Outsourcing do you need it in your business?
Of course you do!
With all the information products and code being developed on the Internet, outsourcing is the best option. Its probably to only way to make a sensible dollar unless you want to create a job for yourself. Researching a topic and finding a market is the work of an entrepreneur, but leave the development of the product to fit your niche market up to the experts in the field. It just make a lot of sense. You can't be an expert in every field or niche as an entrepreneur you should be concentrating on your business anyway.
There are many many experts in all fields out there who are just looking for work. They are not interested in the perceived risk associated with entrepreneurial endeavors. Instead they just want remuneration for their time and skills. There are experts in very field all over the world, but a large number of them live in Easter block countries or Asia where their skills are not as highly valued as they are in the West. So this produces a win win situation when you contract them to write a product or develop some code you. You feel that you are getting real value for money and they feel that their fee is reasonable, even high in comparison to others in there own country.
There are a few things to remember when outsourcing.
1) Use a respected outsourcing company we use
http://www.getafreelancer.com/. We have found them easy to work with, efficient and the quality of the providers excellent.
2) Use only providers with good reviews. This is the best advice I can give. As we have been caught out by one provider when we used rentacoder who didn't have a review but offered the earth. Of course he wasn't able to deliver and delayed our project by months as we went through arbitration and re posting the job.
3) If you must us a provider without a review make sure you set up a good dialog with them prior to selecting them as the provider. Ask them to provide sample code/documents and run through almost all detail you can think of with them and assess their responses. This is how we found our article writer and she has been fantastic.
4) Once you find some one you enjoy working with develop the relationship and trust with them. This is highly important as it makes them part of your team and in the long term provides you with a resource you can call on that you understand, their time frames, attitude and quality of work. It mean you have a better understanding of the development process and give you an opportunity to refine that process.
5) Use escrow. Escrow is essential until you have developed an understanding and trust with your provider.
http://www.getafreelancer.com/ has an excellent escrow facility where you deposit funds into an account they hold for your provider. These fund are only released to the provider once you are satisfied with the job you receive. If your not satisfied then an arbitration process can be entered into by one or both parties to resolve the issue. If it is found that the provider hasn't supplied all that is requested you may receive part or all of your deposit back.
6) Make sure you read all the fine print about you obligations as a buyer and a provider. We once were cause by not setting a new deadline for a job and then not having any way to resolve a future delay by a provider. Always remember to set a new deadline if one is missed.
7)Make sure you fully specify what you want a provider to do. This might sound tedious and boring but it levels the playing field and reduces the ambiguity that might be an issue as the project proceeds. It also helps you understand exactly what you are asking the provider to do.
8) Record every conversation you have with the provider. Its a good idea to us the PM (private message) facilities offer by companies like
http://www.getafreelancer.com/. If not and you use email or MSN record all the conversations and store them in date order some where relevant to the project for quick and easy reference.
9)Communicate with your provider often, every day is a good idea. It helps you keep a finger on what is happening and eliminates the chance of sunrises and delays.
10)Remember providers are people with their own issue as well. Treat them with respect and treat them as experts because that why you are hiring them in the first place.
Crikey this is turning into an essay. Theres probably many more things to remember and do but thats a good a start. Read the help documentation supplied by the outsourcing company you choose to use being informed is the best position to be in.
Simon
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Some excellent tips in there!
