Outsourcing Research & Tips For Small Businesses

Outsourcing Research & Tips For Small Businesses

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Outsourcing business operations is no longer contained to big businesses. A new research reveals that more than 80 per cent of new and small businesses are warming to outsourcing in a bid to cut costs and OutsourceMyProject gain skills.

The research carried out by OutsourceMyProject, an intermediary website between businesses and service providers, has identified this trend among new and small businesses. The companies surveyed believe that outsourcing will save money and give access to experienced people they need to survive.

Among the organisations that have outsourced, 65 per cent went abroad and the minority stayed in the UK. A quarter of these were most likely to outsource websites and e-commerce.

Loren Holland of Outsource My Project said, "Outsourcing has mainly been the preserve of larger companies, with few opportunities for start-ups or SMEs to outsource their work or projects. This latest research shows that these businesses need help if they are to succeed in and benefit from outsourcing."

He adds, "Outsourcing and offshoring allows businesses to access specialist skills, as and when they need them. It also allows businesses to work with suppliers from lower cost economies such as India and Eastern Europe. It is essential that new and small businesses explore these opportunities in order for them to prosper, especially in the current climate."

Since launching OutsourceMyProject in late 2010 we have received many tips for both Customers and Providers on how to successfully outsource or offshore work.

So we thought it would be helpful if we shared with all our members and users our Top 10 tips for outsourcing and offshoring:

1. Clearly define your project and set out what you want before opening it up to proposals. Poorly defined briefs tend to attract low quality proposals and can often end up as much larger, and so much more costly, projects than anticipated.

2. Don"t just go with the first offer. If possible get a selection of proposals from both the UK and overseas, and evaluate them.

3. Don"t just decide by cost, look at other factors including experience, references and communication amongst others.

4. Come up with a short-list and don"t be afraid to negotiate to get the best possible deal.

5. Get references from people who have used the supplier before, you can ask who they"ve worked for in the past and get in touch yourself. Don"t forget references provided by the supplier are only going to be positive so try dig around for more.

6. Once a supplier has been selected, make sure the full agreement and the payment terms are set out clearly in the contract, misunderstandings can prove costly and time consuming.

7. Negotiate potential copyright and ownership rights upfront and make sure anything that is produced becomes your property on payment. In the case of web-based products, make sure that final files and source codes are transferred onto your own server so you can control future changes.

8. Agree procedures from the outset in terms of communication, project management, delivery and feedback and ensure these are adhered to.

9. Be aware that deviating from the agreed contract once, be that by allowing late delivery of work or agreeing to early payment, is likely to result in accepted practice. Only make one off concessions if you are prepared for this to be acceptable in the future.

10. Finally, don"t forget to leave honest feedback, even if this is negative. Remember how valuable feedback was to you in choosing a supplier.

We hope the above helps and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact a member of our team on support [at]outsourcemyproject[dot]com

About the Author:
Outsource Projects to freelance web designers, website developers, logo graphic designers, content writers, SEO,SMO experts. Also outsource translation, back office support and data entry work to freelance professionals at affordable prices.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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