Let's Skip the Offshore Horror Stories
If you were to research the horror stories of offshore
outsourcing gone wrong, you will find countless examples. You
will find many cases where visions of saving money turned into
hopeless legal battles and expensive lessons that would send
chills to your innermost soul. You will also find examples of
success. Since offshore outsourcing is such a hotbed of
controversy, I hope I can bring some balance to the issue.
The question on the minds of many small business owners is,
"Should I consider offshore outsourcing?" The leading problem
and cause of horror stories usually results from lack of due
diligence. Before you consider the possible savings, you will
benefit from extensive research.
If you understand the cultural differences and make allowances
for whether or not the laws will protect you in a dispute, it
can help you make informed decisions. You must also understand
international banking and how funds will be tied up during these
transactions. Intellectual property and trade secrets should be
a paramount concern.
While these are important considerations, let's look at this
from some common sense perspectives. Whether you are
manufacturer or a service provider, even if your competitor's
are using offshore outsourcing, you could gain some competitive
advantages by not following the crowd.
Any kind of outsourcing often involves surrendering control. If
you are in manufacturing for example, the company that plans,
engineers, develops, creates its own tooling, produces, and
services their own product, is going to naturally be more
responsive to their customers. They are in a position to further
improve the product and answer any customer support issues.
If you can structure your company so that a single team of
people sees each project through from beginning to end, and
continues to serve as a single point of contact after your
product goes out the door, those people will become the most
knowledgable. By nature, they will develop a sense of pride in
what they do and take ownership if you allow them to. If you are
willing to listen, these are the very people who will help you
streamline your costs and increase efficiency.
Your organization may need to form strategic alliances and
outsource to better serve your customers. Even with modern
communications, having these partners in close physical
proximity is usually more of an advantage, even if the costs
appear to be lower elsewhere.
In an age when so many are going overseas in pursuit of cheaper
labor, you may want to ask yourself if they are creating an
opportunity you can take advantage of. While your competitor's
are throwing their labor force away, you could hiring grateful
people who have experience. If you can't beat your competition
by being cheaper, you beat them by being better at a competitive
price.
If you are in a position to responsibly consider offshore
outsourcing, you are faced with spending your resources one way
or another. You can invest in the expensive process of making
sure it doesn't serve as a detriment to your business, or, you
can look at ways to make your business stronger by teaming up
with people close to home who already understand the market.