If you are a small business owner, the chances are you are already making good use of outsourcing, using 3rd party providers to carry out essential business services. The number of small businesses that service other small businesses is growing exponentially, as all service sectors experience growth and if you are yet to be convinced that outsourcing is the way to go, here are some good reasons to use 3rd party services.
- Minimal investment – Why pay the high price of running a fleet of trucks when you have 3rd party logistics? Printing is a classic example; rather than investing heavily in a laser colour printer, simply call your local print shop and they would be happy to deliver the finished work. Of course, there are times when it is cheaper to have in-house resources, which does pay over high volumes, but generally, outsourcing wins every time.
- Reliability – Simply put, when you use the services of a local provider, you know the job will be done in a timely manner. A busy company relies heavily on 3rd party providers; a hotel, for example, must have clean linen delivered daily and a whole host of other services and while a big hotel chain might have their own laundry facility, the majority use local service providers. A company looking for payroll services in Hong Kong would be able to use remotely located staff, along with other essential office tasks that need to be done.
- Minimise costs – Outsourcing keeps costs down to a minimum and in business, every saving helps. Some entrepreneurs run large organisations from their laptop, thanks to outsourcing to dependable local providers and when you crunch the numbers, it is cheaper than in-house most of the time. The larger the organisation, the more likely they are to have in-house operations; although many corporations have reverted back to outsourcing in order to cut costs. Click here for tips on email marketing.
- Zero liability – When you contract other companies to handle your business processes, all the liability is on those 3rd party providers. Too much liability is restrictive and using 3rd party companies reduces the liability on the business. It is never advisable to enter into long-term contracts with service providers; rather work from month to month if possible.
- Be competitive – If you want to be competitive these days, you need to provide a service that is second to none and the best way to offer a top service is to use 3rd party companies. This ensures fast completion of tasks, which leads to happy customers and with so many service companies to choose from, you can always find a local company who can meet your deadline. Here is some travel information if you are thinking of visiting Hong Kong.
The business that makes good use of outsourcing can offer great service with the minimum of overheads and that looks like something that is here to stay.