When it comes to growing your business, then you might turn your nose up at the idea of outsourcing your work to another company, but sometimes this needs to be done.
Giving some non-essential work to a third party is actually effective in boosting the overall growth of your business.
Contracting things to a third party can also expand your business, as some of these companies will simply be more skilled at doing the job than your company.
This will then allow your company to focus solely on the job they are good at, without wasting precious work hours on a task they might not be qualified for.
So, what is the best method for outsourcing for your company? What might be the primary reasons for you doing so?
How can you grow your company using outsourcing?
Well, we have all the info on outsourcing, so you can help your business thrive and grow exponentially.
Basically, this is where a company forms an agreement with another company to do work that they would normally delegate to an in-house team.
This might be done for a few different reasons, here is a list of just a few of them:
Reduced expenses – you can reduce the expenses of your company that might have otherwise been reserved for other tasks and streamline those funds to another company to perform the same task more efficiently.
Time limited tasks – you can hire a company for a specific amount of time to perform a series of tasks.
Company workflows often fluctuate and sometimes outsourcing will alleviate the stress on the team.
Faster delivery times – this will help you to deliver products in a lot more effective manner, as your team can focus on getting work out quicker rather than be distracted by secondary tasks.
Lower costs – you can also significantly lower the monthly expenditure by shopping around to find a third-party company that will do the work much cheaper than you could do it in-house.
How Can I Outsource Effectively?
There are a few steps that you should take before you commit to paying a third-party company to perform a specific task for you.
Here are just a few of them:
You'll need to make sure that you get the right company to perform the task as efficiently as possible.
This will come in handy when you are planning your budget.
Make sure you look at the testimonies of some of the companies that you have listed to see if they have mostly positive or negative reviews.
Also, make sure that you are going to third-party sources and that you are ensuring the reviews are legitimate.
You'll need to make sure that you are judging every case as it comes when you are outsourcing.
You might be spending more money on a third-party company for outsourcing, but once you have totaled your budget for that quarter, you might actually be making a saving.
You'll need to be sure that you make an agreement up front with whatever company you are working with. Guarantee that your needs and obligations are never in conflict with those of the outsourcer.
You'll need to make sure that you have clear goals that you want the outsourcing company to achieve for you.
You'll also need to apply the necessary penalties if you feel that the outsourced company has failed to achieve its goals.
The harmony of both parties is all dependent on whether both of you are working toward the same goal. If you are, you will tend to find the relationship is successful and you will consider working with them again.
You'll need to make sure that you have set up a workflow that will allow you and your service provider to meet goals and targets on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis.
You'll have to make sure that there is transparency to a lot of your methods and that you both agree to the rate of work and the general structure of the workflow.
You'll need to make sure that there is cooperation at all stages of the process.
If you feel like there is no cooperation and communication is lacking in the early stages, then you might see fit to terminate the contract.
Non-Disclosure Agreements
You'll need to make sure that the documents that protect the rights of you and your clients are there to benefit both of you, as well as protect both parties in the case of any legal disputes.
This document should also specify what the terms of a violation are and what penalties will incur as a direct result of such a violation.
There are certain papers that you will have to sign to this effect:
Master service agreement – this is the paper where both parties agree to the terms and services that will determine all future agreements.
Out staff agreement – This will set up the rights, responsibilities, and duties of an employer, in this case, the person hiring the outsourced company.
Valuable assets – These are the most valuable assets in your company.
· Milestones and prices
· Time and material
· Non-disclosure agreement
Things To Bear In Mind Before Hiring A Company
There are certain things that are essential for having your business grow.
Here are a few things that need to be at the top of your list when scouting for new companies:
Trust is a crucial component of outsourcing, which is why it is so important that you develop and gain the trust of a company over time.
You'll need to think about what you want them to do and constantly evaluate whether you think they are doing it to a competent standard.
The cost of something might not always reflect the value, so you should focus on the latter rather than the former. You can get a service for very cheap but it might be of a vastly inferior quality to what you want.
You should make sure that you are always communicating with the outsourcing company to make sure they are hitting targets.
Schedule weekly check-ins and monthly meetings to make sure they are doing to job correctly.
However, be sure that you don't micromanage the outsourced company. You have hired them to do a job, do not smother them with too many provisos and changes. Allow them to do their job effectively.
Do your research and make sure the company that you are intending to use has a good reputation.
Often a company that has been running for a while and has positive reinforcement from industry professionals will be a trusted company that delivers what it promises.
You should be wary of companies that offer you too much. If an outsourced company is spread too thin, it will do a substandard job, or it might not be able to deliver what they advertise.
We hope that this guide to outsourcing has given you a better idea of what to expect from this process and whether or not you should pursue it.
If you plan it properly and do your research beforehand, you can use outsourcing to rapidly expand your business.
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