Outsourcing is a widespread practice with most business owners now aware of the potential benefits the process offers. Here in the UK companies choose to outsource a range of services in order to concentrate on their core business offering. Popular sectors for outsourcing include customer services, property maintenance, customer services, debt management, accounting and payroll. Although most companies are aware of the main advantages of outsourcing in terms of converting fixed costs into variable costs and freeing up capital, many are unaware of the flexibility of outsourcing practices which can be closely tailored to meet their business needs.

Outsourcing is typically thought of as moving one service or process outside of a company to be performed elsewhere. It is possible to source out these operations to centres onshore (i.e. in the UK) or offshore (such as India); however these are not the only options available. Many companies overlook the benefits of multishoring whereby some services are outsourced on a multi-site basis both offshore and onshore. This is particularly beneficial for practices such as customer services in order to offer facilities which operate on a 24-hour basis.

A further option which is often overlooked is insourcing. Insourcing can combine the expertise of an outsourcing company with their client’s existing staff and help reduce costs by being performed on premises. Outsourcing companies can train existing staff to perform alternative tasks and eradicate the need to employ new staff to perform these jobs. Insourcing can also be performed by insourcing specialist staff from an outsourcing company on a temporary basis. This is particularly beneficial for short term projects both in terms of allowing the venture to commence more quickly and to reduce labour costs.

If you are considering outsourcing some of your own services it is fundamental to consider all the options and to be specific when dealing with potential partners in order to make sure any contract fulfils your needs. Outsourcing is by no means a one size fits all process and you should seek out an expert partner who offers a tailored approach such as Ventura BPO who cover four popular outsourcing areas – customer management, revenue generation, debt collection and document and payment management. For more information about VPO, see: