Outsourcing Resources
Can small businesses use outsourcing?
One way to move a business along more quickly is to outsource some of the more time-consuming tasks or tasks in which you are not particularly competent. This can include such things as administrative work, graphic design, website design and development, programming, article writing, press releases, email newsletters and bookkeeping.
Of course, outsourcing does cost something, so weigh the benefits of the time savings against the expense of paying someone else to do a task. In some cases, this provides the business owner more time to strategize and grow the business. Outsourcing is not the same as shipping jobs to another country. It is common to find freelancers in your region of the world, if that’s what you want. Here are some of the more popular outsourcing sites.
Outsourcing Resources
Bintro
Bintro “broadcasts” your needs to find a match with appropriate providers using a semantic technology. The entire service is anonymous.
Elance
Elance is a well-known marketplace for finding freelance help. The interface is clean and fairly easy to use. It uses a feedback system so you can post a job and see the reputation of each person who bids on your job. An excellent feature of Elance is that funds are held in escrow and are only released when the customer is satisfied that the work has met the specified requirements.
Guru
Guru is another site where people with contract jobs can find freelancers. The range of providers is great—there are over 160 service categories—from photographers to engineers and architects. Guru uses a a proprietary rank system that captures and reports performance data about the quality of every freelancer to help with hiring decisions.
oDesk
oDesk is another large freelance marketplace filled with people who are available for contract work. It offers a free online testing service to help buyers judge a provider’s competence level. It also allows providers to show their portfolios.
Replace Myself
This outsourcing service focuses on hiring permanent virtual employees from the Philippines. The subscription service provides monthly training videos on how to hire and train people in your business, search engine optimization, marketing and other business topics. The company has stated that they pay a fair living wage to their Philippine employees, but the cost of living there is quite low.
RentACoder
This service focuses on buyers who need software engineers and programmers. They have over 200,000 registered contract programmers. Buyers can post a job, receive bids, review work histories and resumes and money is exchanged through an escrow system.
