Have you seen the preview for the new NBC comedy show called “Outsourced?”
The opening shot is of the marketing manager showing up for his first day at work only to find that the rest of his team was laid off the previous day. He’s now in charge of a team located in India. And I’m sure you’re all to familiar with the members of his team, people who speak broken English and are likely to break his marketing efforts.
It’s coming this fall, it’s funny and I can’t wait to watch it.
If you haven’t seen it, watch the trailer here
So what’s wrong with “Outsourced?”
It’s about OFFSHORING not OUTSOURCING.
Wait a minute! What’s the difference?
Outsourcing involves contracting out a business or other to function as an external provider, something you are probably already doing. For example, your accountant, your lawyer, your printer; or at home your dry cleaner, even your garbage service, they’re all outsourced tasks.
And you’ve probably already figured out outsourcing makes sense but what most small business owners and entrepreneurs haven’t figured out is how to leverage the virtual workforce, to make more and work less without it going as wrong as it does on the NBC show “Outsourced.”
Which is why next week, I’ll be revealing along with a team of 10 experts the truth about how to ramp up your revenue with outsourcing.
Still wondering about offshoring, hiring someone from India, Bangladesh, or the Philippines for a fraction of what you’d pay someone in your own country?
Sounds like a great way to save money except that it doesn’t always work out that way. Offshoring results in an over 50% failure, at least for IT projects and in my experience an even higher failure rate for copywriting, web design and more culturally sensitive tasks.
Want to get the truth about outsourcing for small business?
The registration page for the Outsourcing and Delegation TeleSummit goes live this Thursday the 29th – so check your email and sign up right away for one of the 196 spots on the calls.
Did I mention it’s free to register?
– Charlie
P.S. Most small business owners can easily save a minimum of 10 hours per week and increase profits by 30% by outsourcing. You’ll find out how when you register for the Outsourcing and Delegation TeleSummit on Thursday.
Have a question or comment about outsourcing or offshoring? Leave a comment and let me know.
P.P.S. If you’re a big fan of offshoring of small business functions – prove me wrong. Other than Tim Feriss I can’t find any small business owners recommending offshoring and the people who’ve tried the services Tim recommends pan them.
I’ve spent endless hours chasing the elusive and low cost offshoring solution and have yet to make it work. So let me and every other small business owner I know in on the secret. Share with me some great examples of how entrepreneurs and small business owners are using offshoring to handle basic business functions to grow their businesses.
December 15th, 2010 at 11:44 am
Thank you for speaking up on this topic Charlie. I have spoken with many Webpreneurs who are trying to imitate Tim Ferris without success. They end up either blaming Tim or blaming themselves for their failure and are wrong either way.
The trouble with offshoring is that it does not work for everyone. It comes down to your business model, but more importantly your management style. Tim Ferris obviously has both a business model and a management style that works with the offshoring solution given the amount of success he has had.
However, many people who try to imitate him are left scratching their heads wondering what they are doing wrong. The answer is: nothing! It is just not a good fit for them. These Webpreneurs need to try domestic outsourcing with Virtual Assistants (and ultimately a Virtual Team) instead.
The problem is that most Webpreneurs either do not recognize whether they are a good fit or not — or they simply jump on the offshoring bandwagon because of the low costs. In the end, they lose money and time chasing something that will never work for them.