How to Get the Best from OutsourcingWritten by Martin Haworth
To maximise profits, it has become fashionable to place some of your support requirements with 'experts', to allow you to focus on core activities. Especially for small businesses this can work well, but with larger organisations, unless you get it just right, it can be a lot more trouble than it's worth - and cost you a lot more.There's a great little article ('Business Lifeforms') on back pages of UK's leading management magazine, Management Today each month. It's a spoof (at least I think it is!) about some fictitious key player in a fictitious organisation. For January, it's about Ken, who's a 'Facilities Manager'. Now Ken has seen it all and truly worked his way up from bottom to top. Until, that is, a couple of years ago when new MBA-armed suits took over and decide to slash Ken's department (until now, running very, very smoothly under Ken's watchful eye) and Ken himself. Of course it all goes pear-shaped and top dog has to come grovelling back to Ken, offer him loads of money and a big car, basically to ensure that toilets aren't 'backing up' any more! This is in direct contrast to Michael Gerber, in his fascinating book The E-Myth Revisited. There he talks about working 'on' business and 'in' business, making it clear that if you do too much of grindstone not-my-expertise stuff yourself, you lose track of what you are really good at, and what you went into business for. In a past life, I too experienced challenging outsourcing. At one time I had a great little local cleaner who I trusted (he even opened store up for me - hmmm, that was a long time ago!). He did an excellent job and was on hand for emergencies. Then a new senior director decided to consolidate and outsource, for 'economy and consistency'. It was cheap - but service was awful. Each time I got a new 'centrally sourced' cleaning company, they came with great intentions for first 3 months and then dribbled off (with our money!) until it became unsustainable and another 'excellent contractor' came along. The moment of truth for me, was when director for one of these contractors, came along for first time in a brand new £60K Merc (and it's a few years ago now). Then I knew where my money would be going. I went through 6 contractors in 5 years, even though my hands were tied by 'Head Office' contracts!
| | Business Opportunity - Leverage Your Employees!Written by Martin Haworth
For business to be successful, you have to take every step possible to make sales, control costs, be profitable. Yet there is an asset that so often gets looked over. The very people you employ.And if your work it right, they can bring in rewards like you never thought possible. As a business asset, they don't sit well on P&L statement. They aren't valuable like a piece of machinery, or an office block. There is no assignment of currency with which you can measure them. But living and breathing within walls of your premises are biggest asset you could think of - your people. Here's why... Your people are:- - Your Face They are like a big advert on a bus or a hoarding. Whatever you want them to be - they are you, in whatever way they feel at time. One slip and there goes a lifetimes worth of business (have you ever worked that out over 20 years - try it!)
- Interactors They are one side of two-sided interaction between your business and your customers, clients and suppliers and anyone else you can think of. This interaction is not just a choice, but a reflection of how your are within your business. So their 'interaction' is down to you and you alone.
- Proactive Great at day job, your people can give more. They can think ahead and develop a knack of being pro-active for you. Using them as one big team you suddenly have 10 pairs, a hundred pairs or even a thousand pairs of eyes and ears, noticing and responding to things, on your behalf.
- Choosers They choose how to interact with your clients, customers and suppliers. And in that choice; in that very moment, they are able to make successful and long-term relationships - or not. They have choice.
- Synergistic They can contribute to you much more than bare bones of their 'being there'. If you build right relationship with your people they will spin and bounce ideas off you like no tomorrow. This is a very rich asset for you to utilise.
- Weight Lifters They can take some of your burden away. If you treat them fairly, honestly and trust them, your people are able to take on new roles - and give you time and energy, which will leverage your skills in your business to there most effective.
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