The 3 Myths of Outsourcing (and why you shouldn’t let $10/hour employees run your business)

As the Internet keeps growing, everyone loves to talk about how cheaply they run their business.  Ever wonder why so few talk about the results?

People get writers for $1 to write blogposts (actually great idea if you are search-engine driven, yet if you are trying to impress people…you are paying less than a cup of coffee for your reputation), and brag about the $1…and I rarely hear anyone else bragging about the results, the words.  Because what you paid for was $1, not quality.

I’m not against saving money, just anti-insanity. 
Let me share the 3 Myths of Outsourcing:


Myth 1.  I read the 4-Hour Workweek or the E-Myth, and it’s easy for Tim Ferriss…I’ll just pay someone $10 an hour and forget the rest!

This is my favorite myth;  Ferriss has run a successful business and while he may not be spending the farm for help, he understands that it is the quality of your help, and how much time/money they make/save you, not the price you pay for them.

Key Takeaway;  those entrepreneurs who brag about how little they pay their outsourced workers get what they pay for…it’s not wrong to pay a little extra, because let’s face it, $10/hour is barely minimum wage these days.

Match your expectations to results;  as the old saying goes, garbage in, garbage out…or mediocrity in outsourcing, mediocrity outsourcing.

Myth 2.  I don’t need to watch my business, I pay someone else to do that!

Anyone who has run a business knows that you have to watch your people, encourage them, and yes, even talk with them.  Many people consider outsourcing a rushed, edgy, fractured email or discussion, throwing the kitchen sink at some poor person and expecting them to magically produce results.

Even tougher are those working with people outside their native country;  you think people can’t understand you in English, try it in Russia, or Tagalog, or Mandarin.

Key Takeaway; Outsourcing is not just giving somebody else the responsibility, it is watching and helping them, and understanding that they are likely working with many other people…which is why you get them so cheap.

Myth 3.  My outsourcers don’t respond to me and I don’t think they care!

They don’t respond often because you pay them for a few hours a month, so you get those hours when they have them.  One of the smartest people I know wins with outsourcing by calling people, giving them small gifts…and here’s the big secret:

He says thank you, and he’s always touching base — not for a long time, for a quality time so they want to do a good job for him. He was always “selling” his people on how fun it was to be with him, was organized, and paid them on time…and even called when he paid them.

It took no extra time, and generated much better results…and also, he trained them for a few weeks so they understood what they were doing, how to do it, and what the expected turnaround time was.  Just like customers, outsourced employees need to be guided, nurtured, and watched.

Just like a garden, a plant doesn’t grow if you ignore it.  It dies…like the other people, the many, who fail with outsourced employees.

On the other side of the fence is the business who tries to do this all via email, never trying to get the outsourced employee engaged/involved.  They just send requests, get stressed, and don’t realize that if they actually read the emails they send out loud, they would hear a noisy, push, nutty person trying to get someone to do the work.

You get more when you plan, watch, and grow your outsourced workers, then when you expect them to do things while you just sit on the beach.

And they don’t care about you BECAUSE you don’t care about them. 
It’s simple, and real, and happening every day.

Want to get to the beach?  Teach them how to do it, get them to report to you on how they are doing, and touch base with them at least once a week, via phone, so you are both on the same page.

Outsourcing is not a myth, it’s the illusion of doing nothing that is the myth.  Done right, you can do little, but you can never leave them on their own.

Peace
Declan


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