Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hello everybody!

I recognized, that in the last years more and more big companies do offshoring of IT services (mainly software development). Also some interesting new portals like www.getafreelancer.com came up where persons or companies can outsource various tasks (almost everything that can be transmitted via internet or email). A lot of people from India and Pakistan and so on are a member of these sites and they have a lot of IT skills. So if a job has to be done you go to a site like this and post your project. So you can find somebody who can finish your job for a pretty cheap price.

My idea is to establish a company with a good website where I offer services to enable my customer to outsource various tasks such as data entry, translation of documents, internet research, webdesign, search engine optimization, graphic design, CAD, worldwide supplier research... When a customer wants to outsource something I then go to these freelancer sites and post my project. I pay the freelancer and get the done tasks from him. I then forward the finished job to my customer.

Do you think this could be successful? My target group would be small and medium companies in the US.

Don’t you think I could make high margins because I don’t need a big office? I only have to pay for the freelancer when there is something to do…

Thanks so much for you comments!

John

Hi John,

I`m a business owner from Romania and I have started my business as an IT outsourcing service provider party.

In principle, you could be good, but I`m not so sure on the high profit margin. A good coder can cost upwards of 15 $ / hour, and you really need to choose coders carefully.

Do you have an IT background? If not, you need to hire someone who can do the project management for you and intermediate between the client and the outsource workforce. That would thin the margin a bit because you can`t really outsource that too. This is what added value you create, if I`m not mistaking.

A good portion of your idea would be finding and dealing with potential clients. Make a nice website with a good SEO and that would lead clients to you, but you`ll also have to manage those leads and use advertizing to get them in the first place.

Other than that you should be fine.

Good outsourcing websites to look at: RentACoder.com, Guru.com, GetACoder.com. These are nice because they provide coder ratings, especially RentACoder.

Tudor

Hello Tudor!

Thanks a lot for your reply!
Do you really think I need an IT Background? I don`t want to offer software development but internet research, search engine optimization, graphic design, CAD, worldwide supplier research...
My customers could outsource these tasks to me and I forward it to a freelancer...and I am coordinating between them. I want to offer these servces as a project support. So a company could handle a project they normaly would need 3 people with two because a lot of tasks are outsourced.

I am really intersted in your comments and about the company you own. What is the website adress?

Thanks a lot for the helpful links!

John

I can tell you I have seen many comapnies move development work off shore or Near-shore.  There has been many failures.  I have help some clients (big banks) with solutions.  Break things into 5-10 intro phrases.  To get it started have a sr person work next to the client. have the bulk work pitch off shore.  It has worked on a few projects already..

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Hi John,

If you only want those areas then you may do without an IT background. It`s all about risk management though. I mean, you need to be able to ensure the quality of the outsourced products, whatever they are. Choosing good coders (that have a high rating on the outsourcing websites) is a good strategy, except it`s always a quality vs. money tradeoff. Personally, I`d also want to have a man in my team that can immediately gauge the quality of the outsourcer`s output without the need for my customer`s feedback. It goes to professionalism and customer satisfaction, but that also applies to more advanced stuff like actual software development. Other stuff like researching is easier to measure, you just need a clear mind, and yet other very hard (translations, for example). In general, though, as long as the coder has a high rating without missed reports/conflicts, you should be fine.

My company`s website reflects our current direction, game development as products, not as services, and it`s in the works: http://www.zamolxisinteractive.com. My rentacoder`s profile link is: http://www.snipurl.com/mctd, but I only do game dev. related outsourcing nowadays.

Hope this helps,
Tudor

Hi John,

The company I work for www.Broadspire.com just recently launched a new solution called www.Pingworx.com.  We`re an Integrated Web Agency.  We specialize in providing complete online solutions for small to medium sized businesses by combining all Design, Mechanics, Marketing and Support in packaged solution.  We provide a solution for companies who have a web presence that requires a lot of attention, updates, maintenance, SEO, and so forth.   

We provide this solution to alleviate the stress businesses incur by having to hire a team of programmers, webmasters, and developers.  We are their one stop solution for web operations.  As a client you would a have a dedicated team of designers, graphic artists, and programmers.  Customers know their business, we know the web.  Leave SEO and technical problems to us so you can focus on your business. 

By Outsourcing companies could lower their overall costs by eliminating things such as: workers comp., insurance, reliability of employees, health insurance, the list goes on.  What seperates us from most outsourced companies is that we are located Los Angeles, CA, but have our own office in India with our own staff.  We do not have to rely on 3rd party vendors that might not be there tomorrow when you need them.  We are there for you 24/7.  Check us out at www.PingWorx.com

Yaron

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Hi,

Chris: True, except you deprive yourself of the chance to get the best price out of best coders fighting for your project. And the fact that you need a pretty big pool of coders to cover all technologies out there, in the case you go with full IT outsourcing.

You can build relationships with the best coders or with a small team, the work doesn`t happen in a void.

Tudor