Strapped for time? We’ve all heard of the term ‘outsourcing’. Like estate agents and bankers, ‘outsourcing’ was once considered a slightly controversial practice. As global business practices continue to evolve and change, outsourcing is becoming infinitely more widespread, popular and imperative.
So what is stopping you?
A little history
So when did outsourcing transport from being considered the cheats way out for idle charlatans to a smart business practice that enables you to sleep sounder knowing someone is doing the work for you as you drool onto your pillow?
Outsourcing, as we know it today, began primarily through tech offshore outsourcing. Companies in the economically advanced nations of the West sent work to businesses in developing countries – an approach that became increasingly widespread during the mid-1990’s economic boom.
Initially it was common to outsource work to India, who are widely considered the long-time outsourcing leaders. But as Leavitt Communications writes, countries like China are now competing with India as outsourcing giants.
As well as the changing geographical logistics of outsourcing, the practice is also altering which type of company utilises and gains from the method of contracting work out to others. What was once a privilege of larger companies, which did the majority of the tech outsourcing, sending work on is now a savvy move for SMEs.
Tt is also now much more common for smaller projects to be outsourced as well as larger ones. As Leavitt explains:
“As outsourcing becomes more widespread, businesses are starting to contract out smaller projects – including complex scientific and R&D projects – to more and more providers.”
At the end of the day, we’re all human
So what’s the benefit of outsourcing? Many entrepreneurs and start-ups can have a tendency to think they can do it all. When it comes to their business, they are the best person to do the bookkeeping, the auditing, the sales tasks and figure out the best IT systems, right?
Wrong!
We’re all human and whether we own our own business or not, there is only so many hours in a day to get everything done. Dishing out certain tasks to people who are trained in a given job becomes a huge business gain for two reasons. Firstly, it frees up more time for the business owner to concentrate on working on their trade and developing their company. Secondly, by handing out certain jobs to professionals in a given arena, ensures the job gets done professionally and to its best.
As Laura Lee Sparks, owner of Legal Marketing Maven, who left her job as a law firm manager to start her own business told Entrepreneur.com:
“Most entrepreneurs have great talents but many times they think they can do it all. That can really stall the growth of the business. By outsourcing the day to day back-office tasks, the business owner has more time to focus on generating income.”
But has outsourcing gone too far?
It’s all very well outsourcing tedious IT chores, HR issues that require a professional or accountancy work that you know very little about, but what about outsourcing more personal elements of life?
In a true account AJ Jacobs, editor-at-large at Esquire magazine, talks of how he began to outsource his life. Jacobs admits his decision to pass much of his life’s chores onto someone else was inspired by reading Tom Friedman’s best-selling book, ‘The World Is Flat’. In this book, Friedman writes of how outsourcing to China and India is not confined to carmakers and tech support but is set to transform every industry in America.
Asides successfully handing out various tasks to different professions in various nations, Jacobs decided that the next logical step was to outsource his personal life, including his marriage. After a minor argument with his wife, Jacobs got one of his virtual outsourcers to send an apology email on his behalf. What’s more, his wife loved the sloppy, apologetic email – even though it wasn’t his own words and forgave him!
Though it’s safe to deduce that not all wives, or husbands for that matter, would be equally as understanding of their spouse outsourcing their grovelling!
Whilst personal life outsourcing might not be the best plan of attack, we have to admit business outsourcing makes much more sense.
Take a look at the top 40 things you can outsource in your business.
1- General virtual assistant duties
2- Web designer
3- SEO/ Web marketer
4- Copywriter
5- Audio/ Video editor
6- Social media manaer
7- Tax preparers
8- Drafters
9- Human resources
10- Security guards
11- Call centre staff
12- Medical professionals
13- IT experts
14- Translator
15- Computer programmers
16- Telephone operators
17- Data entry keyers
18- Proofreaders
19- Telemarketers
20- Typists
21- Salespersons
22- Financial analysts
23- Computer support specialists
24- Payroll and timekeeping clerks
25- Correspondent clerks
26- Legal assistants
27- Bill and account collectors
28- Credit authorisers, checkers and clerks
29- Customer service representatives
30- Policymakers
31- Title examiners and abstracters
32- Researchers
33- Lead generation
34- Business planning
35- Usability testing
36- Advertising
37- Graphic design
38- Transcription
39- Web banner ads
40- Admin support
As we can see by this comprehensive list, the trend to outsource business activities is no longer confined to mere IT and tech support. The growth in outsourcing essential business tasks to people who are talented and experienced in a certain field, has paved the wave for sites such as Elance and People Per Hour, in which freelancers advertise their skills and business owners ‘buy’ such skills.
The growth of the virtual outsourcer is also augmenting the demand for places for freelancers and outsourcers to advertise their skills, such as networking events and co-working centres.
To conclude, whether you’re a business in Yorkshire looking to dish out menial tasks so you can get on with the nitty-gritty of your business, or are a freelancer in London wanting to pick up more work, using a co-working centre and mingling with many industry experts and entrepreneurs, could give your business the boost it requires.
For a quality co-working centre in Leeds, Carrwood Park comes highly recommended.