Outsourcing is a Small World After All

A lone struggling musician had just finished recording his next single, and decided that a music video would be the only way to gain more attention. Unable to afford a traditional video, he did what more and more individuals are doing.

He outsourced it.

Believe it or not, outsourcing is no longer the realm of the global mega-corporation. While those large companies still look to managed services for many business needs, smaller businesses are starting to pick up their tactics.

While outsourcing was once viewed strictly as a cost-cutting privilege of giant corporations, it is increasingly available to smaller companies and even individuals…Mr. Smith’s video shows the production technologies available to even the lowest-profile musicians, who now routinely stitch together recordings shuttled across the Internet from home studios around the planet.

“This is where it’s going,” said Adam Dorn, a producer and musician who records under the name Mocean Worker. “People are always going to go where they need to go, and as the major labels crumble and budgets go away, you just have to roll up your sleeves and get things done.”

It’s not just for musicians either. Most managed service providers have begun to notice that the bulk of their work isn’t coming from huge corporations, but rather the daily tasks and needs of individuals and SMB owners.

So, when you come to the end of the month and realize that there is just too much to get done, don’t make the mistake of assuming you are too small for outsourcing.

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Corporate Mailing Services, Inc. (CMS) is a full-service document and facilities management firm with extensive work servicing legal, education, association, financial, corporate and federal government clients. To learn more about the services CMS provides, please visit the company website and/or connect to the the company’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

Responding to the Disadvantages of Outsourcing

If you’ve been following our Facebook page, you’ll know that one of our new favorite websites is the Outsourcing Live channel on YouTube.com. The show’s host, Tyrone Shum, devotes a lot of time to explaining the ins and outs of outsourcing, near-shoring, insourcing, BPO, managed services, and any combination of those concepts you can think of. Our favorite video, Pros and Cons of Outsourcing is embedded below, though we’ve always had a slight problem with it.

We’ve spent enough time writing lists of the pros of outsourcing; we won’t make you sit through another one. Instead, we’re going to respond to what Tyrone sees as the biggest issues in Outsourcing, and explain what makes CMS different, and why those problems may not be such a big deal after all.

1. It Takes Time

For many businesses, one large barrier between success and failure in outsourcing is misjudging the amount of time it will take to build a successful partnership. In the video, Shum points out that every managed service provider (MSP) can’t be an expert in everything, and that you will likely devote a large amount of time, initially, to train that partner to meet your standards. There are a few easy ways to resolve this. For starters, lay out clear guidelines from the outset. A MSP can’t succeed in our jobs if we don’t know what you’re looking for. Also, business owners can look to a company with years of experience in a multitude of fields. This increases the likelihood that your future partner already know the ins-and-outs of your business.

2. It Can be Very Costly

Costly? Isn’t saving money and time the whole point of outsourcing? Well, yes. Shum, in this case, is responding to the possibility of wasting time and money launching an outsourcing agreement that doesn’t go anywhere. Maybe the company moved on to other things before the project could be completed, or maybe the MSP failed to deliver what they promised. To avoid this con, remain in open communication with your provider. Also look for an MSP with a good track record, and an established name.

3. Outsourcing is not for Everyone

“That’s just a fact of life,” Shum says. To an extent, this is true. Some businesses just don’t have anything to gain by outsourcing their processes. However, there is only really one way to find out if your company falls into that category. Run a few trials. Outsource some small, fast projects, and see what results you get. You can save a lot of time and heartache by doing this, and CMS is a great place to start.

As always, we suggest you check out Tyrone’s videos for yourself. He can pack a lot more information into video clips than we can pack into a blog, and he somehow makes it all entertaining. In the comments below, tell us your thoughts on the video, on our responses, and some outsourcing concerns of your own.

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Corporate Mailing Services, Inc. (CMS) is a full-service document and facilities management firm with extensive work servicing legal, education, association, financial, corporate and federal government clients. To learn more about the services CMS provides, please visit the company website and/or connect to the the company’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

Don’t Let a Bad Hire Drag Down Your Business

In this week’s look at the outsourcing industry, we’re going to be handling a fairly common problem that has been popping up for small and medium businesses lately. As the economy continues to recover, SMB’s are finding that their once manageable workload is growing at a significant rate. In a rush to meet customer demands without a drop in service, many of these businesses make a quick hiring decision and bring on some much-needed help. Unfortunately for most businesses, that help ends up being a huge mistake, and a huge drain on their revenue.

So, what exactly is happening here? According to statistics recently released by CareerBuilder, rapidly growing businesses are making hiring decisions too quickly, resulting in lost revenue 69% of the time. And, that revenue lost doesn’t just refer to training and paperwork. The statistics report that, “Forty-one percent of companies estimate that a bad hire costs more than $25,000, and 25 percent said it costs more than $50,000.” That money is coming from a variety of sources, including canceled projects, lost client relationships, and even legal backlash.

There is an easy lesson to be learned here, and it just may save your business from making a $50,000 mistake: outsource before you hire.

As a business process outsource provider, CMS is designed to respond quickly and flexibly to your business needs. A partnership with us ensures that the basic needs of your company are met without taking up the time and resources you should be devoting to your growing business. Even better, the scalable services we offer allow you to test the waters by sending a few small projects our way before making any large commitments. It’s certainly a better offer than spending tens of thousands of dollars on a new employee that is just there to fill a seat for a few weeks.

When it comes time for your business to bring in outside help, don’t make a $50,000 gamble. Consider outsourcing before you hire, and you just might find that those new employees aren’t all that needed after all.

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Corporate Mailing Services, Inc. (CMS) is a full-service document and facilities management firm with extensive work servicing legal, education, association, financial, corporate and federal government clients. To learn more about the services CMS provides, please visit the company website and/or connect to the the company’s Facebook and Twitter pages.