Tons of companies benefit from outsourcing specific roles
Key takeaways:
- Outsourcing has many perks for small businesses, such as decreasing costs and bringing better process optimization.
- Small businesses can outsource a single task or an entire department.
- The first step is to determine which roles would be most beneficial to hire for.
They say no man is an island, and no business is either. Most businesses depend on collaboration with other entities to be successful. One of the most beneficial of all business partnerships begins when you decide to outsource.
Outsourcing is when a business contracts a job function to another professional. Businesses usually outsource:
- The day-to-day tasks
- Entire departments of the company
Hiring a third party to print flyers for your business’s big sale is an example of outsourcing. Software companies that leverage outside talent to manufacture their designs are examples of how a whole department can be outsourced.
Sometimes, businesses do both. Tech companies, like Apple, outsource day-to-day tasks like answering emails as well as manufacturing departments.
Outsourcing is also called Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) It can be done in your own country or outside of it. When you outsource work to overseas companies, it is called offshoring, and even small companies do it.
BPO starts by deciding which functions of your business will be most beneficial to hire extra talent for. What’s best for you depends on what type of company you have and in what industry. Your business may also have specific outsourcing requirements to follow.
What factors should you consider when deciding on BPO?
The exact roles that your business would benefit most from outsourcing are heavily dependent on your individual needs but some basic questions can help you see your situation clearer.
- Does the job your considering outsourcing require a lot of communication with management or other teams?
- Would the business run more efficiently if this job were done remotely?
- Can all communication for this role be done remotely or is there any part that must be face to face?
Once you answer these questions, you will have a clear picture of what roles you should use BPO for.
The most common functions that businesses outsource include:
Data entry
Data entry can be overwhelming and completely bog down a business, taking valuable time away from employees that you need working on other projects. Hiring a dedicated team to take care of data entry is not always the most economic decision. Using BPO for this function has several valuable benefits.
A professional team secured through a BPO firm can give you their best work right away, as opposed to hiring someone in-house that can take months to train properly. Data entry can also be a monotonous task that causes high turnover. That’s no good if you’re trying to scale up your business.
Another great reason to use BPO for this function is higher quality. This job requires quality, accuracy, and consistency. If you’re digitizing your business records to use your data more purposefully, it must be accurate. A reputable BPO firm will find highly skilled candidates with experience in exactly what you need.
Administrative tasks
Administrative tasks are critical to a business of any kind. Customer service alone can take hours of valuable time that could be put to other uses. Add in bookkeeping, scheduling, errands, and travel arrangements, and you have just filled a whole day with necessary but time-consuming tasks. There are entire teams of outsourced individuals eager to do those duties for you. They will do them quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively.
Creative work
You may already be outsourcing your creative endeavors, but if not, you should be. Designing logos, creating video entries, curating content, and designing websites are skills that not everyone has, despite the many apps and programs to help. Getting something that you love to use as a part of your business’ brand is a big perk of outsourcing creative projects to skilled, creative workers.
Sales and marketing
Sales and marketing are aspects of a business that must continuously be revamped. Marketing campaigns can be the first thing to fall to the wayside when time and money are slim but that is a bad decision regardless of the business’s circumstances. In-house marketing teams are costly. Outsourcing lowers overhead costs as well as turnover risk.
Outsourced sales and marketing teams provide comprehensive reports that track your projects and results in great detail, allowing you to see precisely what is working for you and what should be purged. They also provide quick scalability without the interviewing, hiring, and training responsibilities.
Human Resources (HR)
HR can be a costly segment of your business. Besides the costs of recruiting, hiring, and training, there is the burden of turnover before projects been completed. There is also a fair amount of risk involved. There are many rules, regulations, and laws pertaining to the employment process. A mistake can be costly but also carry other penalties. HR problems can occur right under your nose and you may not even notice.
Outsourcing the HR department and processes is an efficient way to cut costs and reduce risks. It is also another area where BPO can drastically improve the quality of services at your disposal. Outsourced teams are highly skilled professionals in their industry.
Every business’ needs are different. The best reasons for outsourcing are the ones that make your business run smoothest. Whether it’s just one task, like answering the phones, or a whole department, such as HR or administration, BPO is a viable tool to help even the smallest of businesses scale up and boost revenue.
BPO when you need it
More and more small to medium-sized businesses are turning to BPO as a way to cut costs and streamline core functions. DOXA helps these companies build high-performing, scalable, global teams.
We are a global business services firm, structurally aligned to deliver better results for small companies. Using our proprietary system, we ensure that SMBs have the infrastructure, tools, and resources to compete with larger organizations. Get a free consultation today.
