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5 Common Outsourcing Mistakes to Avoid

Fri, Sep 21, 2012

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Not every company has the means to create or execute everything it needs in order to run itself and turn a profit, and for this reason many establishments make use of a technique called outsourcing. When you hire a freelancer, consultant, or any other type of third party to take care of something for your company, its referred to as outsourcing. This can also be done simply as a cost-saving technique, if a business owner can outsource work for less money than is currently being paid. There are, however, some potential pitfalls to outsourcing, especially as online freelancing becomes easier and easier. If you need some work done for your website or small company, it’s entirely likely you’ll outsource this to someone who knows how to do it better than you do. Here are a few mistakes you’ll want to avoid when doing this:

1) Not Getting to Know Your Freelancer(s)

Do your best to establish some kind of personal connection with whomever is doing your work for you. This will help you gauge the trustworthiness of the party you’re working with, and will also help you to communicate and understand each other better. It can also help you realize if a candidate is not the right person for a job.

2) Failing to Communicate

Outsourcing your work means that someone else has to understand exactly what kind of work you want done, with relatively limited experience to your preferences and the way you work. For this reason, it’s important to communicate constantly when you’re outsourcing work, so you can make sure you’re not wasting your money on work that wouldn’t have met your standards in the first place.

3) Budgeting Unwisely

Freelancers can save you a ton of money, but if you’ve got a fairly large project to work on, it’s important to understand the costs of the individual freelance workers you’ve hired, and make sure that you’re budgeting your project accordingly.

4) Underutilizing Your Resources

If you’re paying to outsource work to a firm or individual, do everything you can to make sure you’re getting the most value for your money. Ensure that your outsourced work is getting done as thoroughly as possible. Staying on top of the firm or freelancer performing your work is a great way to ensure that you’re getting everything you paid for, and hopefully even a little more.

5) Forgetting Your Role

As a contractor, it’s up to you to make sure the project is well-directed and executed to your liking. Of course, the freelancer must get this right, but since the work is being done on your dime, it behooves you to take a directorial role and check in as often as you can to make sure you’re getting the work you want, and not something else. It’s easy to hire freelancer workers or contact a firm that can do menial tasks for you, but if you’re dealing with sensitive projects it’s important to maintain your role as a quality control inspector.

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