5 Different Types of Outsourcers to Know
The term “outsourcer”, or outsourced worker, refers to anyone you give work to that doesn’t work in your office. Each different kind of outsourcer needs to be handled differently.
Outsourcing is a great way to offload some of the tasks in your business that you hate doing, are not very good at, or simply do not have time for because they are $5 an hour tasks, while you want to be working on $100 tasks to grow your business.
So now that you understand the benefits and reasons for outsourcing, here are the five most common kinds of outsourcers you’ll encounter, and what to watch out for.
The Part-timer
The part timer is just dipping their toes in outsourcing. They might have a full time job or they might be a student. They may be doing it for the experience, or for a bit of extra cash. For example, a graphic design student might try their hand at logo design online so they can earn money AND build up an impressive portfolio of work. They can also get word of mouth recommendations, and good references/reviews from happy customers. You can find both part-time and full-time workers on Fiverr.
While part timers can be more affordable, they also tend to be less available, and sometimes less reliable. They get busy, and you might have to wait longer and longer periods of time to get your projects done.
The Professional
The professional is a full-time freelancer that does outsource work as their primary income source.Professionals tend to be very reliable, because they have a reputation to protect, and they want to continue to keep your business. They make steady income only when they have regular clients, so they will be eager to keep you happy.
One downside to single-person professionals is that if they get sick or if their computer breaks, your deliverables might be delayed, or never arrive.
You can find pros on Upwork and Guru. You can also find top professionals on LinkedIn.
The Outsourcing Firm
An outsourcing firm is a group of people who handle projects together. An outsourcing firm allows you to have redundancies, that is, back up people who also have the same skills. In other words, if the person who usually handles your phone calls is sick, someone else can take their place. VirtualAssistants.com is one handy place to find a range of skilled workers to handle your various tasks.
You also usually have security procedures with these groups. Outsourcers can’t take client data home for example. The downside to outsourcing firms is that they tend to be more expensive than working one on one professionals, because they are taking a cut of the fees.
Overseas Outsourcers
Working with outsourcers based in the Philippines, India, or many other countries can pose unique benefits and challenges. Generally these outsourcers are much more affordable than American outsourcers. However, there can be a language barrier and time zones can be frustrating. That said, you can sometimes find very fluent, highly educated individuals who will charge less but give you great value. Check out Fiverr to get started. .
The Former Employee
It’s more and more common today for employees to leave traditional jobs in search of less traditional forms of employment, due to their own preferences, personal circumstances, and so on. Retired persons can also stay on doing their former jobs as freelancers for a bit of extra cash.
If they leave on good terms, employers will frequent choose to hire former employees to help with their business needs. They are already trained and know the work. services on a freelance basis.
Imagine you have an employee who’s worked as your in-house SEO consultant for the last 5 years. He’s decided he wants to go and start his own SEO firm. If they are good at what they do, you’ll want to be his first client, and you should be able to get a preferential rate.
These are the five most common kinds of outsourcers that you’ll encounter. Each poses their own unique challenges, benefits and drawbacks. It’s a good idea to look at what tasks you need to outsource. Then you can review the options from each category before choosing which one(s) you want to work with.
Learn more about Outsourcing effectively.
