Downturn Leads to OutsourcingWritten on the 31st of May 2009 by Michelle Carr ) Australian businesses turning to outsourcing as downturn bites
"We have experienced a huge increase in our business over the past six to 12 months as a result of more small-to-medium businesses, and even larger companies, choosing to outsource a number of their administrative functions so they can reduce costs without downsizing their business," says Small Business Evolution managing director, Michelle Carr. "The economic downturn is definitely playing a part in this trend, and businesses are realising they can effectively reduce their costs by using external providers rather than paying full-time wages to keep certain roles in-house." Ms Carr says that a good example of this is one of SBE's customers, which previously had four administration people in-house, covering functions such as accounts and marketing. "They have recently outsourced three of these roles to us and only have one administrative person on wages. As such, for the three roles that they have outsourced, they are now paying less than the equivalent of one full-time wage per annum for a whole team of people who are handling their bookkeeping, phone calls, recruitment, IT and marketing." Another area of strong growth has been in virtual office services, where business pay a relatively small monthly fee to have an office address and to have their calls answered and forwarded on. "There has also been a sharp rise in the number of businesses that have opted to move away from having a physical office so they can save on rent. We run their administration virtually and operate as their business, so there is no change in their operation. We answer their phones in the business name, run their accounts via terminal services and their IT infrastructure, and because we are doing this for multiple businesses, they only pay for a fraction of the cost. "Probably about half of our clients no longer have the need to actually have office space. They can streamline their entire operations and mobilise their business, but still have that professional business front. You can be a one-man band, but for a small amount you can have a big business presence, with a receptionist answering your phone." Ms Carr says SBE, based at Robina on the Gold Coast, has expanded its client base strongly over the past year to about 200 businesses, ranging from small enterprises right up to big companies, providing a wide range of support services. The company's largest client is a Queensland conglomerate with a payroll of about 200, which has outsourced a number of services. "As well as our in-house team of experts, we also have strategic alliances with accountants, insurance brokers and other professional services firms. We are providing a total outsource solution and it seems more and more businesses, whether it's because of the recession directly or because they recognise the long-term efficiency gains that can be achieved, are choosing to focus on their core activities and outsource the rest." For further information, contact: Michelle Carr Client Testimonial"The Small Business Evolution team has streamlined our entire operations and our overheads have not only decreased considerably, our staff productivity has increased with measurable KPIs and introduced accountability. "Management is able to focus on our core business "selling boats" By using smart tools provided by SBE our marketing and business development is giving us a measurable return on investment and kept the business coming in during these tough times as well. By outsourcing our marketing and administration we have been able to downsize our overheads but not our business operations, and what's more we have a team of professionals, tools and systems at our disposal." Director : Greg James For More Information On Outsourcing For Your Business, Contact Us
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