Losing Focus on Product Will Haunt You Forever, Outsource Back Office ASAP

There are many aspects of your business that require complete might of your brain. Tasks like R&D, feasibility study, designing, finding delivery channels are just a few in the long list of vital functions that an entrepreneur has to perform. Only when these functions are performed with due diligence over a period of time, you see good results. But when you add the burden of back office on your daily functions, the challenge of managing the business becomes even more imposing.

Solve Back Office Dilemma with Back Office Support Services Outsourcing

Whether it is accounting, data entry, catalog management or payroll processing; each task requires your complete attention. But if you haven’t got the time to focus on these tasks, then it is best not to procrastinate and waste time. Thinking about back office outsourcing and not doing it is a big problem. Below is a checklist with yes/no questions that you should answer and decide for yourself if back office support services outsourcing is the way to go for your organization:

1. Are you willing to pay back office employees the same salary as your core process employees?
2. Are you ready to invest in expensive back office software solutions that will not be used for your core process?
3. Can you spend on training the employees?
4. Do you have time to oversee back office operations?
5. Do you have additional space in your office to set up your back office team?

These are 5 pertinent questions that you should try to answer yourself (or take a poll on) before making the final decision on outsourcing. If the answer to more than three of these questions is in the negative, then you should definitely give back office outsourcing a try.

How to Screen Back Office Service Providers for Your Business?

Finally deciding to outsource back office is only half the work done. Simply outsourcing to just about any back office service provider can get you in trouble. You should realize that along with your back office tasks, you will be also handing over your customers’ critical information. Therefore, your first priority should always be on finding such a vendor that has built up a good reputation by working in the industry for a long time. Anyone working in the outsourcing industry knows that reputation is what gets him business and any compromise in data security can tarnish his image. Hence, better the reputation, the more likely your vendor is to keep your vital data safe. Apart from this priority, you should also look for the following attributes in your back office service provider:

1. Access to relevant software: Back office service providers use their software solutions for more than one client. Therefore, quality vendors always have the best software handy. So, when you outsource your business, you get your work done more efficiently and accurately without spending too much. Hence, it is best to check the software your vendor will be using before outsourcing your back office.
2. Access to experienced workforce: When it comes to back office tasks, nothing beats experience. Always evaluate the quality of workforce (by visiting the premises of vendor or through an online test), before you sign the contract.
3. No lack of focus – Running an in-house back office operation requires you to maintain your focus on different back office departments. At all times you have to stay in touch with the head of departments and seek regular feedbacks in the form of timely reports. Also, you have to analyze the reports and provide your input in the form of recommendations. Performing these tasks can impact your focus on core competencies, which may hurt your business in the future.

4. Complete scalability – The scale of back office operations may be required to be increased at any point of time. A competent back office outsourcing company can help you increase the scale of operation as per requirement at any time you want. Doing the same thing in-house is a herculean task and puts tremendous amount of pressure on your HR and training department.