Why Outsourcing Fails and How to Prevent It?

Francis:

I want you to gain back the trust into the idea that outsourcing works.

Stefan:

I know this works but the problem is I experienced that it is on the verge of not being cost efficient anymore. When I put everything inside – my time, my nerves. You know, everything that I put inside, the money there that I put inside, everything.

If you combine all of that, it goes over this cliff where this is the safe border on the side where there’s good and productive and everything. There’s the cliff where those just says “Just do it on your own.” No? 

Francis:

Okay. I think you are on a very delicate point here. In my opinion, if you pass this situation where it’s on the cliff even if you, for a few weeks, are not money efficient. It only goes up from there.

As long as you continuously learn from your failures and implement steps to eliminate the failures in your future. It can only go up. And after you pass the situation where you are, sort of, not cost efficient; you come in to the area of its being crazily time and cost efficient. 

Stefan:

Okay.

Francis:

So I think coming to that point is worth it, at least for me personally. I think over the cost of the time, I might have mentioned this in the other interview already; I have invested a few thousand dollars in outsourcing. I have received quite some results.

I did many, many different projects and I learned tons of stuff. Most of all goes in to this website so that others don’t need to invest same money to learn the same lessons. But now that I have learned all of these, it’s really easy for me. 

I have one assistant who is perfect and if some point in the future he decides to change his work situation; I am confident that I will be able to train and form a new person almost as perfect as the old assistant in a quite short amount of time. 

So, this takes away the fear of the system not functioning anymore for me. And I think that’s priceless. Now that I know how to do this, I can be very confident in working a lot of different projects at the same time. 

Stefan:

I didn’t know if I want it hand drawn because I knew also that this is time consuming.

Francis:

Yeah, yeah.

Stefan:

I agree that it’s definitely possible and definitely cost efficient at some point. But for small jobs and for just outsourcing occasionally, it’s a very delicate situation.

Francis:

Yes. If you don’t outsource on a regular basis, I wouldn’t recommend – how do I say this? – going into contract outsourcing. I propose that if you say, “Well, some weeks I don’t have anything to do and some weeks I have something to do.”

That you get one do-it-all assistant, train him for whatever comes up but tell him beforehand, “Well, on average, it will not be more than 10 hours a week” so that this assistant can also go out and get other jobs. This would be fair. 

But then if you have something to do and if you have established a good working relationship; he knows that it’s fun working with you and he gets well paid then he will come back to you whenever you need him. But it’s not as efficient as having someone dedicated to you.

Stefan:

Yes.

Francis:

But that only works if you have a lot of work for him.

Stefan:

I assume that I would have a lot of work and give him that. What do you mean dedicated like 40 hours a week or 10 hours a week or whatever’s possible?

Francis:

At least 20 hours a week.

Stefan:

Okay. So that’s a full time assistant or a part time assistant.

Francis:

Exactly.

Stefan:

Okay. 

Francis:

That’s the most efficient way to do it.

Stefan:

From myself, I would say that if I have someone who’s working for me 20 hours a week, I would definitely find enough work for him to do. Given that he could do it because the stuff that I would tell him to do would be such a wide range.

It could vary from graphic design to layout to web design to web formats to websites or to just somewhere and do some specific tasks. Very different things but actually someone who is web affinity, you know?

Francis:

Yes. 

Stefan:

Has some web affinity and can grasp these things. And is basically a new pair of hands for me. Just do stuff while I don’t do stuff. 

Francis:

Work while you sleep.

Stefan:

Yeah, exactly. That would be a lot when I don’t feel like working. 

Francis:

Yes.

Stefan:

Then I have a motivation low, I can be at least reassured that stuff is done.

Francis:

Yes.

Stefan:

And I learned that if I would need a full time or a part time assistant or only a web designer or only the data entry guy.

Francis:

Yes. If you want to go this way, to have someone working much for you; there is no way around efficient communication in the first time.

So at the beginning, you let him only do one job and do it well until he understands how you think and how you want it. Then you expand to the next job. You cannot start with 10 jobs at same time. That’s not efficient. I don’t recommend it.

Stefan:

How do I find someone who can do potentially everything? Who is just an online nerd who learns and then loves stuff like that and can do so many things?

Francis:

By being very careful in the interviewing process and finding the person who for the right price for you has a lot of availability. So, does not work for 10 other projects but says okay I have 40 hours a week shows you in his portfolio and in his application that he’s very smart and very skilled; and shows you within the interview process in the first test task at the beginning that he’s a problem solver and a quick learner. 

If you have such a person on your hand even if is he’s not very skillet yet then you have a winner. Because you can always train him, if he’s a quick learner and doing whatever he needs. If he has, for example, basics of graphics design down.

Stefan:

Yeah.

Francis:

I think that’s really the most difficult step where there’s a little bit of luck involved. But if you asked the right questions, if you’ve given the right test tasks, really closely consider how fast he’s learning and how fast he’s implementing stuff on his own.

If you really screen for such people, then earlier or later you find that person who is self motivated – self learner – and whom you can give lots of different tasks overtime. 

But to find that out, if you need to be closely tuned in to your applicants and assistants. And here I would really want to go back to the sort of point where I talk about the communication.

Stefan:

Yes.

Francis:

If that’s okay with you…

Stefan:

Yeah, totally.