What You Need to Consider Before Outsourcing Anything

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In college, I took a course on global capitalism from a fairly liberal political science professor. Back then, globalism was a conservative idea to be eschewed by the left. Outsourcing was an evil corporate activity exploiting workers all over the globe.

Now, nobody bats an eye at the word. It’s divorced from sweatshops and third world economies. The most reputable companies now outsource all over the globe.

But not everything about outsourcing is roses and sunshine. Here are a few things you should consider before outsourcing whole departments.

1. Does Your Management Know How to Manage an Outsourced Department?

Every business decision comes at a cost. Even outsourcing, which is supposed to save you money in the long run, can end up costing you dearly.

Cost cutting is the number one reason businesses outsource. But if you don’t have the structure in place to manage an outsourced department, are you really going to save money?

You could end up with more of a headache trying to wrangle an offshore team if your management has no experience handling an outsourced department. Especially if you have clients waiting on outsourced projects, time delays and cultural misunderstandings could tank your business.

2. The First One Might Not Be Your Forever Freelancer

If you’re running SEO services in Singapore and you need a writer for your SEO blogging service, be mindful. The first writer to come along may not be a great fit.

Here’s a great trick: make them do a paid test.

No matter what industry you’re hiring for, there will be a skill set needed. This should be the entry fee for getting into any outsourced or remote position. If you don’t have the requisite skills, you can’t even get in the door.

Once they pass the paid skills test, you can hire them on a one week to one-month trial basis. They must work well with your team, hit their deadlines, and get along well with clients.

Feel free to let anyone go who doesn’t fit these criteria. It’s a cutthroat freelance world out there and you’re not indebted to the first person who walks in the door and passes the skill test.

3. Price Shopping Might Not Get You Quality

The biggest problem with platforms like Upwork? It’s a race to the bottom line. It’s the opposite of an auction.

The goal is often to find the freelancer who is underselling themselves. The novice who is actually good at what they do. This might be ok for a while, but soon enough, you’ll land a dud.

And the quality of those you hire directly affects your clients and your ability to increase revenue. But at the same time, you don’t want to overspend on your budget.

Just Do It

The goal here should be to pair down the local company tasks to what you or your employees are most efficient at. While you might have talent within your company to do various tasks, are they efficient at those things?

If not, take those tasks and outsource them. This will free up time to get the most important tasks done for your company.

 

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