The Pros and Cons of Outsourcing Your Business Processes

Posted by Rob 'n Mo

February 22, 2008

Hi,

Most people own computers today, and chances are that you’ve also run into problems with the equipment.

Where did you take it? Perhaps back to the place you purchased from. Did you notice if the person fixing your PC was an employee or an outsourced technical support person? Couldn’t tell, could you?

Or how about when you called for support?

Companies like BestBuy outsource all their technical support - and the outsourced company works in the business and in many cases I’ve seen them work the sales floor as well. Not a bad deal for BestBuy.

This is what outsourcing is all about. Many businessess outsource certain jobs jobs to other companies in countries such as the Philippines, Mexico, India, and China because of the lower cost of labor and doing business. Outsourcing is popular because of inexpensive labor, and quality services and it allows the business to focus more on important tasks such as growing the business.

Here are some of the advantages of outsourcing services:

Lower personnel costs; pay for only what you use
Allow the business to focus on more important tasks
Increase your productivity and efficiency
Free up your time

However, with all the advantages of outsourcing, there are also disadvantages that you should consider.

Here are some of the disadvantages that outsourcing may have:

Potential quality problems
Slow resolution and/or response times
Reduction of product sales because of frustrated customers or people who boycott a company’s products because they outsource

Ideally when you outsource you want to spread the work out to multiple people.

For example if your plan is to outsource blog posts, it may be beneficial to provide the same list of topics to 3, 4 or 5 different individuals. If one person doesn’t submit their posts on time, you know that there are several others that will. In this way you can also weed out the resources that have not worked for you and retain the best.

Outsourcing has a lot of benefits that your company can take advantage of. However, before you outsource, you should first weigh the advantages and disadvantages and know whether outsourcing is for you. In most cases, especially with online businesses outsourcing is essential and since you would use multiple individuals your risk is lower.

Regards,

Mohamed

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