Outsourcing has been around for quite a while now as an ideal way for large companies to tap into talent when necessary without having to bring professionals on as regular employees. This has reaped considerable savings for companies in terms of not having to pay benefits and taxes, while still getting access to the skill sets and knowledge necessary to achieve certain strategic objectives. However, outsourcing doesn’t have to be just for big companies.
Startups and small business owners can tap into freelancers for designing a website, developing an app, marketing the business, and even writing content.
Here are some compelling reasons why small businesses should add outsourcing as a strategy beyond just the financial savings that larger companies have proved are possible:
- Access expertise and productivity that may not be possible in-house because of your inability to bring on that level of overhead cost or your location. Often, you are operating your small business or startup from home and don’t have the space or comfort level with bringing in people to that environment. Geographically, you may not be close to the talent you require, so this allows you to tap into that wherever in the world it may be found.
- Achieve economies of scale without taking on the complex infrastructure that is often viewed as the model for company growth. You’ll be able to grow your business without having to invest more money or add layers of management to your structure to handle that growth. Instead, you’ll have those additional layers and costs outside your organization as outsourced resources working toward that end.
- Add value and credibility with any investors that may want to fund your startup or small business by showing greater control over your capital costs. With outsourcing, you can turn your fixed costs into variable costs, controlling how much you spend much more easily than if you had brought on full-time or even part-time regular employees. Investors will like to see how well you have opted to control those costs, keeping them aligned with your revenue.
- Leverage current technology without having to output the money to do so. With technology continuing to advance at such a rapid rate, you may not know what to invest in or whether you can even afford to do so. However, in turning to outsource talent, these graphic designers, writers, IT security specialists, developers, bookkeepers and others already have invested in these tools in order to make themselves more marketable to companies. This technology provides a way to make their work more efficient and productive, creating even better value for you.
- Accomplish more tasks in less time. With so much to do as a small business owner, it helps to have these other members on your team that you can delegate many operational items to them and off your own plate. Efficiency becomes a competitive advantage for your small business and provides another way to lower existing costs, which should further offset spending money on outsourcing.
- Stay focused on your customers and what you can deliver to them. You don’t want to be distracted by other aspects of your business that, while necessary, don’t need to take up your time. Instead, you’ll be able to work on more marketing efforts as well as nurturing your existing customers to enhance their experience with you. The return on investment in having outsourced talent allow you to do this can result in a greater level of revenue than if you had tried to handle every aspect of your small business by yourself.
- Minimize hiring efforts by utilizing a freelance marketplace like Upwork, Fiverr, PeopleForHire or 99Designs. They make the posting, hiring and payment processes easy and seamless, saving you a lot of time wasted in trying to find the right person.
Lastly, you don’t have to worry that you won’t be able to afford outsourcing because you can select just how much you spend and then find the talent willing to work within those financial parameters.
Remember that technology has opened up a whole world of talent to you so that you can find those individuals who are eager to work on projects and build up their own small businesses. It’s why outsourcing has become a major trend for small businesses in 2017 and beyond.