The Benefits of Outsourcing for SMEs
By Mar-Loes Mantoua
Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer
The Right Mix Ltd.
Outsourcing is nothing new. It became popular in the 1970s when manufacturing companies started hiring external firms to handle the non-core, time-consuming processes that hamper the companies’ overall efficiency. During the COVID pandemic, remote working and the need to reduce costs played a big part in seeing a further uptake of choosing outsourcing over hiring employees. Outsourcing has become a strategic and a powerful way to minimise costs and maximise results.
So how can outsourcing transform your SME? If you’re in the process of growing and scaling your business, here are some great reasons to make the most of outsourcing and its timeless efficacy.
1. Save Money
Internally building a department and hiring full-time employees to function in a specific ‘outsourceable’ activity entails not only a huge amount of work but also a large investment. Outsourcing costs are variable expenses that are generally more cost-effective than the fixed costs of having full-time staff. It’s also less complicated when it comes to termination since hiring and firing employees can be both legally complicated and expensive. Not to mention having to ditch expensive tech expenditures in terms of equipment and/or software upgrades.
The freed-up capital outsourcing brings about can be put to better use in other more high-impact areas of your business. And because outsourcing can tremendously help in terms of cost reduction, small to mid-size companies can have more access and ability to venture into new markets and business opportunities.
2. Establish connections
Outsourcing exposes you to specialised skills, support, and industry expertise. It took long years for solid outsourcing companies to become outstanding at what they do. They’re an authority in their space and have broad knowledge and experience in their domain. That means you can tap industry best practices and the general knowledge that can be valuable to you and your business moving forward.
3. Business Continuity
Especially if your chosen outsourcing company is in another part of the world, you can minimise continuity risks due to political events or natural disasters. Also, with offshore staffing, you can set up 24/7 teams that can help you gain a competitive advantage, promote solid customer support, and maximize revenue.
4. Maximize efficiency and productivity
If you choose not to outsource and do the activity internally, on top of the costs, you also have to spend time and effort mastering the subject matter or gathering your own set of experts. Outsourcing is an efficient way to gain value without adding overhead and additional business bottlenecks. On top of efficiency, better productivity is achieved as you get to focus your team’s time and effort on the main tasks that can truly move the needle for your business. The main power of outsourcing lies in giving you the time and resources you need to concentrate on your core business and your main organizational goals.
One of the functions that you can choose to outsource is your marketing department. Whether you’re setting up your marketing division from scratch or you’re looking for a qualified extension of your advertising department, you can always rely on The Right Mix.
You can
(a) outsource specific marketing elements like logo design, business cards, flyer, blog articles, or web design,
(b) Hire us to take care of your digital marketing management,
(c) let us know your full advertising requirements and vision, and receive a custom offer to meet your exact branding and marketing goals.
So, take a look at your business and examine how you can further optimize your operations and finances through outsourcing. Other commonly outsourced tasks include accounting, IT management, administration, and logistics. Your team’s time, talent, energy, and mental space should be focused on delivering excellent products and services. Let outsourcing companies, such as The Right Mix, take care of the rest.