Has business growth caused back office processes to become unruly and difficult to manage? Are you incurring too many overhead costs from back office duties? If so, your organization may benefit from business process outsourcing for small business.
Business process outsourcing (BPO) can not only help you rein in your back office, but it can also enable you to focus on your core competencies and help you provide better customer support.
Here is everything a business owner needs to know about business process outsourcing, including how to decide whether it’s right for your growing company.
What Is Business Process Outsourcing?
Business process outsourcing involves partnering with a third-party service provider to manage various back office business functions. Some of the functions you can outsource include:
- Accounting
- Payroll
- Human resources
- Chief Financial Officer (CFO) duties
When outsourcing business operations, you can use one of two approaches. The first option involves augmenting the capabilities of your in-house team with the personnel of the outsourced services provider. The alternative approach involves allowing the service provider to oversee all aspects of back office business functions.
How Does Business Process Outsourcing Work?
Business process outsourcing is relatively straightforward. You begin by finding a reputable partner such as Finlyte with experience working with clients in your industry.
The right partner will then take the time to learn the needs of your business. They will help you identify which processes should be outsourced and tailor their service model to meet your needs.
While the service provider can manage your entire back office, they will still keep you in the loop by generating detailed performance reports and collaborating with your team.
You will still set the standard regarding hiring processes and accounting practices. However, you will no longer have to waste your precious time dealing with the day-to-day management of managing these functions.
Signs You Should Outsource Your Back Office
Is your business ready to outsource its back office? Here are a few telltale signs:
1. Organizational Visibility Is Poor
The term “visibility” refers to your ability to know what is happening across your entire business. If visibility is poor, it is difficult to make informed business decisions and facilitate the continued growth of your business.
Poor visibility will become the norm when there is a disconnect between payroll, accounting, and HR personnel. Unfortunately, this can derail your growth and negatively impact business performance.
2. Back Office Functions Detract from Your Core Competencies
Do you spend more time processing payroll, performing accounting functions, and managing HR tasks than you do serving your customers? If so, then it is definitely time to outsource.
As a business owner, the majority of your time should be devoted to working on your business, not working in your business. This way, you can improve your product or service, invest in your people, and support customer interactions. Focusing on these activities will provide the most value for your company and your clients.
3. Customer Support Is Subpar
Speaking of customers, has the quality of support you provide recently plummeted? If you are bogged down with back office processes, it is no wonder that you cannot provide the level of support you would like.
Instead of running the risk of alienating your customers and damaging your brand reputation, why not outsource to remedy the issue?
Outsourcing back office functions will allow you to reallocate in-house personnel to customer-facing tasks, like providing product support or nurturing quality leads. The end result includes the following:
- Improved productivity.
- Revenue growth.
- An enhanced customer experience.
- Greater profitability.
The Benefits of Outsourcing
Outsourcing your back office can help you unlock numerous business benefits. Specifically, outsourcing can help in the following ways.
1. Save Time and Money
By outsourcing, you can save a tremendous amount of time and money. Outsourcing is far more economically viable than hiring new team members. You can partner with an outsourced services provider for a fraction of the cost of recruiting, training, and paying back office personnel.
Additionally, an outsourced services provider can modernize your back office processes. For example, we use the Oracle NetSuite ERP platform to manage all your accounting and HR functions.
NetSuite is the leading enterprise resource planning solution on the market. This powerful platform allows the outsourced services provider to offer you better value while optimizing the efficiency of your back office processes.
2. Improve Productivity
Do you and several team members frequently “change hats” during the course of a day? While it is great to be versatile and well-rounded, everyone would be more productive if they could focus on their core competencies.
When you outsource the back office, you and your staff will no longer have to juggle a half dozen or more responsibilities. Your team will be free to put their skills to use in other areas of your business, thereby allowing them to provide more value to the company.
3. Enhance the Customer Experience
When your back office gets out of hand, everyone will be negatively impacted, including your customers. Employees that are overworked and stretched too thin cannot possibly offer your customers the level of support they deserve. Although loyal customers may be more tolerant of occasional support issues, new clients probably won’t be.
Therefore, you must provide a high-quality, consistent customer experience from the moment individuals begin interacting with your company. Outsourcing helps you reduce the workload on your in-house team, giving them more time to spend with customers.
4. Promote Business Growth
Managing your back office internally will limit your business growth. Ultimately, you will have to either bring in more employees or outsource. The former approach is time-consuming, costly, and inefficient.
Conversely, outsourcing allows you to immediately access accounting and HR expertise while avoiding the growing pains associated with building an in-house team.
When your accounting, HR, and payroll functions are optimized by a skilled outsourced services provider, you can devote more time and energy toward growing your business.
You will be able to explore growth opportunities and capitalize on emerging market trends, all because you are no longer inundated with back office work.
5. Increase Visibility
When your business visibility is poor, you are essentially making decisions in the dark. It is impossible to strategically move your business forward if you have no efficient way of gauging the performance and fiscal health of the company.
An outsourced services provider like Finlyte can power your decision-making processes by giving you access to real-time, accurate financial data. At a glance, you can monitor cash flow, track revenue, and assess the state of your company.
You can use these robust insights to make informed, timely business decisions that help you thrive within your industry.
Ready to Embrace Business Process Outsourcing for Small Business? Finlyte Can Help
Business process outsourcing for small business owners can be a game-changer that takes your company to the next level. Leveraging outsourcing services from a reputable partner like Finlyte can alleviate numerous back-end challenges and free up resources to focus on customer-facing issues.
At Finlyte, we offer comprehensive accounting and BPO services. We can assume responsibility for critical areas of your business such as accounting, payroll, human resources, and CFO functions. Whether you need us a little or a lot, we have a solution that fits your business need.
Together, we can transform your back office into an asset. To learn more about our award-winning BPO services, contact us today to schedule a no-obligation consultation with our team. We look forward to working with you.