In the early years of the internet most small businesses and corporations used outsourcing to grow their infrastructures and explode their productivity. And as more people learned of all the many ways you can make money online, all types of jobs began to appear. Websites devoted to freelancing came into existence and allowed companies and individuals to bid for different jobs like website services, custom programming, content creation, Search Engine Optimization, and much more. No longer were these jobs created by your every day company, but by everyday people who looked at the big picture from their basements or garages and said, “I can do it!” and proceeded to create some of the most memorable enterprises in the world that specialize in various internet based services.
By allowing individuals to take back the net and utilize everything it has to offer; it gave rise to multi-service companies like Singapore Web Design which now offers website services, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), professional web design, webhosting, poster design, website maintenance, and custom programming, with fully customisable interactive content and programming assistance. But with all these services how were these individuals able to find the most reliable people to help them grow their business properly? And what were some of the pitfalls they faced when building it?
At the time of its inception Singapore Web Design knew the state of the market which is no different today than it was a year ago. There’s such a high demand for good providers and talented individuals that the rates are increasing. On many outsourcing based websites like getafreelancer.com we’re seeing good providers jump from job to job without any commitments or contracts. On the other end I’ve seen a multitude of horror stories surface about a number of content providers who’ve produced some low quality work that have left a few business owners feeling burned.
Like many other companies out there Singapore Web Design had to think outside the box , they knew that finding the right individual or outsource company to do the job correctly would’ve determined if their company would have succeeded or not in the long run. Inorder to succeed in this fast pace digital world they couldn’t let a few rotten apples keep them from taking their enterprise to the next level. Below I’ll show you how Singapore Web Design and most other startup companies (with barely no startup capital) were able to properly plan their outsourcing strategies and avoid the issues that most company’s face when assigning their tasks to individual subcontractors, and outsource companies.
Below I’ve listed the 6 basic rules to help you increase productivity:
1.) Be sure to plan ahead before starting any project by writing down everything you’ll need on paper. Be as detailed as possible to minimize any unforseen circumstances. As with any new project don’t be surprised if the worse case senerio presents its self; if it does, however, take charge and see that your original plan follows through. Again, having a good plan will help you avoid a few common problems and maintain a good working relationship with your outsourcers.
2.) Choose the contractors with the right experience or knowledge to do the job properly. Try not to just visit their website and feel impressed by their presentation, see how much work they’ve accomplished with other buyers which should be based on the same type of work and amount of work you’re providing. And then, hold a test run for at least a week to see what your contractor is capable of achieving.
3.) Never assume that your contractor can do the job to your specifications, what may sound simple to you may be very difficult to your contractor which could be based on either cultural differences or miscommunication, so try not to oversimplify your instructions. The proper training system should be in place at all times to clarify your objectives.
4.) Try different contractors in different countries and test the quality, cost, and turn around time of each contractor. Each contractor should be working on similar tasks just incase one provider cannot complete the task on time, or at all. Always keep your projects moving ahead by keeping a contingency plan if something were to go wrong.
5.) Always evaluate the work of each contractor. The quality of work you receive should always be apart of your company’s objective. By conducting a high level of quality control you’ll be able to catch problems early in the production process.
6.) In today’s world outsourcing has become very competative, most companies will often hold bidding wars to buy the recources of other companies. Protect your company, make sure you’re offering incentives, bonuses, and a profitable service contract to retain the best people for your assignments. If they did a great job before then work with the same people. Trying to shop for cheapest contractor out there will only waste the time you need to do bigger and better things.
