Common Outsourcing Mistakes That Every Company Must Avoid

Running a successful business is a challenging task. So many roles and aspects of a business need to be addressed effectively to keep up productivity and business growth. Often, it seems impossible to handle all these aspects (such as accounting, marketing, and customer support) and meet all the deadlines. That is where outsourcing comes into play. The more hands a business owner has on deck, the less overwhelming day-to-day business operations become!

Growing a business without external help is virtually impossible in today’s competitive landscape! Once your clientele starts to expand, you can’t do everything on your own. Outsourcing is the most viable, effective, and affordable solution to this problem. Outsourcing helps you be more productive, save a lot of time, and generate various fresh ideas.

However, outsourcing does not mean merely giving an offshore firm some responsibilities. It entails so much more, and there are so many factors that you must take into consideration, such as when to outsource, to whom, and how to outsource.?

Here are some of the most common outsourcing mistakes you should avoid to get the best results from your outsourcing endeavors.?

Inadequate planning?

Thorough and well-detailed planning is essential, but it becomes even more crucial when you are outsourcing. You’ll never get the desired result from your outsourcing efforts if the contractors lack a thorough understanding of the complete process. Poor work quality is often the result of outsourcers’ lack of planning and not the fault of the outsourced party.

Therefore, you need to plan a detailed and well-defined draft of your objectives and expectations for the outsourced firm if you want significantly better results.?

Ask your team to make a list of all the objectives and expectations that you want to fulfill with the help of a particular outsourced project. Choose an outsourcing candidate only when you have a detailed plan that outlines all the critical elements of the projects and sets all the ground parameters.?

Also, a clear and comprehensive strategy will help you keep track of the development of your project and identify the areas that are doing well, need improvement, and require attention.?

Choosing affordability over quality?

Another common mistake that businesses end up making while outsourcing is to hire the cheapest available option without taking other metrics into consideration. Yes, it seems sensible to employ the least expensive contractor, but it doesn’t make sense to compromise quality because of a $1 or $2 difference. Choosing the cheapest available freelancers and outsourcing candidates might be cost-effective for one project. Still, it will cost you much more than a high-quality candidate in the long run. Besides, it could have an adverse effect on your company’s reputation. Finding the cheapest option should never be the primary motivation of the outsourcer company.?

Please make sure that your outsourcing partner guarantees quality and dependability, even if you have to pay an extra $1 to $2 per hour.?

Choosing affordability over quality?

Another common mistake that businesses end up making while outsourcing is to hire the cheapest available option without taking other metrics into consideration. Yes, it seems sensible to employ the least expensive contractor, but it doesn’t make sense to compromise quality because of a $1 or $2 difference. Choosing the cheapest available freelancers and outsourcing candidates might be cost-effective for one project. Still, in the long run, it will cost you much more than a high-quality candidate. Besides, it could have an adverse effect on your company’s reputation. Finding the cheapest option should never be the primary motivation of the outsourcer company.?

Please make sure that your outsourcing partner guarantees quality and dependability, even if you have to pay an extra $1 to $2 per hour.?

Outsourcing the Wrong Jobs

Effective outsourcing entails that the company must recognize and understand what jobs to outsource. All projects and tasks are not suitable for outsourcing. Never start by outsourcing projects that require niche expertise and specialty. The less knowledge and experience a project requires, the better suited it is for outsourcing.?

Therefore, it is best to outsource basic activities that require little expertise and experience and are of relatively less importance. When you are pleased with your outsourcing partner’s work quality on smaller assignments,? you may progressively go to more extensive assignments that have more weight, require more expertise, and are more critical.?

But make sure you are constantly updated with the latest advances in the project so that the work is of the desired quality and is finished before the deadline.

Lack of a Transparent Partnership Agreement

The lack of a transparent partnership agreement is severe error companies make while outsourcing. Failure to establish a well-defined understanding and specify the terms of the partnership may have a negative impact on all parties involved. Whenever you partner with an offshore firm that you want to outsource to, you must specify the conditions of the agreement.?

Some of the critical boundaries and conditions that you must include in your agreement are :?

• The goals, objectives, and expectations will be documented in the agreement.?
• Both parties will respect the time difference and work in accordance with them.?
• Both parties will communicate via the preferred communication channels only.
• One part will not reach out to the other party after work hours.
• The method, channel, and terms of payment will be defined in the agreement.?
• The feedback process must also be defined in the agreement.?
• List all the data safety and security protocols.
• Lastly, the agreement must also have a pre-agreed upon dispute-resolution method.?

Disregarding data privacy and security

Data privacy and security procedures must be at the top of your list of concerns while outsourcing. Businesses must provide sensitive corporate information to a third-party vendor when outsourcing projects. However, that does not mean you have to compromise the data security or safety standards of your company.?

To protect your interests and ensure data security, you must do your research and understand the data security procedures of the outsourced company. Never partner with a firm that does not meet your safety standards for inexpensive labor.?

Ensure that the firm you outsource has an IPS to guard against malicious internet traffic and secure important corporate data. Furthermore, it would be best if you listed all the crucial security procedures that your outsourcing provider needs to follow and included them in the service contract.

Conclusion

Outsourcing is a great solution to satisfy the needs of your diversified clientele, maintain lower costs, and increase your productivity. However, it’s crucial that you do extensive research on the best practices and typical errors made while outsourcing to get the best results.

Use Solutions’ outsourcing mistake guide as a reference for your future outsourcing endeavors to identify outsourcing pitfalls and comprehend how to avoid them.?