Treat your journey as a conversation. Explore and analyse before you talk, and listen to others, especially to what is happening around you.
Having gone through College courses to study business management is necessary to create a successful business. But what if you don’t have a formal business background, but you are still passionate about creating a company especially one that provides different services such as an offshore outsourcing business? There are more secrets to the trade that entrepreneurs can get outside formal educational training.
Offshore outsourcing business can mean two things: No. 1, you’ll be creating a company, but you’ll manage it from a different location, or No. 2, your company will cater to clients from another place such as those from another country or another region. Most successful offshore outsourcing companies are those which focus on online services such as Digital Marketing and Customer Service for these kinds of trade can work solely using the internet and virtual communication. But this does not mean that employees are cut off from clients and that no actual discussion is done between two parties. The secret to starting a successful offshore outsourcing business is to find balance, build relationships and continue assessing the business to develop and mature as a company.
Here are a few key points one must embody in starting an offshore outsourcing business.
Secrets to Starting a Successful Offshore Outsourcing Company for Non-Business Graduates
#1 Research. Research. Research!
Research may come in the form of books, seminars, internships, and talking to business owners who can mentor you.
If you don’t have formal education and training in business development and management, read books, attend seminars, try on internships, and talk to mentors who can help you out. Diving into various kinds of research and asking for advice from people with vast experience when it comes to developing and managing a business is the best way to approach your journey since this will equip you with the necessary foundations needed to make your own decisions.
Look for a person or a group of people who can guide you in this endeavour whether it’s because of their experience, because of the knowledge they have on the practice, or because you trust them to keep you grounded and centred. Having a mentor who can give you advice not only on how to start a business or manage a company but one that will embed in you the proper attitude in going through this journey is a must. Exhaust all possibilities to hear the stories and to know how to apply in real life, those that you’ve read on paper.
#2 Know your goals
Craft your business in response to the goals you want to achieve.
Even before you’ve decided to create a company, or also thought about the services you want to offer, you should first consider the long-term goals you want to achieve. Whether this is to leave a legacy in the world, provide employment opportunities to your community, or gain financial stability for your family, all these will significantly contribute and affect every decision you make with regards to building and growing your business.
Keep a record of your long-term goals and create short-term goals based on these. Setting short-term goals should be aligned with your long-term vision so that each step you take will be in fulfilment of both objectives. Find people who are willing to fulfil these goals with you, and this will undoubtedly craft your brand and contribute to the success of your company. And after every goal has been achieved, don’t forget to set up new ones so that there’ll be continuous growth and development which is key to success.
#3 Invest in People
An ideal team is composed of people from different backgrounds with various skills.
A company can’t be one-sided especially when its services cover a variety of departments which require various yet specific skills to be completed. It’s good to have experts on the team but having newbies is also favourable for they can contribute fresh ideas which experts might not have encountered during their time. Investing in employees from different backgrounds with various work experiences is the best way to go because each person has their own critical and creative thinking skills which are needed in making decisions and handling things. Often, these types of people make the perfect team for their backgrounds cover all sides which need attention and therefore they can see the bigger picture of the things they are doing.
When it comes to clients, take in everyone that’s aligned with the values of your company for this can be the foundation of your relationship. Consider every client that comes your way and see if their requests match your services and the skills it required. Do not be afraid to say ‘No’, but graciously help them find the best company that can match their requests. Always endeavour to create good relationships for these can also be investments especially when you talk about networking with other people to grow your business.
#4 Invest in the proper tools
Having the correct tools will not only make business processes easier, but these tools can also assist in proper communication.
From internal tools used to communicate, track and assess employee performance and company accomplishments, to software and programs needed to perform services, investing in proper tools is detrimental for a company to function.
Time Tracking Software such as Harvest, help employees keep track of the time they spend on a project by keeping a log of their minutes as well as notes on the things they’ve done. Aside from this, Harvest also helps clients by assuring them that their money is allocated correctly and that productive output has been done.
For offshore outsource companies, tools for communication are vital especially when heads and clients are away from employees. Tools such as Emails, Skype and other instant communication programs are necessary because these aid communications in a way that every minute is used wisely since you can send or call a person in real-time. Aside from these, Basecamp is another tool used for project management and team communication. This software allows employees and clients to have a record of their emails and keep files that they’ve sent to each other. Through this way, everything is accounted for, and everyone in the group can track progress.
For more details on other helpful business tools and how you can utilise them, head on over to ClickTime.
And for a list of suggested SEO Perth & Web Design Perth tools essential for Digital Marketing, visit our blog entitled, Tools that can check your SEO performance.
#5 Communicate. Communicate. Communicate!
Constant communication will save you from having to deal with unnecessary problems.
Communication is vital not only when dealing with clients but when building your company. Talk to your mentors about your goals and the steps you’ll take to fulfil them. Talk to your investors and assure them that their investments are in good hands. Talk to your employees and engage them in their projects. Converse with them, have a dialogue and exchange ideas on how to best take on a project in order to avoid miscommunication between everyone.
Encourage your team to bring out their ideas. And when it comes to dealing with clients, welcome their ideas but don’t also always say ‘Yes’ to everything. Set boundaries early on but don’t hesitate to let the relationship develop naturally so that both parties can eventually expand their agreements. Don’t hesitate to say ‘No’ if you know that there is a better idea or a better decision that will significantly benefit all.
Aside from communing with your team and your clients, don’t forget to converse with the customers as well. Provide a way for customers to leave feedback and then take into account their testaments so that you can better your products and services.
#6 Assess and Evaluate
Don’t forget to assess and evaluate your performance so that you can learn from your mistakes and take those as stepping stones into growing your business.
Last but not the least; continue developing your business by assessing your accomplishments and learning from the journey you took to achieve them. This step is often forgotten by those who’ve successfully launched their companies and have not looked back since. Often, those people who do not take time to assess their work find it hard to make decisions and therefore eventually get stuck on dormant or sluggish performance.
Assessing and evaluating is necessary to beat idle productivity and prepare for the future. Quarterly performance check-up is a healthy business process that all companies should follow. And as much as possible, have short monthly meetings to check-up on your employees and see how you can help them beat their struggles in work to have a more productive process.
If you want to know more about running and not just starting a successful business, head on over to ClickTime and learn other secrets of the trade.
Outsource to the Philippines with Bureauserv Limited.
Having followed these steps, Bureauserv was able to grow to what it is today. And because we are still continuing to mould the brand and the company to be the better version of its self, Bureauserv is rising to be one of the top outsourcing companies in the Philippines who cater to and specialise in, helping Australian business in their outsource tasks.
Our offshore outsourcing services include Accounting, Bookkeeping & Payroll with specialisation in offshore accounting and online bookkeeping; Customer Service & Sales with a profession in CRM and email marketing through the Infusionsoft software; Digital Marketing with emphasis on web design Perth and SEO Perth; and Virtual Assistance Perth.
