Here’s Why Your Startup Should Outsource
There are a lot of people out there who seem to see “outsourcing” as a dirty word; they imagine the activity to be something that only those who want to rob their home country of essential jobs and income would do, or something that only tax dodgers would engage with. But this simply isn’t the truth. For one thing, what you’re thinking about there is offshoring, which is merely a type of outsourcing. (Nor is offshoring all that bad, either.)
Outsourcing can be done either locally, somewhere a bit farther away in the same country, or on the other side of the planet. In any case, the reality of business dictates that many entities will need to outsource many important tasks in order to ensure that they can afford to do business, as well as making sure they can complete their assigned task in time and to the required quality levels.
There’s a reason this is especially important for startups. Knowing which key members to hire when you run a startup or small business can sometimes be difficult. What if your budget only allows for a few permanent staff members, but you know that you need more in order to get the work done? Outsourcing can be a solution to many recruitment issues. Here are the major reasons you should be outsourcing.
Saving money
This is the best reason for most businesses, which probably doesn’t surprise you all that much! When you run a small business, one of your major concerns will always be about how to save money. You may not have the capital to hire the number of employees you’d prefer to have in-house. As www.chron.com highlights, the costs of recruitment can reach staggering heights. Advertising the position, training, salaries… it all adds up.
One way to keep an eye on your funds is to hire outsourced staff. Because you’ll only be paying for the work that needs doing, you won’t be shelling out for a full-time employee. This will end up saving you money in the long-run. Plus it makes it easier to stick to a budget if you know exactly how much work you have on, and how much you’re going to end up paying for it.
A wider range of workers
As mentioned in the above point, hiring outsourced staff can work out cheaper than hiring for in-house positions. This means if your budget extends to only one in-house staff member, you can instead recruit for two or more outsourced workers. You’ll get a much more comprehensive coverage for tasks that need doing.
A budget that could see four new full-time employees paid for for a year may cover two new full-time employees and the outsourced assistance of a much larger team. While you may want to take a quality-over-quantity approach, having too low a number of employees can be risky. If you haven’t got many employees and someone needs to take sick leave – something you can read more about at www.floridaovertimelawyer.com – then you’ve lost a big chunk of your workforce, relatively speaking. Having a wider range of workers helps ease the stress of this eventuality. This ensures you get a wider range of skills and more hands on deck. Speaking of which…
Easing the pressure
If you have a small workforce, you might find that people are getting overwhelmed with the amount of work. This is something you need to be very careful about; you don’t want your in-house team to get too stressed out! Not only is that going to seriously affect your productivity levels, but it can also result in long-term health problems for your employees. (In fact, this may even be something about which they take legal action!) Hiring outsourced team members can help ease or balance heavy workloads.
This will then allow your in-house staff to get on with the most important tasks that will help push your business further. It also ensures that you don’t have to stretch them too far when it comes to overtime. You should visit www.inc.com for more advice when it comes to easing the stress levels of your employees. There are many positives to hiring outsourced workers when your business is just getting started. If you’re considering this route, think carefully about how your business needs to operate. Would you get more value from in-house or outsourced staff?
More skills
Finding skilled workers, or training up your workforce, can be costly and time-consuming. You can find skilled outsourcers quickly and easily instead. For example, finding top-quality IT staff can be hard work, and many people within this sector have long notice periods. Finding an experienced staff member who can start right away is invaluable, which is precisely why outsourcing is so useful – you’ll have access to a team of experts straight away.
Thinking about the long-term
Many people seem to think that, “back in the old days”, people find a job and stay there until they retire. While there is more movement in the job market than there used to be, this image of how people used to work isn’t totally accurate. Still, people nowadays are more willing to branch out to try new things, spending only a few years maximum in any one company. (This can actually speed up the process of moving up the career ladder, too. You can read more about this at www.workitdaily.com. ) This can be frustrating for business owners after they’ve invested money into training. Don’t run the risk of forking out for expensive training, when you can find outsourcers to help. You’ll get all your work done professionally and you won’t risk making any losses.
Global talent
Some people who – shall we say “lean towards xenophobia?” – may assume that foreigners are automatically less capable of doing the work you need than homegrown talent. But, as you probably already know, there are crazy amounts of talent all over the world – talent you may not be able to tap into properly at home. When you outsource, you’re not limited to working only with people who live in the nearby area. You can hire talent from around the globe instead. This will balance out your workforce and create a greater diversity. In turn, you’ll find that working with people from different walks of life will add new ideas and breathe fresh life into your business.
.jpg){kind=link}