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Is Outsourcing The Right Strategy For Small Businesses During Slow Economy?
| Guest post by: Gourab Nanda |
Article Overview: “When things get tough the tough gets going.” Here the latter word “tough” implies people who equip themselves with the best practices and some added innovation to see through the rough, in this context, the slow economy. Let’s pick outsourcing, as a strategy to counter this rough time and understand whether it is a sensible move to make or not.
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Is Outsourcing The Right Strategy For Small Businesses During Slow Economy?
"When things get tough the tough gets going." Here the latter word "tough" implies people who equip themselves with the best practices and some added innovation to see through the rough, in this context, the slow economy. Let's pick outsourcing, as a strategy to counter this rough time and understand whether it is a sensible move to make or not.
Two most important objectives
There are two most important things businesses must consider in this snail paced economy. One is to keep the operational cost minimal and enough, remember there is a thin line between minimal cost and acute cost; you should not squeeze down to a situation where you literally stop spending and as a result lose business. Second, run your business in full throttle rather than being speculative, i.e., try to identify and latch on to every single business opportunity that even remotely comes your way. If you are dead serious about these two objectives then sailing through will be a walk in the park.
Cutback options
You can indulge in many things to chop off that excess operational cost, like cut down on staff, move into smaller office space, avoid fixed and long term investments and of course outsource your non-core business activities, which otherwise needs to be handled by your in-house staff.
Assessing outsourcing as an option (cutbacks)
While all the cost cutting activities undoubtedly reduce cost, outsourcing your non-core activities gives you the double benefit of cost cutting as well as the time, focus and energy to concentrate on your most important money making activities. It not only makes you stay focused on your primary business but also adds more professionalism to your non-core activities, which ultimately will rub on to your core business and brings about an overall air of enthusiasm and growth orientation.
New business identifying options
Coming to the second aspect of hunting down every single business opportunity, requires you to be dead focused and all ears to site them as and when they creep up. Now if you sit down to chalk out plans to get this designed and executed you may end up with a probable list of activities like:
No un-required deviations, no non-productive communications, 100% focus on product or service development or customization, quality business time with full focus and energy, hiring additional staff to manage back office tasks, telemarketing, online/offline marketing efforts and so on, the list may even get bigger.
Now if you prune down these, you may probably end up with; one: focus on product/service development/customization and second: marketing.
Assessing outsourcing as an option (business identification)
As things are clearer now, you can go ahead with hiring additional marketing teams at the cost of regular employee benefits, training and managerial challenges or completely outsource these to virtual assistants who will not only manage your marketing efforts but will also take care of your additional and increasing back-office work at competitive costs. The option of outsourcing also helps you stay closer with like minded and growth oriented people, in identifying new business opportunities.
Other crucial benefits
Another important benefit that outsourcing brings is the experience of being collaborative and associative. This teaches small businesses the need and also the right approach for partnering with productive associates and other growth oriented businesses especially in this dry economy. These virtual assistants also give you a feeling of extendedness, which can make you feel real positive and upbeat in these trying times.
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Related Forum Posts
Book: Secrets of Six Figure Women
- Secrets of Six Figure Women: Surprising Strategies to up your earning and change your life
Barbara Stanny, 2002
Jacket:
Maybe you've noticed - a subtle trend is gathering steam. Quietly and steadily, the number of women making six figures or more is increasing, and it continues to rise at a rate faster than for men. From entrepreneurs to corporate executives, from white collar executives to free lancers and part timers, women are forging careers with considerable financial success.
Through extensive research and hundreds of interviews, including dialogs with more than 150 high earners whose annual incomes range from $100,000 to 7 million, Stanny discovered that ...they all had certain traits in common:
1) a profit motive
2) Audacity
3) REslience
4) Encouragement
5) Self-awareness
6) Non-attachment
7) Financial knowhow
She amplifies on these in the book itself.
Table of Contents
Intro: Welcome to the era of the six-figure woman
1. The Queen in the Countinghouse
2. The Lowdown on low earners
3. Raising the bar
4. Strategy 1: The Declaration of Intention
5. Strategy 2: Letting go of the ledge
6. Strategy 3: Get in the Game
7. Strategy 4: Speak Up
8. Strategy 5: The Stretch
9. Strategy 6: Seek Support
10. Strategy 7: Obey the rules of money
11. Claiming our power
Appendces:
Resources and websites
Tips for getting out of dent
Investing Basics: Wealthbuilding 101
Re: Should a start-up outsource early?
- Outsourcing is not a mature-business function. It's a process that can be utilized at any spot in the business life cycle. I think outsourcing is a fantastic way to reduce expenses, and maintain quality work. Small businesses can benefit greatly from outsourcing data entry, web programming, and other similar tasks.
Re: In Praise of Slow by Carl Honore
- Thanks for sharing GT - very interesting!
According to Amazon Kindle, the two most highlighted passages from the book are:
[quote:1tn0ii6a]Slow philosophy can be summed up in a single word: balance. Be fast when it makes sense to be fast, and be slow when slowness is called for. Seek to live at what musicians call the tempo giusto—the right speed.[/quote:1tn0ii6a]
[quote:1tn0ii6a]Slow is the opposite: calm, careful, receptive, still, intuitive, unhurried, patient, reflective, quality-over-quantity.[/quote:1tn0ii6a]
Startup Challenges
- Kevin - it's a great read - you should pick it up!
John - what kind of services are you offering? Your signature says "Providing Big Business Resources to Small Businesses"
I have always found big companies to be hard to work with and slow to make decisions but smaller companies are more risk-tolerant and understand the online world.
Re: What can you do if your franchise is hit by a scandal?
- GT - Brilliant Strategy...
What can I add? I'm at a loss for words...so I'll shut up now...
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