The word outsourcing has a notorious reputation in the business community, you’re either a lover or a hater. Often times there is very little middle ground when it comes to views regarding outsourcing work. As a Canadian business owner it’s easy to get swayed one way of the other on the idea of letting someone else, possibly on the other side of the world do work for you.  However outsourcing can have some tangible benefits especially for small business owners. Here are a few advantages I’ve noticed while outsourcing some of my projects :

Cost Efficient
In most cases outsourcing will cut down your expenses significantly if you choose the correct market to work with. I say this because outsourcing services  are often advertised via online bidding websites such as elance. These sites allow you to choose from different bidders many of whom are located in emerging economies whose currency exchange rate is fairly low when compared to the Canadian dollar.

Focus on Core Principles
Delegating work via outsourcing will leave you more time to focus on your core business practices first. In many cases back office operations such as administrative and HR services can be outsourced. It’s easy to get caught up in back office tasks and lose focus of your core business processes. Outsourcing allows someone else to handle them so you are free to examine the heart of business and what makes it tick.

Time Differences
Although working with international partners can sometimes be challenging, a large time difference can also be advantageous. While you’re a sleep they’re working and vice versa. There is always someone working on improving and maintaining your business. Communication is key when working across time zones so make sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to dates and deadlines.

Flexible Staffing
As a small business owner your workload can fluctuate. Hiring on-site staff whether permanent or on contract can often be cost intensive. Outsourcing tasks according to demand will allow your business more financial flexibility as you can increase or decrease the number of outsourced projects easily. Essentially you can expand or scale back your staff as needed.

Praveeni Perera is the CEO and co-founder of Professional Edge Consulting a corporate training company based in Ottawa offering training and coaching services to clients around the world.  She can be reached via Website, Twitter, Facebook or her Blog.