Every business owner wants to know how to get more out of their business with less spending. Fortunately, there are a lot of solutions out there to assist with this goal. One of the biggest areas where you can invest to help your company save money is to outsource as much as you can. Outsourcing simply means hiring other people to handle various business tasks, and it can reduce your total operating costs and overhead on a day-to-day basis.
When you are going to outsource, here are 10 tips to keep in mind to help improve outcomes.
- Make sure that your projects have a clearly defined scope and schedule.
- Evaluate all outsourced providers like you would evaluate potential employees.
- Look for the specific experience that you need. You’re outsourcing, after all, so you need to hire the best.
- Don’t choose based on cost alone. There’s a lot more to a vendor than their pricing.
- Review samples, portfolios, or other previous work experience before deciding.
- Start small to gauge the ability of the outsourced service or professional that you are working with.
- Make sure that payment is attached to project milestones so there is no confusion about how much you’re getting paid and when.
- Negotiate up front. That includes determining who will have the ownership of, or rights to, the work once it is complete. A deal should be in writing before work begins to avoid ownership issues down the road.
- Ask about post-project support and follow-up. Some vendors charge a premium for this while others include it in their pricing structure. Either way, you need it, so make sure you’re getting it when you outsource.
- Everything needs to be in writing. As mentioned above, deals should always be in writing and agreed upon before work begins.
Outsourcing and working virtually is becoming the new normal. Here is a great book by Benbella Books that will help you to navigate these virtual waters.
