The math does not add up. Every year, the prices for everything grow higher due to inflation and different global events, but the world also sees an increasing influx of startups simultaneously. With this logic, two things are certain. First, entrepreneurs are getting smarter and better at business strategy. The other one? The availability of business services like offshoring.
Starting a business, as accessible as it is today, still requires capital. Fortunately, business owners worth their salt are scrappy and creative, among the many traits of successful entrepreneurs. Startup costs reach around $30,000 on average, which includes essential details like research expenses, business loans, insurance, licenses, permits, technological fees, equipment and supply procurement, and marketing promotions. When starting a traditional brick-and-mortar venture, hiring employees, and leasing commercial properties will also add to the equation. Entrepreneurs must be more creative, ingenious, and resourceful to overcome those expensive startup obstacles. Fortunately, their strategies lead them to business services.
Business services come in various forms. They could be as specific as managed software services for business functions like marketing and accounting or as broad as third-party logistics services. They each have their benefits for startups, mostly removing the obstacles of creating an in-house, or more costly, version of their service.
What do Organizations Need from Business Services?
Running a business is not a one-person task. It requires multiple pieces to run smoothly and successfully, even if entrepreneurs can survive handling various business functions at the start. Eventually, business owners must hire people, invest in equipment and tools, and incorporate software and programs to sustain a business. However, they can all be too expensive to do in-house. As a result, they turn to business services to manage their existing roadblocks to growth, expansion, or profit.
Every business task, operation, problem, or demand has a concurrent business service ready to solve them. You can even run a business entirely out of business services. Of course, entrepreneurs must be strategic in utilizing those third-party vendors to make the most of their investments. With that said, here are a few advantages that could get business owners to seek business-to-business (B2B) services:
- Access to Professional Services: Business services give entrepreneurs access to qualified and experienced professionals to help them address their business needs. This includes specialized skill sets, such as marketers, lawyers, accountants, or consultants, that can provide valuable advice and insights.
- Cost Savings: Outsourcing many services required for business operations gives businesses a more cost-effective way to get tasks done than hiring full-time employees. In addition, they also do not need to acquire equipment or software often required for certain services provided by third-party vendors.
- Streamlined Processes and Procedures: Many business services have streamlined processes and procedures to make tasks easier and faster. These services are also designed to integrate with other existing business platforms and software that can help automate more tasks.
- Scalability: Business services provide entrepreneurs the flexibility to scale their operations up or down depending on their needs, allowing them to quickly adjust when faced with changes in demand, customer base, and other external factors
- Reduced Risk and Liability: By outsourcing certain business functions, entrepreneurs can reduce the risk and liability associated with those tasks, especially if outsourced to professionals or companies specialized in those services. This helps lower operational costs by eliminating the need for employees that would require additional insurance policies or legal documents for businesses operating within specific sectors.
A company can benefit from its investments when utilizing business services to solve these potential roadblocks. However, this is where strategic planning becomes critical. For many businesses, partnering with multiple third parties might be ideal. Still, the drawback is that the service might not be exactly what they need.
To avoid this, entrepreneurs must research the services they need and ensure that third-party vendors can provide them with those desired outcomes. In addition, businesses should also look for long-term contracts or payment plans to maximize their ROI. After all, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for business services. However, there is one that can cover most of the company’s needs in every business function, all while being under a contract flexible enough for clients to customize according to their preferences. That service is offshoring, often described as a “tailor-fit” solution for businesses.
What Makes Offshoring Tailor-Fit?
In essence, offshoring is the strategic relocation of business functions to a foreign country to take advantage of lower costs, better talent, and more efficient operation or production. The service also allows clients to establish a presence in their chosen country and benefit from friendlier or more relaxed business regulations than they have at home.
What does offshoring do for a company? You can divide it into multiple facets, including staffing solutions, equipment and supply procurement, commercial facilities design, and support services. You can consider all those elements specialized business services, but offshoring can offer them at various levels. The only limits will be the client’s preferences and resources, which bode well for organizations with specific desires when using third-party services.
For example, a company might want to move three divisions to remote locations: marketing and IT support, and customer service. With different business functions, they might have to get three agencies specializing in each. Alternatively, they can outsource marketing, IT support, and customer service personnel, cutting the need to find a marketing agency, a call center firm, and a managed IT company.
Still, the company will have to onboard and manage those people to integrate them into their business processes. Moreover, the equipment and software programs will have to come from the organization, which will cost more in either logistics or procurement. Neither of these options give companies precisely what they need from the get-go, and it might take a while to finish setting up the entire service, and by then, the ROI might not be as sweet as promised.
Fortunately, offshoring offers end-to-end solutions in every aspect according to the client’s designs and preferences. Offshoring firms can provide the exact results a company needs, may that be for marketing, IT support, and customer service divisions in a remote work environment.
Offshoring’s main feature is recruitment, like outsourcing and staffing solutions for clients. Recruiters will release job boards with the client’s descriptions and demands and gather shortlisted candidates that fit the bill. Moreover, offshoring firms also provide the equipment, facilities, software, and supplies needed for those divisions after discussions with the client. This straightforward design ensures that companies using offshoring solutions have everything they need for remote operations.
All of this is topped off by tailor-fit support. Support services are the most attractive features clients can get from offshoring. Client services or account managers will constantly talk with clients to make offshoring a progressive and long-term commitment to the latter’s success. As a result, offshore teams can become bigger and better according to clients’ desired metrics, which makes offshoring more attractive as a third-party vendor.
Support services are not limited to clients, either. They also cater to offshore teams, particularly in training and development. Offshoring firms can offer comprehensive onboarding and learning programs, system maintenance, tech support, and other services that keep offshore teams up to date on the latest trends. This way, clients get people familiar with their business niche’s day-to-day operations.
Finding a more comprehensive package in the business service industry than offshoring will be challenging. If you want a long-term, customizable business solution, tailor-fit offshoring should be among the first things you consider.
Get Tailor-Fit Offshoring Solutions with iSupport Worldwide!
The Philippines is one of the world’s hottest destinations when it comes to tailor-fit offshoring solutions. The country considers its robust Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry the most significant economic pillar, contributing to 11% of the nation’s GDP while providing over 1.2 million professionals with a livelihood. Among the top offshoring firms in the Philippines is iSupport Worldwide, a US-owned BPO company known for its ability to provide clients with end-to-end bespoke offshoring services. Recently hailed as part of the global INC. 5000’s fastest-growing companies list of 2022, the company remains committed to helping clients succeed by becoming the flexible partners they need.
If you want to learn more about how tailor-fit iSupport Worldwide’s services can be, you can book a free discovery meeting here!