Let’s put it this way. Wouldn’t it be amazing if your team had a chance to foster better client relationships or had the necessary bandwidth and means to work on more significant ideas? Wouldn’t having a committed team or personnel to help you handle repetitive and tedious activities makes your business operations more efficient?
Delegating tasks like bookkeeping, digital marketing, customer service, graphic designing, content, SEO marketing, and many more to a business process outsourcing (BPO) company help startups improve their products or services as well as their processes to stay ahead of the curve, especially in this modern business landscape and current competitive market. Likewise, it allows startups to meet the changing market and business conditions without hassles.
In fact, you will be surprised to know that most corporations include outsourcing as a life-changing part of their long-term business goals and objectives. According to the survey in the book–The Outsourcing Revolution by Michael F. Corbett, 90% of companies gave outsourcing credit for their success. Indeed, outsourcing is the best option for growing startups as it helps them save money and time.
In this blog post, we will share with you some notable reasons to answer if outsourcing is the right choice for a startup company. But first, we will go over the necessary details about startup outsourcing.
Keep on reading!
What is Outsourcing For Startups?
Startup outsourcing is a process where businesses outsource their initial startup phase by contracting with a BPO provider to assist in developing and launching their new business. By outsourcing this phase, companies can focus on more critical aspects of their business, such as expanding their operations and attracting new customers.
Outsourcing startup services can be a cost-effective way to get your company off the ground and help you avoid some common startup mistakes.
Why Outsourcing Support Services is a Winning Idea for High-Growth Startups
Startups come in all sizes and shapes, not to mention sectors, but they all share a few common themes. So whether your company is under pressure due to the verge of a growth explosion or demand, there are many reasons to look offshore for your resourcing needs.
Minimised employee turnover
Abrupt growth places enormous pressure on startup founders and the people they hire. High staff turnover usually happens among startups, impacting ongoing growth and consistency. Outsourcing minimises the headache of continuously needing to replace recruits by tapping into a wide array of talents who relish performing on such projects.
Reduced costs
Handling rapid growth requires money, and outsourcing for startups is a simple and practical way to drastically lower operating expenses. For example, engaging a BPO service provider in a low-cost outsourcing hotspot such as the Philippines can help your business save up to 70% on labour and operating costs.
Corporate knowledge
Many outsourcing managers have extensive knowledge of the industries their teams operate within and can offer business owners key support and advice for managing rapid growth, including the amount of work they are trying to handle in-house with limited resources.
Instant infrastructure
Growth periods need additional people, tools, systems, and equipment. The hassle and cost of physically establishing an onshore team can be a burden. This is why executives appreciate that a quality BPO outsourcing company can assume responsibility for such tasks during startup development.
Burnout advantage
No matter how hard-working or passionate a business owner is, a high-growth startup can become a nightmare if they refuse to consider another option. Outsourcing enables leaders and their key employees to avoid running themselves into the ground and instead shift their energies to the strategic plays they need to take their company dream to the next level.
What tasks can your startup company outsource today?
The most common tasks that startup companies outsource include the following:
- HR & Recruitment
- Information Technology
- Back Office
- Operations
- Contact Center
- Data Cleansing
- Data Processing
- Finance and Accounting
- Creative Services
- Digital Marketing
What are the frequently outsourced support roles for high-growth startups?
Outsourcing providers can find quality and enthusiastic recruits to fill almost any position or team within a high-growth startup. More frequently outsourced roles include:
- Virtual Assistant
- Recruitment
- Accountant
- Bookkeeper
- Accounts Receivable and Payable Officers
- Content Moderator
- Copywriter
- SEM Specialist
- SEO Specialist
- Sales Support
- Social Media Marketer
- Software Developer
- Data Entry Specialist
- Data Analyst
- Telemarketer
- Transcription Specialist
- Web Developer
- Live Chat Agent
- Technical Support Engineer
- Technical Support Specialist
- Customer Service Representative
- Payroll Processor
- Structural Engineer
The Benefits of Outsourcing for Startups
As we said earlier, investing in offshoring is essential as it helps startups keep projects on track, smartly manage time, and save money. Let us now have a look at the benefits outsourcing provides for startups.
Increase the team’s efficiency
The outsourced team brings in years of expertise and experience that prove to be an asset to the company. In addition, the understanding and knowledge of the domain ensure increased efficiency and productivity. Thus, an outsourced team can help you attain more in less time.
Save money on labour costs
Employing a full-time in-house team to carry out specific tasks requires you to pay salaries. These salaries usually come from the country’s economic status and experience. However, you can avoid these expenses via outsourcing as you only pay a fixed price to the BPO vendor monthly while saving on labour costs.
Focus on priority tasks
Outsourcing frees internal teams from undertaking repetitive and tedious tasks. While mundane activities are being taken care of by the external provider, the in-house team has time to refocus on salient profit-generating activities like content creation, marketing, customer happiness, and more. The team can now realign their efforts to provide high-value service, build brand reputation, and conduct thorough research without any difficulties.
Decrease expenses for infrastructure
Partnering with a BPO firm eliminates the need for investing in technology and infrastructure. As the work is designated to a third-party team, it is the responsibility of the outsourcing company to develop the infrastructure and invest in the technology required to carry out the assigned tasks seamlessly.
Gain access to industry experts
Outsourcing companies are breeding grounds for expert talent. With BPO, you will have access to experts in human resources, IT, accounting, marketing, web development, and many other teams. In addition, you will obtain quality deliverables and have them finished on time. Take note that a long-term alliance with an outsourcing provider will help the external team understand your project well. The team will know the best methods to perform and deliver quality solutions to your business.
Get up and running in less time
You can get your external team started with your work quickly. All you need to do is to offer them a project brief and grant access to the passwords, tasks, and other documentation. Then, they can start working on the tasks with high-speed internet and the right infrastructure immediately.
Challenges in Outsourcing for Startups
Startups have an advantage when setting up a new company through outsourcing, such as increasing efficiency, but the challenges are inevitable. However, with the right technology and well-defined procedures, startups can surmount those obstacles and ultimately succeed in outsourcing.
No prior experience with outsourcing
It can be overwhelming and challenging to initiate outsourcing because most startups need insight and familiarity with the concept, workflow, and best practices when working with a new team. In addition, explaining the goals and vision to an unfamiliar team can be complicated.
The best way for these scenarios to work out is to ask the outsourced team to take you step by step through their range of procedures. This will stipulate precisely what you’d like, block out any potential unproductive actions, and complete the project in a timely manner.
Cost estimation
Even if outsourcing is a cost-effective solution, it could be expensive if you do not plan it properly. Estimating a reasonable cost for outsourced tasks is among the most widely spoken challenges in outsourcing.
Determine the precise requirements you’d like your outsourced team to fulfil and share them accordingly. Also, summarise your budget limitations to the staff and make sure everything is understood. An ideal outsourced group will work with your needs into a customised program to fit your budget and requirements.
Contract negotiation
Another challenge startups face when outsourcing is negotiating the contract terms with the external team. Establishing the scope and responsibilities for the service-level agreement (SLA) is complex work, made significantly more challenging due to the need to develop the depth of the research and planning required. It will take a great deal of time to refine the contract to suit both parties’ needs.
The first step toward producing an excellent contract is setting precise project requirements. Set up multiple meetings to ensure all expectations and requirements are crystal clear before completing the contract. Additionally, it’s crucial to outline the circumstances when the outsourced team fails to perform the expected deliverables. Finally, it is best to sign a non-binding NDA and other regulatory documentation before contracting out work.
Data Security
Outsourcing is an excellent alternative to scaling a business, but company insiders can take proprietary information like customer data. As a result, essential documents, such as trade secrets, business plans, customer information, core operational processes, and other related resources, can be at risk and potentially stolen or misused. Signing legally binding contracts, like non-disclosure agreements, is a must for startups today.
Cultural differences
Outsourcing usually involves working with diverse teams all over the world. Still, a startup company with no prior experience connecting with culturally diverse communities might need help adjusting and adapting to different national and cultural differences.
The best advice and ideal solution in the circumstances like this are to devise diversity awareness seminars for your team. This could demonstrate that your values and culture appeal to them and offer them an opportunity to learn more.
Further, make clear avenues of communication so that everyone can collaborate and work efficiently. These communication channels will prevent misunderstandings and ensure they efficiently complete the work assigned to them.
Improper communication
Effective communication is often a problem when hiring an outsourced team. Unreliable or failed communication can drop the standard of deliverables and the team’s capacity to build positive working relationships. For example, a successful web-hosting project your business relies upon may only be successful if more communication is devoted to the client you aren’t working with.
Make sure that you are upfront and open with the outsourced personnel. Take time to write down complete and proper information before scheduling conferences. Do not hesitate to interact fully with outsourced staff with any inquiries they might have.
Is Outsourcing the right choice for your startup?
Outsourcing is a popular way for startups to cut costs while accessing talent and resources they otherwise would not have. But is outsourcing the right choice for your startup? It all depends on your specific needs.
When considering whether or not to outsource some of your tasks or processes, it’s essential to weigh the pros and cons of cost savings versus quality control. On the one hand, outsourcing certain activities can reduce overhead costs; on the other hand, it could mean sacrificing quality if you don’t choose carefully. Make sure you do due diligence when selecting an outsourcing partner–get references and reviews from their past customers before signing any contracts.
Ultimately, each situation will be different, and you need to decide what works best for you in terms of cost savings vs quality assurance.
Conclusion
In retrospect, outsourcing can be the perfect solution for startups that are looking to grow quickly and efficiently. It is an excellent option for startups who want to focus their resources on their core business while having access to high-level expertise. It can also help reduce costs and increase efficiency. However, it is crucial to carefully consider the potential risks associated with outsourcing before making any decisions. Ultimately, it is up to each individual startup to decide if outsourcing is the right choice for them.
Get your startup off the ground with The Lead Enquiry. Our BPO provider partners can help your small business grow into something more by offering a full suite of front and back-office solutions that can be customised to your business goals and your organisation’s unique needs. Contact us today.
