The decision to outsource some of your business operations can be a tough one to make, especially if you are a traditional, small business. The fears of losing control and passing work over to people who won’t care as much as you do are completely understandable.
This article looks at the benefits of outsourcing small parts of your business operations. Read on to find out more.
Why would I Want to Outsource?
Outsourcing is a really flexible way to add capacity to your business without having to invest heavily. Effective outsourcing allows you to scale the extra resources you need to meet demand. Outsourcing is a particularly useful way of coping with seasonal fluctuations in demand or unusually large orders.
We spoke to a leading provider of outsourced storage and distribution Masters Logistical who have a huge 85,000 sq ft of storage across five warehouses. They told us “our business is all about responding to the needs of other businesses. Our services are scalable at short notice and include collection, palletising, storage and onward distribution. These services allow our customers to meet their demands and reduce their costs.”
Respond Faster
Being able to offer a responsive service to your customers can make a huge difference in your success rate when tendering for new work. For this reason, it pays to have a good relationship with companies who provide the outsourcing services you need to meet demand.
Better Financial Planning
When considering outsourcing, financial planning isn’t necessarily the first thing that comes to mind, but is nevertheless a big benefit of outsourcing. Knowing the cost of the additional resources you’ll need to fulfil an order allows you to put more accurate quotations together for your customers.
Wouldn’t I be better to Invest in My Own Facilities?
Investing in business facilities such as warehousing or machinery that would only be used at peak times is a very inefficient use of finances. It only makes sense to invest in items that will be in regular use – anything else is dead money.
If space is at a premium in your business premises it makes sense that every part of it is used to maximise efficiency. Space that is currently redundant in your business premises could be given over to more productive activities and used to improve the workflows in adjacent production areas.
What can be Outsourced?
There are outsourcing solutions for just about every area of your business. Common outsourced tasks include administration including accountancy and payroll, IT support and as we have already mentioned, warehousing including onward shipping and packaging.
Want to Learn More About Outsourcing?
We hope our article has given you some useful tips on the benefits of outsourcing in business. If you want to explore the full benefits of outsourcing in your business and to make the plans to successfully implement outsourcing, we would recommend this Outsourcing Handbook by Deloitte as a good starting point.
As always, thanks for reading our article. If you have any thoughts or an experience to share, why not leave us a comment on the blog.
