Outsourcing is when a business uses a third party (not an employee of the business) to perform a service that the company used to perform itself. Naturally, there are both pros and cons to doing so and knowing each will help you to decide if this is something that could work for your business. Here is a quick guide to the pros and cons of outsourcing with a particular focus on the reasons FOR it.
Here’s a quick look at the disadvantages of outsourcing
- Quality of work – many business owners worry that the quality will be subpar.
- Service delivery – delivery may fall behind time or below expectation.
- Lack of control – you have to give up some control when you outsource which can be scary for some.
- Communication issues – different time zones and methods of communication can lead to potential miscommunication, mistakes or bottlenecks.
- Lack of flexibility – you will be working within an outsourcing contract which may be too rigid to accommodate change.
- Confidentiality and security – this may be a risk.
- Management difficulties – changes at the outsourcing company could lead to friction.
- Instability – the outsourcer’s company could go out of business.
The pros
- You don’t have to hire more employees – this saves you a lot of money from recruitment and training to employee benefits. Outsourcing also allows you to find the right talent at potentially a lower price.
- You have access to a larger talent pool – although the quality is a worry for business owners who outsource, if you have a professional doing it, this will end up being better quality than if you just asked an employee to take it on who has never done it before.
- It allows you to add more value to your clients – you can add on extremely cost-effective services for your clients that you don’t normally deliver.
- It gives you a greater competitive advantage – outsourcing can help you leverage knowledge and skills that you perhaps don’t have in your team. This allows you to offer additional services and expertise so that you can out-compete the market.
- It gives your team more time and focus for what really matters – outsourcing can free up time to deliver a personal and highly valuable service to clients and also time to focus on main tasks that will actually grow the business.
- It helps you to control your costs – a good outsourcer can turnaround the work at a cost saving of 33%-50% compared to what it would cost to have paid someone in the UK to do the work. With this freed up money, you can then inject this into more valuable areas of the business.
How do you feel about outsourcing?
Yes, it comes with risks, but if you take the time to trial and test a few outsourcing companies, you can find your perfect match and you’ll see the huge positive impact that it can have on your business. Don’t you want your business to be able to adapt to changing market conditions and to save on costs without sacrificing quality?