When and Why Should Startup Companies Outsource?
While more and more companies are choosing to outsource, some still remain skeptical. It does make sense for some business owners to think twice before they proceed with a major decision such as outsourcing their processes. But when can you really tell if your startup company should proceed with outsourcing? Here are some tips to help you know when and why you should outsource.

1. Scale manpower
As a startup business, there will come a time when you will have to jumpstart or improve lots of processes. Some business owners might decide to hire more people just to get past these hurdles and accomplish some of their goals. But when you are just a new business, deciding to hire more employees in-house might not be the right move, as it can siphon away more of your resources, considering the multiple processes involved in hiring, onboarding and training new employees. Not to mention the employee benefits that you will have to set up for them. If you want to scale your manpower fast, with less of the usual preparations required for hiring new people, outsourcing is the best way to do it. With the help of an outsourcing provider, you can simply identify your business needs and let your provider do the rest. No need for you to recruit or train people.

2. Boost team’s efficiency
Another reason for you to consider outsourcing is when you want to improve your team’s efficiency. When your team is doing more than they can handle, it can affect your overall efficiency and impact the quality of the products or services that you are delivering to your customers. If there are tasks that you can outsource, for the purpose of improving your team’s productivity, then do it. As long as you identify the right process and work with a reliable outsourcing partner, you can improve your team’s effectiveness, meet more goals in less time, and even boost your revenues quicker.

3. Lower operational costs
One of the biggest concerns of startups is their operational costs. If you are running a startup, you will usually have a limited amount of money to spare for your operations. So how do you work around that limitation and be able to scale up your operations? Outsource! In fact, a recent survey of businesses shows that 59% of respondents consider outsourcing as a cost-cutting tool. Outsourcing some of your operations can cut your labor costs by up to 70%. With this, you can even redirect your resources to help you improve core processes for your business.

4. Focus on core functions
As your startup company grows, the number of tasks your team will need to handle also increases. Sometimes, you might feel like you are losing sight of what is actually important, and that is your business’ core functions. If you want to redirect your in-house team’s focus on the main business processes only, then you should consider outsourcing your other non-core functions. On times when your business is continuously expanding, you should consider outsourcing your secondary activities so that you can provide high quality front-end services.

Things You Might Be Concerned About When Outsourcing
Apart from these four points, there are other things that you might be thinking about when it comes to outsourcing some of your business processes.

1. Outsourcing Too Soon
One mistake that you’d like to avoid before outsourcing is working with a provider to handle some specific business functions without having a clear understanding or direction of how to do it in-house. Before outsourcing some essential business processes, such as your IT or accounting, you should see to it that you have a clear direction you would like to take. See to it that your outsourcing reasons align with the company’s vision, and someone or a micro team in-house should be leading or directing that outsourcing team.

2. Relying Too Much on Outsourcing
There will come a time when you will feel like so much of your business functions are being outsourced and you don’t have the right set of talents to handle those outsourced processes in-house. This is usually the case when the company grows fast and instant communication becomes crucial to your operations. To get past this problem, you should first learn to identify when the right time is to bring back the process in-house. But when will you know? Usually, it’s when new and essential developments come into play, such as new tech versions that your company should use, that’s when you should bring in a new executive who can oversee the transition of your processes from your outsourcing partner towards your internal team.

3. Returning to Outsourcing
Another concern that most startup companies have, especially when they start growing is when they continue retaining repetitive operations or keeping a team that is pretty much doing the same functions as that of another. When this happens, it might be time for you to consider going back to outsourcing. Take your company’s marketing functions, for example. Marketing is an integral company process, but it does not make sense to keep a large team on the company payroll if the process is something that can be delegated to an outsourced team that can be more focused on meeting and scaling your marketing goals. If you are looking to boost your team’s efficiency, scale your manpower, focus on core operations and lower your costs, you should consider outsourcing some of your backend processes. Whether you are a startup business or have been stagnant for a while and would like to continue growing, working with a trusted outsourcing partner will help you meet your goals. Talk to us here at Assivo to find out how we can provide you with an outsourcing solution that can help you improve your efficiency, productivity and overall processes, so that you can eventually achieve your goals.