your most valuable and scarce resource. Delegating tasks to the professionals will free up your time to do what you do best – grow your business. 

Result

Outsourcing is an excellent business strategy since it increases productivity, efficiency and saves you a ton of money to increase your bottom line. However, with outsourcing not all companies are created equal. In order to have a successful outsourcing partnership it’s vital to hire the right company. A company that could successfully fulfill your needs and already has the skilled talent on staff that is experienced in the task at hand so they could get started right away. 

Finding a company with similar cultures and values will help build a long-term great working relationship together. A company that is flexible and will adjust their services to fit your important needs. You should be able to easily communicate with them as well. If you choose to outsource overseas for the biggest cost savings ensure their team is fluent in English. 

Before you hire a company for your business processes you want to take a close look at all of your day to day tasks to determine which ones would be the most beneficial to contract out. The end goal is to get everything done successfully, quickly and smoothly with keeping high quality standards. 

Ready to jump on the bandwagon and reap the great benefits of outsourcing? Contact Awesome CX today and we will show you how awesome we are! 

Sources:

https://www.sba.gov/blog/10-small-business-functions-can-be-easily-outsourced

https://fortunly.com/statistics/outsourcing-statistics/#gref

https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2019/09/24/50-stats-that-prove-the-value-of-customer-experience/?sh=635de9fa4ef2