As we gain an extra 24 hours this leap year, let’s take a look at what you can gain by moving certain business functions offshore. ‘Economies of scale’—a buzzword, basically, has been playing a major role in the business process outsourcing (BPO) arena. The same buzzword that propelled corporations to great heights in the 20th century. It simply means factors that allow the average cost of production to fall as the volume of its output increases. Think of Henry Ford’s revolutionary assembly line.
In the era of outsourcing, scale is certainly the most easily recognised leverage point, best exhibited through expansion of capacity, minus of course the usual baggage that comes with size, such as having to hire large numbers of new staff, having to invest in new capital equipment, having to lease a larger commercial space, and having to invest in development costs. But the burning question is—how exactly does outsourcing deliver on this promise? Let us count the ways you can leverage outsourcing to scale your company:
1. Gain instant scale
Let’s say that your business can handle an order volume only up to a certain point. To meet the growing demand, you would need to scale your operations quickly, which is commonly a costly and difficult exercise. An outsourced solution provider can help dissolve that limitation in a stable, scalable and cost effective manner because it already has the capacity to handle 100 times or even 1,000 times your current order volume.
2. Tap into a tested and proven system
Behind successful business systems are development costs and trial-and-error learning, not to mention ongoing maintenance. In order to adapt to a rapidly evolving business landscape, companies need to swiftly churn out solutions. But if these were to be done in-house, just imagine how big a hole this could burn on one’s budget. Through outsourcing, companies get direct access to cutting edge business systems and specialised teams at only a fraction of the cost. This is because, in essence, the service provider spreads out the development costs among its customers.
3. Access expertise
Many companies that don’t outsource miss out on the opportunity of tapping into the hundreds of thousands of person-hours-experience that the outsourced service provider has on its side. This is the kind of expertise (and manpower) that is too costly in time and money for companies to gain on their own. But through outsourcing, you can easily access a huge pool of global talent and tap into the expertise that your business lacks. At the end of the day, it takes size to attract the best of the best.
As in any business, the downside to growth is the need for more things to be done. Which is what makes outsourcing very attractive. Outsourcing can help you save money and scale your business because service providers have the economic advantage of size and numbers that are realised by combining the volumes of multiple clients.
Let us help you leap ahead of the competition this leap year by achieving economies of scale that are unavailable to individual firms. Explore our strategic solutions that create real value for you and your customers: https://acquirebpo.com/au/services/.
