The case for BPO and SMBs
Key takeaways:
BPO is a timely and irresistible business model.
It benefits small and medium enterprises in many ways.
BPO offers advantages to companies across various industries.
Small businesses can scale their operations using BPO.
The million-dollar question here isn’t whether small businesses need Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) or not. The question is, “Why do they need it, and in which specific way?” BPO is an advantageous practice that small businesses can leverage. Although this hiring model benefits enterprises from various sectors, each business can use it uniquely. Thus, small businesses can utilize it in the most beneficial way for them.
We examine the various ways BPO can help small businesses. We get to the root of why small businesses choose BPO over traditional hiring. Stay aboard to learn why you should embrace this future-proof hiring model.
What is BPO?
Let’s define BPO before proceeding. A clear definition sets a stable foundation for a better understanding. In a nutshell, BPO is a business practice wherein a business contracts its processes or tasks to an external service provider.
Smart companies analyze their processes, identify those that need outsourcing, and then contract a third-party company. A business manager requires a keen understanding of the company’s internal processes to know how to use BPO. BPO can be used for several operations, including:
- Back-office
These tasks could include payment processing, IT services, and quality assurance.
- Front-office
These processes could include customer support, conflict resolution, sales, and accounts relations. Additionally, the outsourcing scope varies based on a business’s location. For instance, the outsourcing could be:
- Onshore
Here, a business settles for local talent within its national borders.
- Nearshore
A business can hire a service provider from a neighboring nation that speaks the same language or has a similar culture.
- Offshore
This scope lets a business hire talent from foreign countries where labor costs are much lower.
How would BPO benefit your business?
With a clearer understanding of this practice, we answer the big question: What is in it for your emerging enterprise? Let’s examine what a recent survey from Deloitte revealed. In 2020, Deloitte discovered that businesses that leverage this practice enjoy the following benefits:
70% of business leaders revealed they use this hiring concept to save costs.
40% of the respondents said they want to make their businesses more flexible.
20% of surveyed business leaders said they enjoy higher speed to market.
15% of enterprise leaders seek access to better business tools.
15% of interviewees said they prefer BPO to traditional hiring because it accelerates their agility.
These stats show what modern, future-thinking executives want and enjoy with BPO. Now, what do you want out of this practice? Let’s examine the evidence for BPO more deeply.
1. Save costs and maximize profits
In this challenging economic season, businesses have no option but to formulate ways to reduce operating costs and maximize profits. Adopting BPO is a proven way of achieving this goal without compromising on production quality. The reason is that most offshore workers live in economies with lower living and labor costs. Thus, a U.S. or UK business can hire a qualified virtual assistant from the Philippines, for example, at a lowered expense.
2. Improve flexibility
The modern company can’t afford to be a slow-to-turn tanker or submarine. Your enterprise should be as flexible as a speedboat in turning and changing direction when opportunities knock. Partnering with a BPO firm lets you enjoy great flexibility. Their contracts are easy to modify to accommodate your dynamic market needs.
3. Enhance competitive advantage
The desire to enhance a business’s competitive advantage is another reason to outsource your non-critical tasks. This arrangement frees your team to focus on the essential operations that give you a market distinction.
BPO enables small businesses to compete globally with the big boys. Formerly, only big companies like IBM, JP Morgan, and others could afford to hire expatriates and pay them. Then, a business needed to relocate expatriates and pay them huge salaries to live abroad.
However, the internet-powered model of BPO allows a small business in New York, for example, to hire experts globally. Thus, the big boys no longer have a monopoly of access to the finest global talent.
4. Improve performance quality
Outsourcing your business’ processes improves performance quality. It frees your core staff’s time and energy to complete priorities.
5. Gain speed
A smart business should be a lion and a cheetah simultaneously. It needs the lion’s strategy and the cheetah’s speed to achieve its strategies on time. Taking the BPO path helps a small enterprise enjoy this delicate balance.
6. Leverage innovation opportunities
Contracting a BPO provider exposes you to the latest advances and innovations like Robotic Process Automation (RPA). Why? Because they invest in emerging technologies to help them serve your business better.
7. Expand your reach
Business offshoring lets emerging businesses expand their reach beyond time zone limitations. They can subcontract 24/7 call centers to give them intercontinental access.
8. Maintain strategic focus
In business, distraction is equal to destruction. Offshoring your non-essential tasks enables you to maintain a strategic focus on your core competencies and competitive advantages.
9. Tap into global diversity and uniqueness
The global village is a fascinating place. It exposes you to our rich diversity and uniqueness. A business enjoys all these priceless benefits by tapping into BPO.
10. Gain greater connectivity
Lastly, you enjoy global connectivity and integration. This hiring model lets you connect to talent using cloud-based platforms. This way, you run your business as a real digital native in a technologically interconnected generation.
Start your BPO journey
You really shouldn’t wait another day before joining the revolution. At DOXA , we know what you face because we are also tech-savvy entrepreneurs. Why don’t you contact us today to take your business to the next level? We will connect you with a team that future-proofs your emerging business.
