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Disadvantages of Outsourcing to Offshore Virtual Assistants
Written by: Rita CartwrightArticle Overview: As an onshore Virtual Assistant and entrepreneur, I feel it is necessary to address the disadvantages of outsourcing to offshore virtual assistants (VAs), as well as discuss what some of these disadvantages are.
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Disadvantages of Outsourcing to Offshore Virtual Assistants
When you outsource offshore, you are going to encounter virtual assistants who are not familiar with our culture and language. Although they speak English, generally it is not their first language. This causes language barriers, communication gaps, and lack of understanding. It can also be very time-consuming to have a regular conversation. All languages have nuances, which can't be taught in foreign language lessons. Is the frustration worth the money you save?
Another disadvantage is if you choose to outsource confidential personal data offshore, it may not be protected. Firms in India currently are not equally subject to any extensive legislative or regulatory data-protection controls.
Most offshore VAs work for outsourcing firms and are not business owners. They do not have a vested interest in your business other than making more money. Erin Blaskie of Business Services, ETC stated, "These companies are working day and night going through a wide variety of tasks just to get them back out the door. They aren't spending the time to strategize and become a partner in your business. They are simply providing cheap labor." Most of us, onshore virtual assistants, are entrepreneurs and small business owners; therefore, we understand the daily operations of a small business, as well as what is required to develop it. Our goals are to establish ongoing business relationships with our clients in order to help them reach their goals, as well as help them develop their companies. We want our clients to succeed in their businesses. Their success is our success. Also, our clients are able to discuss various business ideas with us, because we are dealing with the same business-related issues.
Another disadvantage in offshore outsourcing is offshore virtual assistants can't operate without access to the Internet. Around a year ago, India had an Internet outage due to snapped cables in the Mediterranean Ocean. Although, onshore virtual assistants require Internet access in order to conduct their business, their Internet providers are their phone companies, cable companies or satellite providers. We are not at the mercy of a cable under the ocean.
When you decide to work with offshore virtual assistants as opposed to onshore VAs, this decision eliminates a job opportunity for a fellow American citizen. Onshore VAs need all the business they can get in order to pay for the rising costs in food, housing, medical insurance, education, etc. Keep in mind, offshore VAs' cost of living is much lower than ours here in America. They can afford to work for less money. Offshore outsourcing causes a negative domino effect on our economy.
According to an article by TemplatesFactory.Net, a lot of people who outsourced to new companies or individuals have lost money when paying in advance. In some cases, third party companies charge more than the agreed-upon fee when they realize the clients are totally dependent on their services.
There are several disadvantages in outsourcing to offshore virtual assistants, including drastic differences in time zones. The one main advantage in offshore outsourcing is saving money. The old adage is true. "You get what you pay for." Is it really worth it?
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About the Author: Rita Cartwright RSS for Rita's articles - Visit Rita's website  After Rita earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing, she was hired and trained by Sears to be a Sales Manager. She soon discovered retail sales was not for her. So, Rita decided to become an entrepreneur offering virtual assistant services. Since 2002, she has provided word processing services and other virtual assistant services to entrepreneurs and small business owners. During the past eight years, Rita has used various Internet marketing strategies to market her online business and discovered that she has a passion for Internet marketing. As a result, she decided to focus on offering Internet marketing services and recently, decided to change her business name to RJ's Internet Marketing Services in order to reflect the niche service offerings. Rita enjoys being an entrepreneur, as well as working with other entrepreneurs, especially, business and life coaches. She admires how they transform people's businesses and/or lives by helping them to become successful. Today, Rita is glad she didn't receive any job offers 10 years ago. She has been more successful at searching for clients as opposed to searching for employers. Click here to visit Rita's website   Working with a Virtual Assist |
Related Forum Posts
employees or 1099?
- In my line of work, we are trying to keep our costs down and stay as "virtual" as possible. I was wondering if anyone had some insight as to whether I should hire employees or contractors?
My apologies, here is a description of the situation so you might actually be able to answer my question.
Little Man Consulting has a policy to NOT meet with clients unless they are truly against the completely virtual environment. As my company has quadropled in size this year alone, I am finding it harder and harder to keep up with the work and still grow the business. There are other Virtual Assistants out there. Should I farm out the work, or bring in employees?
Re: How can I promote my site?
- [quote="Hulbert Lee":krqwp5om]You can promote your website through blog commenting, forum posting, article directories, software directories, and search engine optimization.[/quote:krqwp5om]
In addition, I would also recommend running some contest if you have a blog. Keep it simple for a starter, offer good/fun prizes, and find a "community" of bloggers to spread this contest/news by of course asking them nicely and propose that it would benefit both of your sites. See how that works, and if you want to, you could also join some carnivals. We have tried this for the company that I work for (Pepper Virtual Assistants) and it's given us great exposure in the online business industry.
Work from Home
- It all depends on the level of your business that you are involved in. Offshore business sounds as "The cool thing" but its not all that cool when managing infrastructure is concern. It’s a huge investment involved. I am talking about serious business.
Seek Venture Capital & Funding
- Hello,
Greetings from India.
I am Seeking Venture Capital for Offshore Software Company Start-up. Need advise along with Business Model Sample.
I have a basic outline for an offshore company.
1. Technology - like Microsoft Dot Net, Java, LAMP
2. Talent Team - Found Good Technology Developers.
3. Where I can get the leads/potential customers - Leads have been identified who are willing to move forward offshore projects.
4. I do not have resources like funding. It is a very critical factor to me
Industries: Manufacturing, Real Estate, Retail, Insurance, Distribution & Logistics, Healthcare, Industry Associations and Software Product Development, Agricultural Industries and Etc.
Services: Offshore Software Development Company.
Offices to be located: Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India and USA.
Products/Services/Applications in areas like POS & Billing, Sales & Distribution, Production Planning, Material Management, Inventory Control, Plant Maintenance, Purchasing, Accounting and Logistics. Dynamic Web Programming with Database Driven Content Management Systems, Online Stores for E-Commerce, B2B Solutions, Community Portals, Website Redesign and Development, Custom ERP with Enterprise Wide Functional Modules such as Marketing, CRM, Accounting, Inventory Control, Sales & Distribution, Production Planning, Purchase & Stores, Logistics and Supply Chain.
Seek your further questions and help.
Thank you,
Best Regards, Jayapratap.
Re: Traditonal Demographics Do NOT Work with Generation V
- That article is the first time I ever heard the term. I found this definition -
[i:189o61sy]The term Generation V (for Virtual) is used to describe the online culture in which relationships, services and communication are carried primarily and preferably through electronic media. Generation Virtual is made up of people from multiple demographic age groups who make their social connections primarily online - through virtual worlds in online games, in social networks, as bloggers, or through posting and reading user-generated content.[/i:189o61sy]
I like the targeting options the internet offers much better than the typical demographics. Age is particular is not nearly as effective in finding a target market unless you want to target kids. Too many of the typical demographics rely on stereotypes and just seems outdated for many types of promotion. That's one of the reasons this article title caught my eye.
Shri
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