The term outsourcing relates to delegating tasks to 3rd party providers and this is a strategy that levels the playing field, empowering the small business to compete with larger companies. The old business strategy was to handle most in-house, yet that requires heavy investment, something that many small businesses are unable to do.
Thriving Industries
Every single sector has outsourcing solutions; from logistics to printing and everything in between; popular services include:
- Cyber-security
- IT & networking
- Logistics
- Climate control maintenance
- Printing
- Technical support
- Vehicle maintenance
- Sales & marketing
Of course, one of the main advantages of outsourcing is that you don’t have to tie up your capital investing in costly equipment. A small business simply does not have the capital for some business services and with outsourcing, you can find local 3rd party providers that offer competitive prices. The majority of small business owners prefer to use a local outsourcing company as they offer the best deals and with automated solutions, your business processes are streamlined.
Professional service
When you outsource a service, you can be sure that you will receive top-notch service from a provider that specialises; contractors are reliable and responsible and because they are specialists, they have all the equipment needed to successfully complete the task.
Free up your resources
The great thing about outsourcing is you do not need to use your valuable resources, which is significant for a small business with limited resources. It is possible to outsource almost every business process and with semi-automation, managing is an easy task.
Happy customers
Outsourcing means things are done on time and professionally, which leads to lots of happy customers; rather than worrying if your team can carry out the work, they can be working on something else, while you call in a 3rd party specialist. Your employees should focus on what they know, so when something crops up, rather than use your workforce, call in a specialist.
Booming outsourcing sectors
The following sectors have huge outsource markets.
- Logistics
- Manufacturing
- Appliance support
- Printing
- Mining & civil engineering
- Maritime
- R&D
Ecommerce has created a huge 3PL industry, as goods need to be delivered worldwide and this sector is growing exponentially. Click here for pitfalls to avoid when setting up a company. We need to go back to the 1980s to see the emergence of outsourcing to 3rd party providers; at that time, there was an explosion of young entrepreneurs and they relied heavily on outsourcing. From a small business perspective, it does make total sense to use local providers for most things. Keeping in-house to a minimum minimises your capital investment and this business model is now firmly entrenched in 21st century commerce.
As a small business, you can offer your customers exceptional service, largely thanks to local 3rd party companies that service the community. You might be one of those 3rd party providers that other businesses rely on! Either way, outsourcing is here to stay.
