We’ve discussed before how outsourcing can be good for your business, so today, we’re going to examine the process of finding the right company to outsource to. While outsourcing can be beneficial, its full potential is only realized if you work with a company who is capable of performing the work at hand to the best standard possible.

The first step

To find the right company to meet your business’ needs, you will first need to define a specific requirement and then match this with a specific type of service provider. For example:

• If you need your website to rise through the Google rankings, you’ll be looking for an SEO expert.
• If you need to ensure your business’ technology is always in good order, you’ll be looking for a managed service provider.
• If you require assistance in managing your payroll, you will be looking for a bookkeeper or accountancy firm.

Ask for recommendations

Primarily, seek recommendations from fellow business owners. You can do this online via forums, or you can attend a local networking event. With the latter, there’s no guarantee someone who runs a company that meets your specific needs will be present, but someone who knows of a good company almost certainly will be.

Ideally, you’re looking for three company names that you are then going to research in more detail.

Check how much each company talks about you

There is a tendency for service providers to use any meetings you have with them and their website copy to talk about themselves. It’s understandable that this happens; after all, they’re trying to ‘sell’ you the idea of their company, so they will want to talk about their reputation, previous successes, and how their company is preferable to others.

However, this sales spin isn’t useful to you as a client. What you need to know is what the service provider can offer to you; how their specific service is going to benefit your business. All good providers will focus primarily on their benefit to you as a client; managed IT providers such as Red Key Solutions go to great lengths to focus on how their service can help to grow your business; SEO providers should emphasize the benefits of improved SERPs in terms of converting sales; and accountants should seek to continually center the way that improved financial management can help you to reach your business goals.

If a company neglects to mention how they can help your business, instead focusing on their abilities, it’s a bad sign – and could even suggest they have to talk about themselves, as the benefits of their service are not immediately apparent otherwise.

Final thoughts

It is also worth noting that in addition to the steps above, at least some of your decision-making will be instinctive. Some people may try to argue this is problematic, but this isn’t actually the case. Gut instinct is important in life, and provided there are no obvious red flags about the company in question, there’s no harm in trusting it. If you like a company and like the idea of working with them, that’s a very good sign indeed.

Hopefully, the considerations above should help you to find the outsourcing provider your business needs – good luck!