Yes, I know, your clients are the ones who “Outsource”temp employees with your company and “Offshoring”for a staffing company is hardly possible. But let’s take another look.
Outsourcing:
When a client outsources with your agency for a temp worker, they get convenience, flexibility, ability to stay focused on the core business, etc. This latter is essential to avoid the “distraction” of short-term projects.
Happily, your client may have many such projects, over time, that allows you to keep them as a profitable customer.
Without playing word games “outsourcing” is, in a certain sense,what your staffing company does all the time. Rarely or never do you keep paid employees“on hand” waiting for the time they will be needed.
Your company gets a contract to supply workers, so you hire them to fulfill your contract with a client. You, in a sense,outsource them.
What I would like to talk about another avenue of outsourcing for some newer client contracts. Here you do not supply workers to send to a client’s job site. Instead,the newer contracts are to produce a specific product, or accomplish a discrete task.You will be able to deliver a quality product, on time,at a competitive price, and with a respectable profit that is fully consistent with the best staffing companies.
So how and where and with whom,do you start producing actual products?
Although many jobs require workers to go to a client’s job site, like maintenance, warehousing, construction, etc., many more do not, such as programming, accounting, writing, web design, graphic design, architectural, marketing,etc.
There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of specific needs most all businesses will have at one time or another. For many of these projects,your database of available workers will not exist.But they are available, right now, from your phone or desktop.
You have a worldwide talent pool to draw from to get these jobs accomplished and delivered.
Today, even a small staffing company can access many thousands of skilled workers, for thousands of tasks, without recruiting, hiring screening or training.
Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) noted in their recent “History of the Staffing Industry” that with the advent of staffing software, smaller companies were much better equipped to compete successfully with larger companies.
Likewise, more recent digital developments have created huge cloud-based platforms that literally can take a small staffing company global.Welcome to the digital age – part two.
So, does your client have a project? Check out (below), what kinds of talent is available. Make note of a few your client may be interested in.At your next meeting, ask if any of these might be on their “to do” list.Then offer to get back to them with a quote. The digital age is just beginning!
Offshoring:
“Offshoring” usually has been defined as “the practice of basing some of a company’s processes or services overseas so as to take advantage of lower costs”. ” (Google & Oxford English Dictionary).
But you do not need to relocate your offices or any of your core staff. You do not need to hire anyone so no payroll taxes, no government reports, no licenses, or registrations. There are also no travel costs and no communication costs (Email, WhatsApp, Google Meet, etc.)
Safe and easy to use international money transfers, including currency exchanges, are fast, easy to use (PayPal, Transferwise), and they are inexpensive.
So, if your client could use an “Animated Explainer Video” to demonstrate their product in a TV ad, you can produce it,in India, in two days and have it on TV by day 3.
And, you will have performed an additional service for your customer, made a profit, and set the stage to do more, including your standard temporary services.
The cloud-based platforms that facilitate this process are very sophisticated and easy to use.
The website fiverr.com is one of these, and, if you are not familiar with these platforms, it is a good place to start. You will see hundreds of job categories with thousands of freelance workers from all across the world ready to work on your client’s projects.
Take a look, and maybe do a small “gig” to see how it works (and also get something done that is useful). Check the worker’s ratings and reviews. You can also contact the person you have initially chosen before committing to purchase and ask questions.
Another good platform is upwork.com which specifically welcomes and is structured for agencies. But here is a list of what are called Gig Economy Platforms. It is really the same business you are in now, i.e., getting special projects done for clients via contract workers, for a fee.
Bonus: Now that you have workers all over the world, your next business/vacation trip may well be on the IRS!
Stay safe!