outsourcing work advice for the Small Business

Companies have failed in their outsourcing efforts because of a single issue - they failed to develop a data driven, logical & rational reason for doing it. This great tip may seem common sense but in practice it can result in painful conclusions. A company or organization must be able to clearly describe what business problem they are trying to solve. It is guaranteed if the reason for an outsourcing strategy is simply "our competition is doing it” You'll be disappointed in the result.

Another good advice is that when a company is looking for an outsourcing partner, they should request that the party provide candidates to carry a small test project to assess their skills. Elance.com. is a website that allows the small business to look up the list of a wide range of candidates willing to carry out their posted projects.  This simply follows on from the previous point. Every company should in effect do their homework, this goes from everything to the outsourcing company’s reputation to their actual duration. If you're a start-up, it doesn't mean that it's a good idea to turn to another start-up for support in key areas. Do your research before you engage with anyone. Make sure that the people you hire for critical outsourcing functions are really experienced and can deliver what they say they can, on time and on budget. Look for people with strong track records and ask for references. Create budgets for key functions and stick to them

Sometimes good old fashioned marketing is the best kind of marketing any business can buy. One great way to outsource sales and marketing, one of the highest expenditure rate of any business, is the use of affiliate or referral programs. They can be extremely effective: simply create an incentive for a person to refer another to purchase your product or service. A key note for all businesses to remember is the importance of viral marking. Word of mouth advertising is perhaps the most effect of all marking ventures. It provides virtually free sales representatives and it is a testament to the quality and standard of the product or services that your business provides. The effectiveness is magnified online with the use of social media such as twitter, linkedin and facebook.

Trust is a vital must in any relationship, professional or personal. If your reputation and current success can attest to your character and the business there would be no need for marketing again. The key to outsourcing is to know the people to whom you outsource. If you can trust them to be on the phone with your client without you being there too, that’s a successful partnership.

For physical goods businesses, this advice is for you. If you sell physical products, why would you want to store all your goods in your home or manage a small warehouse? Why hassle with stuffing boxes and walking to the post office? Outsourcing the pick, pack and shipping of your orders just makes sense. Outsourcing storage and fulfillment is especially valuable to businesses selling overseas: international shipping is expensive, prone to errors and customs problems. Instead

Once a business has identified an outsourcing company to work with it is a good idea to monitor and assess the performance and progress of the outsourced work you have distributed to them. There are a number of tools and services that are out there to help you monitor this. Many consumers search on Google, Yahoo or Bing as their first step toward buying products and services online. A well executed search engine marketing program can help ensure small businesses attract the right customers when they're ready to buy. Consistently monitoring and improving search engine marketing efforts can help business owners get the most from their investment of time and money. Search engine management tools help small business owners outsource their search engine marketing through a dedicated pay per click consultant to manage their campaign

When you find outsourcing of your own work successful, start examining the tasks completed by your staff members, to ascertain which tasks can first be assigned for outsourcing. Administration could be one area, with potential for tasks that can be outsourced. An objective assessment will enable you to decide if you can benefit by the increased efficiency and lower administrative costs if some of the administrative responsibilities are outsourced.

The list of tasks that can be safely used as outsourcing work could include transcription, data entry and activities that generally require personal assistance for completion. There is a growing pool of virtual personal assistants in the virtual personal assistant industry. That is where you can identify specialists who are capable of successfully handling outsourced work.
Freelancing is also a growing area that can help with outsourced work. Freelancers provide many services efficiently and can assist you in your growing business.

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