8 Advantages of Outsourcing to Scale Your Small Business

Scaling your business and growing your industry reach can be difficult depending on the niche you operate in. It’s also worth noting that the expansion effort might do more harm than good if you don’t have the manpower, network or resources to back it up.

According to published studies, 78% of businesses have positive feedback to offer about outsourcing their projects to third-party agencies. Some of the reasons behind their outsourcing include cost-cutting initiatives, capacity issues and service quality increase goals. However, 89% of businesses state that they would only outsource operations selectively while operations such as strategic planning (such as product portfolio expansions for example) should be kept in-house, and for good reasons.

Outsourcing some of your projects and daily operations (such as customer support, finance management, etc.) might just be the solution to your small business issues. But what are some of the most important, noteworthy advantages of outsourcing to consider in terms of ongoing business expansion?

Advantages to Outsourcing in Business Expansion

1. Expert-Level Assistance

The most obvious reason for you to outsource some of your daily operations to a third-party agency would be to receive professional, trustworthy assistance. Many would argue that outsourcing spells doom and gloom in most cases.

However, the service-based industry has evolved from its humble roots and there are now platforms and agencies in the market that only operate as service providers. This means that the agencies you choose to work with will always provide adequate, timely and expert assistance in the matters you entrust them with.

2. More Available Manpower

Outsourcing some of your daily activities to specialized services means that your employees will have plenty of free time on their hands. This surplus in resources can be used to create teams with the sole purpose of business expansion, strategic planning and networking.

Marie Fincher, content manager at TrustMyPaper, was quoted recently: “Expanding your business from a small-scale startup or firm to a larger entity can be tricky even with available manpower on your roster. Make sure that you have enough senior employees available to coordinate project teams which will aim to develop different aspects of your scaling operation.”

3. Cleared Up Daily Schedules

Once you have established communication with your outsourcing agencies, any new project will quickly be redirected to their attention. This means that your employees will be free to focus on the scaling operation itself rather than be obliged to work on new and unexpected projects.

You will still be able to monitor, review and intervene with new projects which your third-party network will take care of. However, the difference is that you won’t have to make any discrepancies during your scaling operation just because an emergency project came up that requires your attention.

4. Good RoI per Project

One of the reasons many business owners cite for their lack of outsourcing is the price point that comes with it. However, if you don’t have a dedicated customer support department in your company, outsourcing might work to your benefit in the long run.

Any potential issues that come up during your scaling operation will have to be addressed immediately otherwise you risk losing a client due to your preoccupation. The return on investment for any outsourcing contract that you have to spend resources on initially is well worth it, especially with the imminent rise in the output you will have once your scaling is complete.

5. Maintaining a Healthy Network

Speaking of clients, service-based companies can’t afford to break contact with existing clients due to their scaling operations. Networking is a crucial component of business growth, especially when you decide to devote more attention to company growth and scale your operations.

An outsourced third-party agency that works in a similar or same industry as you do might fill the gap between here and now for your clients. As a result, the network you work with won’t suffer during your scaling and you will effectively introduce new clients to one another thanks to the outsourcing initiative you took.

6. Remaining a Competitive Player

No business operates alone in any given industry, and your company is just the same. This means that you absolutely can’t afford to go into a hibernation phase during your scaling operations.

The clients you work with can easily go to another business that may be your competitor and thus cost you more than it was worth to grow your business. Outsourcing your operations, however, will appease the needs of your regular clients and let the industry know that your brand name is still very relevant.

7. Coming Back Stronger

While outsourcing most of your projects to a third-party business may seem counterintuitive, it’s important to keep the reason for doing this in mind. You are not outsourcing any of your projects permanently and are bound to get back into the proverbial ring sooner than you might expect.

A few weeks or months of upscaling and reorganization will ensure that your business comes back onto the market better and stronger than before. You will have more resources, strategic plans and services to offer to would-be and existing clients if you outsource today and focus on scaling instead.

8. Potential Recruitment Opportunities

Lastly, once your scaling operations are complete and you are back on track, you can recruit some of your third-party support into the company. This is especially viable if you outsourced your work to independent freelancers who work solely by themselves, leaving out the middleman entirely.

Make sure that your HR specialist pays close attention to the performance and skillsets of third-party support you work with in order to reach out to them afterwards. As we’ve mentioned previously, scaling down the daily workload in order to scale up your company growth can have benefits for your office roster in the long run.

Mistakes to Avoid

• Not Vetting your Support

It’s important to pay very close attention to which agencies and individuals you outsource your projects to. Make sure to check their resumes, networking portfolios and past experiences depending on who you work with. Failing to do so can have severe consequences for your company’s reputation since they will work in your name for the time being.

• Not Checking In

Once you do start your outsourcing contracts, however, it’s important to stay informed of how they deal with the projects you’ve assigned to their care. Be available for any advice or information they might require in order to treat your clients as best as possible. Don’t find yourself in a situation where you are in the dark about how your clients are treated and your outsourcing efforts will go as planned.

• Not Outsourcing

One of the worst mistakes you could make in terms of outsourcing is deciding not to outsource at all. While this decision isn’t black and white by any means, you should make sure that you have enough manpower and resources to devote both to your clients and scaling operations. Trying to juggle multiple internal operations while servicing your clients can lead to bad results and loss of reputation for your brand – consider outsourcing carefully.

Conclusion

It’s easy to summarize the advantages outsourcing brings to the table in light of small business scaling. Your employees will be more than happy to refocus their attention towards internal matters and scaling of future operations for a while rather than feel the stagnation of everyday creep in. Find trustworthy and productive services to work with on your projects and make the most out of your scaling efforts – they will pay off significantly down the line.

Guest article written by: Diana Nadim is a writer and editor who has a Master degree in Marketing. She combines her passion for writing with her interest in research and creates thought-provoking content in various fields. Diana also runs her own 3to5Marketing blog. What inspires her the most in her writing is traveling and meeting new people. Follow her on Twitter.