If there’s one thing that’s certain today, it’s that 2020 has been a very strange year indeed. As lockdown evolves into downturn, firms considering their options in order to thrive (or just survive) will find that outsourcing has many benefits.

Just what is outsourcing? It’s the process of contracting out all or part of certain business functions to a third party.  These tasks can be  HR, marketing, accounting or administration. By outsourcing, companies can avoid burdening existing employees with extra responsibilities, while also avoiding the cost of hiring new staff on a fixed contract. When you hire a Virtual Assistant (VA), for example, you only pay for exactly the number of hours that you need.

Business scalability

The motivations for outsourcing tasks are varied but the most important is probably the fact that it allows a firm to scale its operations while minimising its investment, thereby reducing business risk. Of course, risk should be avoided at all costs in times of economic uncertainty. Outsourcing of work enables you to scale up during  busy periods.  For instance, when your business lands a key contract but it also allows you to scale back when things are quieter and the future is less certain.

If you’re scaling up because business is brisk,  hiring a VA is a better option than hiring a temp. This is partly because VAs tend to have a wider skill set and more experience, but also because you can rely on the same VA, securing continuity, whereas you are unlikely to be able to specify the same temp.  You may also need additional support in departments that have cyclical demands,

What about if you are having to scale down but still need tasks to be completed…

You may need to scale down or  make the difficult decision not to bring employees back from furlough.  Hiring a VA means that you can keep existing staff focused on their core activities without overstretching them. This also avoid the costs of a new employee. These costs can include a salary, employer’s National Insurance contributions, recruitment fees, training, office space, a computer, a pension and other benefits. As VAs are self-employed, they take care of all of these matters themselves. In an economic downturn, when fewer staff still have to complete all the necessary business processes, senior employees often find themselves wasting valuable time on lower-level tasks. At best, this can prevent a firm from achieving growth and, at worst, it risks its survival. So, having a VA as a resource ‘on tap’ gives your business flexibility and agility without significant cost or risk.

Talent pool

There are advantages to outsourcing besides cost, however. Outsourcing can give your business access to skills and knowledge that might otherwise not be accessible or affordable. As everything is done virtually, you are not reliant on a talent pool that is within commuting distance. This can be an important factor when your business involves special know-how – such as industry-specific terminology – or when it is located close to a dominant employer that attracts all the best employees in the locality.

Speed

Then there’s the question of speed. A key motivation cited by firms for outsourcing work is that it will be completed more quickly. The wheels in larger organisations can turn quite slowly, and even smaller companies find that outsourcing a specific chunk of work to a freelancer or external agency will expedite progress. Remember that contractors, unlike most employees, are paid by results.

Are you concerned about confidentiality?

You shouldn’t.  An experienced VA will be used to seeing highly confidential and sensitive information and a VA worth his/her salt will be always discreet and treat this information in the right manner.  You can always ask a VA to sign an NDA.

Virtual value

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s that virtual working is highly efficient. This is a key reason why outsourcing to a VA gets tasks done quickly and effectively. As VAs work remotely all the time, they and their clients are necessarily more focused on ensuring that communication is crystal-clear and ways of working are as efficient as possible.

What kind of tasks can be outsourced to a VA? Virtually (pardon the pun) anything –diary management, fielding of telephone calls, collation of data into reports, creation of spread sheets and presentations, travel bookings, data entry, event and meeting organisation, document archiving and research projects, to name but a few.

If you think your firm would benefit from outsourcing of tasks to a VA, feel free to get in touch for a no-obligation discussion about your requiremen