3 Outsourcing Mistakes All Business Owners Need To Avoid

Outsourcing is a great way for businesses to enjoy the benefits of adding extra skills to their business, but without the need to maintain in-house teams of employees. However, as outsourcing grows in popularity, some business owners have found themselves facing a conundrum: they’ve outsourced certain aspects of their company’s operations, but they’ve yet to see the full benefit to their business.  Pixabay / CC0 Licence

When such a scenario happens, it’s confusing. Outsourcing is meant to be helpful; it’s meant to add strings to a business’ bow, improve operations, and - ultimately - help the business to achieve success. So, what’s going wrong? In many cases, the issue will be related to one of these three common mistakes, which we have outlined - along with ideas as to how these mistakes can be mitigated - below… 

1) Lack of targets 

Without targets, it’s impossible to identify how useful outsourcing actually is and whether the expected benefits have been realized. In addition, it also means that there’s no way of identifying if there are changes or strategy tweaks that need to be made. 

What’s the solution?

The solution is very simple: when you hire an outsourcing agency or consultant for any service - be it IT, SEO, customer service, or anything else - you should always establish targets and then monitor the progress towards these at regular intervals. If things aren’t going well, discuss this with your provider and implement changes that can get things back on track.

2) Choosing a consultant or agency with no experience in a specific niche

Imagine you’re buying a suit. You can buy one “off the rack” in a store; it’ll be recognizable as a suit, sure, but it’s never going to look as good as a suit that has been custom-made by an expert tailor with years of experience and the ability to create a perfect fit for you specifically. Working with outsourcing providers with no direct experience or knowledge of a specific niche is akin to buying off the rack; they may be able to produce acceptable results, but they can’t deliver the benefits a specialist agency or consultant is able to, as their services are designed to fit all needs rather than focusing on a few specialist areas. 

What’s the solution? 

Look for a consultant or agency with direct experience or understanding of your business’ niche; if you run a plastic surgery clinic, then use a plastic surgery SEO , if you’re an accountant, then focus your search for an IT managed services provider on those with direct financial sector experience, and so on and so forth. 

3) Rushed transitions

Many business owners turn to outsourcing when their business is in need of assistance; as a way of boosting the business (through SEO and marketing) or improving efficiency (such as customer service response times or network stability). As a result, the transition from in-house managed to outsourced agency or consultant can sometimes become rushed, as the business requires results as soon as possible - but this need for speed results in issues and confusion developing, which significantly hampers the efficacy of the outsourced service. 

What’s the solution?

It’s important to acknowledge that an effective transition is the first step towards a successful outsourcing experience, so afford the process the time it will require. Make sure you plan for a smooth transition and develop a good dialogue with your chosen agency or consultant during this process, as this will stand you in good stead in the long run.

In conclusion

If you are currently outsourcing aspects of your business - or intend to in future - then using the solutions above can help you to avoid the most common mistakes, and ensure that your business can enjoy all the benefits outsourcing can provide.