Starting a business can be daunting. There’s a fledgling tech entrepreneur who has just created a startup in their garage right now. There might even be some who are facing a Shark Tank-like set of people, asking for funding from an angel investor. They need to do a lot of things to develop the edge their product needs, after all.
However, startups need to focus on refining the better aspects of their goods or services. It’s how they can make their venture profitable and unique among thousands upon thousands of new products out there. If you’ve just started a startup, working in a small office somewhere downtown, outsourcing can be a boon to your business.
Letting other people handle what you perceive as menial tasks is the key tenet of outsourcing. Partner up with an outsourcing provider and let them handle these tasks for you.
Customer Service
Consumers will always need to have a means to contact your company, especially if they need help with using your product. The bread and butter of call centres and other business process outsourcing providers, customer service is one of the most outsourced parts of a company. When you think of the costs and the time you need to spend to build a team, outsourcing presents a better alternative. Your service provider will hire a team of customer service experts for you at an agreed-upon budget.
Sales and Marketing
Startups sometimes don’t have the time or luxury to create a brand for themselves, leaving the merits of their innovative technology unseen by the world. But that shouldn’t always be the case. For content marketing, you can hire freelance writers to provide high-quality content that elevates your brand. Social media managers can help provide a voice for your company. You can also outsource SEO to increase your online search reputation.
Financial services
Some companies outsource their financial duties to free them of the burden of handling the numbers. From payroll to invoicing to the books, you can hire freelance bookkeepers, finance companies, or accountancy solutions providers to save time, money, and effort. Just make sure that you hire somebody accredited by certifying organisations.
Administrative tasks
There will be times when you’re so focused on creating the next new tech that you forget to schedule their meetings with venture capitalists. If you have a secretary, then you won’t have to waste time and energy scheduling appointments or doing all sorts of administrative tasks. Of course, that is, if you want another person physically present in your office. Virtual assistants can work as your secretaries, doing all the clerical work for your startup at the press of a few buttons.
Skills and labour
Most companies that develop products resolve to offshore their production labour to other countries. You can find manufacturing hubs of industry leaders Apple and Nike in India and China.
While there are people who look down upon this practice due to labour concerns, it’s undeniable how much money they save from moving their manufacturing arm to another country. There’s also a considerable number of jobs created, which can be beneficial for those countries, as well.
Of course, manufacturing isn’t the only labour your company can outsource. Skills-based outsourcing can be of help to startups who handle specific kinds of tasks, like writing or graphic design.
Outsourcing can be your strategy to reduce your startup’s operational costs and increase overall efficiency.
