Arthur F. Rothberg, Managing Director, CFO Edge, LLC
Here today, gone tomorrow. This well-known idiom is often used to describe something that’s temporary or fleeting, such as money, happiness or fame.
It could also be used to describe outsourcing services. When Los Angeles and Southern California business owners and executives hire outsourcing firms to provide expertise or services, the outsourcer is here today in order to complete the assignment or engagement, and then gone tomorrow once the engagement is complete. For businesses that need to bring in outside expertise on a short-term, cost-effective basis, this is a very good thing indeed.
Short-Term Resources and Expertise
Outsourcing may be beneficial to small and mid-sized businesses in a wide variety of situations where the business needs short-term resources and expertise. By being here today,an outsourced services provider can offer expertise in the specific area where your firm needs assistance, such as a one-time project or consulting engagement. And by being gone tomorrow the outsourcing arrangement can save money by freeing up capital that can be invested in other more productive areas of your business.
Among the benefits of having outsourcing here today are:
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Outsourcing is immediate and on demand. You hire an outsourcing services provider as needed to address immediate challenges, handle urgent priorities that your staff doesn’t have time for, or help implement strategic vision for your company.
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Outsourcing increases efficiency. When they try to do all tasks internally, companies frequently discover they are paying a premium in terms of higher costs. The reason: aside from very large companies, most businesses cannot execute on non-core activities like an outsourcing firm because they don’t have the outsourcer’s cost structures or economies of scale that generate efficiencies.
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Outsourcing provides a high level of industry-specific expertise and knowledge that’s not currently available on your staff. Outsourcing services providers are highly skilled professionals in their particular area of expertise, whether this is finances, accounting, marketing or IT. By retaining them on a temporary basis, you reap the benefits of their skills and knowledge without having to hire them on a full- time basis. This also enables you to stay focused on your business core competencies.
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Outsourcing increases your current staff’s bandwidth for the most pressing and urgent needs. Most companies go through temporary periods when their staff is stretched to the limit and unable to handle the current workload without running the risk of serious burnout. An outsourced services provider can help you get through periods like this without jeopardizing the morale and health of your staff.
Among the benefits of having outsourcing gone tomorrow are:
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Resolution of your most pressing challenges. Once the pressing challenge is met and the project is complete, the outsourced services provider will leave your business. There is no ongoing commitment on the part of either party your business or the outsourcer.
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Lower ongoing overhead. One the engagement is complete and the services provider has left, there are no ongoing overhead costs for your business no office space, salaries, benefits, etc. Your company might even be able to avoid moving into a larger and more expensive facility by outsourcing such functions as marketing, IT and R&D instead of hiring full-time employees to perform these tasks.
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The meeting of key deadlines and milestones. As noted above, there may be times when your staff is unable to meet pressing deadlines and milestones with their current bandwidth. Once the deadlines are met and the engagement is complete, the outsourced services provider moves on to the next client. Should you need the outsourcer’s services to meet future deadlines, you can hire the firm again under a new engagement.
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Training of your staff that benefits your company long after the engagement is complete. In the course of working with your existing staff during an engagement, an outsourced services provider will usually provide valuable training to the staff. There’s usually no extra charge for this training it’s a value-added benefit of working with an outsourcer that lasts for much longer than the term of the engagement itself.
Concluding Thoughts
While here today, gone tomorrow usually has a negative connotation, it’s just the opposite when applied to outsourcing services. Outsourcing firms are here today in order to offer expertise in the area where your firm needs assistance and complete a specific assignment, such as a one-time project or consulting engagement. Then they are gone tomorrow once the engagement is complete, which can save your business money by freeing up capital that can be invested in other more productive areas. If your business needs to bring in outside expertise on a short-term, cost-effective basis, this is a very good thing indeed.
