Another fantastic question!
The number one reason to outsource is to get more done and to focus on your core business (the part that actually MAKES you money).
You can only do so many things at a time. If you’re driving to a meeting, you cannot be billing for your services (at least not easily and we’d really rather you focus on the driving part!)
So, what do you do that generates your income?
A psychologist can bill, let’s say, $150 an hour when she’s with a patient. Yet, she makes NOTHING if she spends that hour doing paperwork (or sitting on the phone waiting for the Veterans Administration to answer so she can fight with them for yet another hour…or MORE!) If she chooses to spend that hour with a patient, so that she can earn more, who is going to fight with the VA for that hour? It does no good earning more money by seeing more patients if no one is in the background billing for it!
That’s where outsourcing comes in. Instead of LOSING (costing) her $150 for that hour, she can instead pay staff to deal with it for only $10/hr (example) and still see a patient, so she’s made $140 profit that hour AND still getting paid by the insurance companies.
Doing it yourself: $0 for that hour because you spent it fighting with the VA
Outsourcing: $150 for that hour seeing a patient – $10 for that hour for billing staff to make that VA call = $140 for that hour.
Not only do you get more done, you decrease your costs.
Hiring in house staff is far more expensive than outsourcing. When outsourcing, the BPO company absorbs all expenses for that staff member. You have a clear-cut cost detailed in your contract. You also don’t have to worry about setting up office space, having equipment for them, utilities, network expenses, having the latest software, etc. The BPO handles all of those concerns, you only pay for the service you need to be performed.
Utilize the expertise of trained specialists at a fraction of the cost.
BPOs are masters of these non-core tasks. Since we have extensive experience from a multitude of sources, it’s like you have a dozen experts at your disposal for each type of tasks. You have accounting staff that can be giving advice to better improve cash flows, project management staff to help improve efficiencies, quality staff increasing accuracy, experienced customer service staff helping advise on the best ways to serve the customer, and so much more! Your business can run BETTER with these specialists at your side!
In the medical field example, we cannot see patients for you, but we can do EVERYTHING else so that YOU and your medical staff, can handle more patients! And that’s the part that is your ‘bread and butter’.
Spend more time with the people that matter!
Let’s face it, you didn’t start a business so that you could work 24 hours every day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. You wanted FREEDOM. Yet, the business you created now has you chained to a desk more than you ever were before when you had a ‘job’. That’s no life at all! And sure, they say, starting a business is hard, you have to give it your all, etc. But, we say, “who says?” Who says you cannot take a day off to chaperone a school field trip with your child? Who says you can’t blow an afternoon on a picnic lunch and spending time watching the clouds on a sunny day with your beloved? Who says you cannot spend the day with your sick relative, friend, or pet? Who says you have to miss the opportunity to welcome your best friend’s newest family member?
If your BPO is handling business for you, you can spend your time actually getting to LIVE your life, exactly how you want to live it!