Well, maybe not with zero employees, but think of how much money you would save if you had very few!
Outsourcing your tasks to independent freelancers or agencies can be a smart move in today’s marketplace, especially when the job market is highly competitive.
As you build and expand your business, there is no way you will be able to handle all your tasks alone. Outsourcing your tasks to virtual workers is the way that savvy business people are growing because they are able to find trained professionals online at a fraction of the price of a traditional worker. Independent freelancers or agencies also don’t need benefits such as health care, pensions, social security and so on.
Today, more businesses are outsourcing their tasks because of the lower costs, convenience and efficiency of virtual workers.
If you’re unsure of how you’d use virtual workers, visit one of our earlier articles, entitled How to Use Freelancers to Expand Your Business, where we discussed some aspects of hiring virtual workers and some tips on how to outsource.
If you are familiar with outsourcing, you must know that talent around the world has never been so easily accessible. Millions of trained and talented workers are ready to help your business right now. There has been a major shift in the workforce and the virtual office is going to be the trend of the future.
Benefits of a virtual office
You cannot always perform all of the necessary tasks to run your business on your own. There are tasks that are tedious and require more time, which a virtual worker can help with while you attend to the more important aspects of your business. As your business grows, you need to hire more people to increase your productivity and profit.
One huge advantage of advanced internet technology for business owners today, is the global marketplace of online workers. Cost is one of the major benefits of hiring virtual workers.
There are people available and ready to work via the many outsourcing websites,where you are able to hire professionals for a fraction of the cost of what it would be to hire a traditional employee.
With virtual workers, businesses can save time, space, money, resources and can have the flexibility of working around the clock and whenever needed. Below are some of the benefits described.
Money:
You can save money by minimizing the physical size of your company, with less overheads. Paying less for virtual workers just makes sense when compared to a traditional worker who ends up costing you more with taxes, health insurance and other benefits.
Space:
When you minimize the physical size of your business, you can also reduce many of the associated costs such as utilities, office supplies, furniture and transportation costs. You also need to pay less rent for your smaller office space.
Time:
When you have workers from different times zones, you are able to find people to run your business around the clock. “Flexibility and autonomy applied to time management leaves everybody in charge of their own time, and lets them choose their work schedules.” – Managing Virtual Team
Environmental benefits:
The immediate environmental benefit of hiring virtual workers is the reduced number of automobiles needed for getting to the office during office hours, which minimizes carbon emissions. The number of cars would significantly reduce on the roads of the United States during rush hour if more companies hired virtual workers.
Future of the workforce
There is a portion of the workforce that works on their own or on the side as freelancers, building their portfolio and skills. oDesk CEO, Gary Swart, said in an interview that, “Younger generations will increasingly start their careers as entrepreneurs, and independent professionals, from the very beginning. This will be a career path they aspire to.”
Virtual workers are reshaping how businesses operate today and how offices will be structured in the future..
How to choose a worker
Outsourcing might seem time-consuming at first, and you might find it difficult to get the right kind of people for your company to form your virtual workforce. But, if you spend a little time researching the market and going through some of the options available to assist you in choosing the best possible candidates, you will surely find the right kind of virtual worker you need to outsource your tasks to. If you end up hiring the wrong kind of people, it might cost you more time and money and become “more trouble than it’s worth,” so you need to choose your workers carefully.
To get the most out of your virtual workers, you need to define your tasks and give your workers clear instructions so that they know exactly what you want them to do and when.
Outsourcing Resources
There are links given at the end of this article to guide you to some freelancing sites where you can place your ad and find your virtual workers for hire very easily. Also see our previous article, entitled How to Use Freelancers to Expand Your Business, where we discussed some aspects of hiring virtual workers and some tips on how to outsource.
Are you considering starting your own business? Get some amazing tips from our FREE eBook, Unleash the Entrepreneur in You.
We’d love to hear from you, so please visit our Facebook Page and leave a comment there. For specific questions, please add your comment below in the comment box.
Source: Institute of Ecolonomics
Resources:
Related topics:
- How to Use Freelancers to Expand Your Business | Nourish The Planet
- Unleashing Your Potential Entrepreneurial Power | Nourish The Planet
- Earn Extra Income from Home Around Your Schedule | Nourish The Planet
- The Re-Definition Of Entrepreneurship And Rise Of Freedom-Seeking Freelancers – Forbes
- Advantages and Challenges of Virtual Work Teams
