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5 Ways Outsourcing Can Help Grow Small Business in Hard Times

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by
George Martin

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Images of America at work have changed dramatically since the recession started. Things are still not in a perfect shape. The unstable state compels the American workforce is transform constantly. However, something that really has helped small businesses to survive in the recent outburst of recession was outsourcing.

5 Ways Outsourcing Can Help Small Business in Hard Times

In the tight economy, it’s essential for companies from all verticals such as entertainment, media, energy, healthcare, utilities etc to consider outsourcing paid work. Outsourcing — hiring an outside company complete work that otherwise would been handled by employees — is not a new concept. Small companies have outsourced tasks related to accounting, payroll processing, distribution, and more.

The flat economy compelled many companies to suffer huge layoffs. Still they needed professionals to handle certain tasks for them. Many small businesses opted for outsourcing to survive. They outsource non-critical jobs and enjoyed several benefits. For instance:

  1. Outsourcing provides a better control over capital costs. Through outsourcing, small businesses managed to convert their fixed costs into variable costs, and avoid large expenditures in the preliminary stages of the business. Small business who outsourced became more attractive to investors because they were able to utilize more capital for revenue-producing activities.
  2. Outsourcing also helps small businesses increase efficiency. Due to outsourcing, small business can lower development, research, distribution and marketing costs. Outsourcing companies enjoy an economy of scale and cost structure that give their company an important competitive advantage.
  3. One obvious advantage of outsourcing is the clear reduction in labor costs. For small businesses, it’s extremely difficult and expensive to hire and train staff for peripheral and short-term projects. It also can be difficult to hire temporary employees who live up to their expectations. Outsourcing, an the obvious solution, has helped companies use their trained employees on the tasks that serve the business growth most. .
  4. Outsourcing companies can accomplish more in less time. In recession, small businesses need to attract investors and new clients, but at the same time, they have to cut corners to survive. Outsourcing has answered the dilemma and helped many small businesses start new projects more quickly and more efficiently. Small businesses with strong outsource partners accomplish projects in days that might have taken weeks or months, because those partners came with trained people with substantial support.
  5. Last, outsourcing allows small companies to stay focused on their core competencies and key customers. Small businesses that sent peripheral business activities to qualified outsourcing firms are able to concentrate their best effort on activities that serve current clients well and attract more.

Most economists are of the view that though the recovery has started, the recession will accelerate the long-term trends of automation as well as the movement of workers toward different jobs in the service sector. That means that people will still be moving jobs.

Have you tried qualified outsource to help your business better serve your clients and customers?
Have you started an outsourcing service yourself?
The small business with outsource firm partnership can help us grow small business in these hard times.

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Author’s Bio:
George is a keen writer and blogger. He takes interest in matters related to economic and finance and has his say in the niche. He has also written and crafted many posts for Isarates.org.uk and many likely blogs. Apart from this he has also gained reputation as an expert financial consultant over fifteen long years.

Thank you, George. Every freelancer and web design firm knows and shows the value of outsourcing what we’re not good at.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Is There Light at the End of the Tunnel for U.S. Businesses?

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According to a report released Oct. 5, from Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP), U.S. companies brought on more workers in September than the previous month, however the number was not enough to put a dent in the large unemployment numbers nationwide.

While the ADP report brought some encouraging news, two separate reports unveiled the same day noted that layoffs increased rather dramatically last month, while service companies are not hiring additional employees despite the sector’s relatively stable growth.

Looking back at the brighter report, ADP and Macroeconomic Advisers LLC report that private-sector employers added 91,000 positions in September, an increase of some 2,000 jobs from the previous month. The government’s official jobs report is slated to be released on Oct. 7.

Is Minimal Growth Better than None at All?

While the news is somewhat encouraging in that the country appears at this point to be dodging another recession, the recent report also demonstrates that growth is coming in very minimal numbers at best, providing us with weak growth at best.

While everyone is looking for any signs of growth, we shouldn’t be deceived by the numbers.

Much like when gas prices are inflated to high levels, drivers think they’re getting a deal when they pay less for gas, the bottom line being it is still $1 or $2 above what they paid the year before. Improvement, but much better is possible.

As for expanding on the down side, a report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas points out there were sharp increases in layoff announcements for September, with businesses planning to cut some 116,000 jobs, more than double the August report and the worst in more than two years. The biggest cuts came among the government and financial sectors.

What is Your Business Doing to Grow?

With the recent numbers showing a mixed bag, has your company been impacted either positively or negatively when it comes to job growth lately?

For many companies, especially smaller businesses, growth has been hard when you throw in the added costs for health care that many employers have been dealing with. While the government has tried to throw some incentives in the direction of small business owners, a fair number of them have either stood pat on hiring or even laid off where they felt it necessary.

If your small business is contemplating hiring, do you plan on? –

  • Waiting until after the holidays?
  • Waiting until you see better jobs numbers and additional incentives from Washington?
  • Waiting until next year’s presidential election is over?
  • Waiting to see if health care costs come down?

Lots of questions still remain for many small businesses, many of whom are playing the waiting game.

Photo credit: gaebler.com

Dave Thomas, who has authored a number of articles regarding business phone service writes extensively for www.business.com an online resource destination for businesses of all sizes to research, find, and compare the products and services they need to run their businesses.