If you’re an SME owner, you probably wear a lot of hats throughout the day.
It simply can’t be helped. Starting a business with little more than a great idea and a few pairs of hands is tough. SME business owners often find themselves fulfilling the functions of, say, bookkeepers and HR managers, and every other position in between.
Thus, it’s not uncommon for many Aussie entrepreneurs to be time poor. For most of them, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get things done. Accounting, payroll management, and customer service are all key tasks to keep the business running, although they’re a rather poor use of time when you consider how little they contribute to the company’s innovation and growth.
There is, however, a fairly simple solution: outsourcing all those essential yet non-core tasks to the Philippines.
And before you roll your eyes and move on to the next article, hear us out first.
Cold, Hard Numbers: Making the Case for Outsourcing
How much time do you spend on your company’s accounting? How about on marketing? IT support? Would you say 20, 30% of your time total?
Now, these are all crucial tasks, don’t get me wrong. But think about it, do they necessarily play to your strengths? Perhaps, but will they take your business to the next level? Will your intimate knowledge of the business lead to maximum benefits for it through these tasks?
Clearly, the answer is “no.”
One last question then. Can anyone else carry out these tasks for you more effectively so you can spend more time on the things YOU do best?
This brings us to the next topic.
Why the Philippines?
In case you’ve never heard of it (seriously?), the Philippines is a Southeast Asian country that produces some of the world’s best remote talent. More often than not, there’s a team of Filipino remote workers behind plenty of Australia’s most successful SME’s.
Why is the Philippines such a hotspot for outsourcing? One is that the majority of its people speak English quite well, and with a neutral accent at that. English just happens to be the medium of instruction in Philippine schools, and a lot of the popular media consumed here also comes from the US.
Another factor is the famous Filipino work ethic and hospitality. Filipinos will do anything to provide for their families, so they work hard and never take their jobs for granted. They also learn quickly, and specialise in a broad range of skills that are especially suited for outsourcing, such as web design, bookkeeping, and other key administrative tasks. Furthermore, if you treat them well, they will give you their loyalty and will go above and beyond their job description to deliver.
Then there’s the fact that the exchange rate is in your favor. One Australian dollar is equivalent to about Php33, so the former goes a lot further here. This means that outsourcing can be cost-effective for you while still providing your remote worker with a good living. That’s what I call a win-win situation.
How Can Outsourcing Benefit Me and My Business?
The most obvious benefit that outsourcing brings is that it frees up business owners to shift their focus to business functions that bring in the most value. Also, outsourcing the more tedious aspects of running a business means you can devote your attention to the ones that are more in line with your skill set.
In addition, outsourcing gives you access to a wider talent pool. When you’re not hampered by geographical boundaries, you can tap into more diverse capabilities and perspectives. Thanks to economies of scale, you can hire individuals that specialise in specific functions rather than hiring a person with limited time and experience.
Okay, I Want to Try It. How Do I Get Started?
First, reflect on your business. Think about all the tasks that are crucial to your company’s growth, improvement, and innovation. Is it product or service development? A patented skill or process you want to make mainstream? Whatever it is, this is what you need to focus on. Everything else can potentially be outsourced.
Stuck? Read this and try applying the criteria within to finalize the list of tasks you want to outsource.
Secondly, clarify your expectations for your remote workers and communicate them. What daily tasks do they need to do? What sort of output do you expect from them? Will there be fixed deadlines for those results? These will help manage expectations for both parties, and will ensure a smoother working relationship.
Lastly, do your due diligence. Sure, there are lots of outsourcing websites out there and they’re teeming with hundreds, perhaps thousands of applicants. If you really want to minimise the risks of hiring the wrong person or worse, someone who might end up sabotaging your business or stealing your data, you may want to look into hiring via a remote work agency instead.
With Remote Staff, for instance, we’ve already got a rich pool of pre-screened and trained Filipino talent just waiting to work with you. We also take care of all the contracts (including NDA’s), government-mandated benefits, and payroll management, so you won’t have to. Best of all, we also provide each customer with a designated specialist to smooth over any concerns that may arise.
Basically, all you would have to do is choose the best talent for you and your company. Convenient, eh?
Give us a call today and get started.
Serena has been working remotely and writing content for the better part of the last decade. To date, she's written for Pepper.ph and Mabuhay Magazine, among others, and has churned out more than a thousand articles on everything from The Basics of Stock Market Investing to How to Make Milk Tea-Flavored Taho at home. Hermits, aspiring hermits, and non-hermits with interesting project propositions may email her at serena.estrella10@gmail.com.
