Containing costs is of prime importance for any business. Keeping the cash from flowing out the door can mean the difference between outstanding success and abject failure, whether the business is an enormous multi-national conglomerate or a small family shop.

There are many ways to go about this, but one of the more popular ones is to outsource some functions. Although many people think of this as solely the province of large corporations, it can serve a purpose in small business as well. For example, most smaller firms do not have full-time accountancy staff. Instead, that function is contracted out to either an individual accountant or accounting firm. This situation is so common that most of us don't even think of it as outsourcing, but that's precisely what it is.

One area where outsourcing can pay off big is in the human resources department, especially when smaller companies are involved. A lot of the time in these situations, HR functions are distributed among various members of senior management (General Manager, Operations Manager, Owner, etc. Whatever your title is, you know who you are). It's unfortunate, as these are the people who have the least time to spare, usually don't have any professional HR training, and often not the right aptitude for dealing with HR matters.

The right human resources firm can help with this. For example, rather than interviewing potential new hires, dealing with the legalities associated with the HR function, and implementing necessary HR procedures, your Operations Manager can focus on, well, operations. By outsourcing, senior staff can focus on your core business.

Aside from providing management with more time to focus on their primary work, outsourcing to a company specializing in human resources has other benefits. They are, after all, specialists, and like other specialists, have considerable expertise in their field which can save the company time, $$$, and headaches.

Human resources experts can provide advice, guidance, solutions and implementation, all while leaving you in ultimate control of your company's destiny. One of the nice things about outsourcing your HR needs is that the right firm will provide you the best in service. After all, they want your business, and they are willing to do what it takes to keep it.

There are a number of things to consider before hiring an outside company to handle your human resource needs. The amount and type of service provided are the key factors in this regard. We have Human Resources Facilitators on call who can provide quick HR support by phone or email, typically within less than four hours from the time the inquiry is made.

Flexibility is more important than ever before, especially when it comes to the needs of small companies. We offer HR support packages customized to suit your particular needs. Perhaps you prefer a pay-as-you-go approach. Or maybe you're more comfortable with putting us on retainer. In either case, we work with you to find the solution that works best for your company.

In the final analysis, outsourcing your HR needs may be the best thing you ever do, because it allows your senior staff to concentrate on what they do best, while we concentrate on what we do best: helping you succeed.

ABOUT: Lynn Lochbihler is one of the founding partners at HR-Fusion, specializing in employee relations with a broad knowledge of human resources and compliance issues.

This dynamic Human Resources (HR) consulting firm focuses on strategic business and organizational development through HR delivery and training. The integrated team approach and 'full service' philosophy makes HR-Fusion a reliable resource and valuable business partner when you need professional HR support.

HR-Fusion's Hamilton, Ontario location is uniquely positioned to provide services to Brantford, Burlington, Oakville, and the surrounding Niagara region. HR requirements outside the immediate geographic area are handled through the HR-Fusion partner network and provides coast to coast coverage as required.

There is more to outsourcing than what was witnessed in the formative years of this global corporate phenomenon. Outsourcing in the present age does not just mean entering data on excel sheets or answering customer calls on phone.

Outsourcing knowledge related work or information processing work is known as knowledge process outsourcing. Knowledge related work needed in sectors like research, e business, medical services, research and development, content development, data analysis etc is processed by knowledge processing firms.

Major research firms outsource their subsidiary processes to KPO firms based in India, Philippines etc. These firms take care of all the intellectual work, and disseminate useful information to the knowledge driven industry, at a cost, far less than what these companies would have spent.

Outsourcing IT or ITES (IT-enabled services) also falls under the purview of KPO firms. IT consultants equipped with specific technical prowess give their services to clients based abroad. KPO firms outsource IT work like web development, web design, animation and design, content development, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and so on.

Knowledge Process Outsourcing differs with Business Process Outsourcing in the sense that they require higher skills and more proficient human resource to do the job. So it can be inferred that KPO is an extension Of BPO and many firms, which had established themselves as BPOs are finding it easier to transform into KPOs.

Over the last few years, India has become the most favoured KPO destination. Owing to the intellectual and technological prowess of the Indian labor, many firms in developed countries around the world have starting outsourcing these knowledge driven processes. Indian human resources have knowledge and expertise in varied sectors like intellectual services, market research and engineering. So the world is caching on the comparatively cheaper resources that these KPOs offer.

Changes are happening in China that can affect the information and communications technology landscape of not only in Asia but also to the rest of the world.

With the sheer size of its economic capacity and vast human resources, the country is already a force to be reckoned with.

Now that China's government and its business sectors are focusing more and more on infrastructure development, training their people in acquiring competent technical skills and communication (English proficiency is now mandatory for earning B.A. and M.A. college degrees) as well as stabilizing and enhancing their Internet connectivity, the country is on the rise to becoming a superpower in IT services outsourcing industry by possibly when the millennium reaches its first decade.

Despite these improvements, there are several risk factors that serve as barrier for China in being a business destination for prospective growth. These risk factors can all be boiled down to one thing: China's business culture.

To make the most of what China has to offer for the savvy IT entrepreneur; cheap but technically-skilled labor, government policies protective of private ownership and intellectual property and physical proximity to solid and growing markets in Asia, the knowledge of Chinese business practices and negotiation strategies is a definite requirement.

Here's what you got to know about how Chinese do business, taken from Sun Tzu's influential and culturally significant Art of War:

IMMOVABLE AS THE MOUNTAIN. Patience is a virtue that many Chinese respect and practice, particularly in business. Patience is a virtue you can practice yourself in engaging business with the Chinese.

FIERCE AS FIRE. The Chinese value relationships and they do their best to cultivate these relationships to be lasting. A lot of businesses still go through a traditional person-to-person basis.

The first, and most important, business relationship you must have while doing business in China is acquiring yourself a reliable, impartial translator.

QUIET AS A FOREST. Subtlety is another fine trait that the Chinese respect and apply in their business dealings. They listen more in order to learn more.

You should apply this in respecting the viewpoints of others and not rushing or pushing matters, the Chinese would often find this offensive and counter to what they know to be good business.

SWIFT AS THE WIND. As the wind can roam above and around an immovable mountain, so are the Chinese willing to be flexible and compromise for the sake of harmony and in achieving consensus for a win-win situation.

With the Chinese, communication is a vital, continuous process. They would often renegotiate previous matters that have already been agreed upon in order to better the deal. When this happens, be gracious, open and flexible as well.

It's been said since time immemorial that when in Rome, do as the Romans do. The same can be applied that when doing business in China, doing business their way would make them consider you indeed their equal, their counterpart and most importantly, their partner.

How is it possible for three of the world's ten richest people[1] to base their fortunes in a country with staggering poverty[2], immense pollution problems, dwindling water supply, stressed (if even existent) infrastructure, and 1.1 billion mouths to feed?

Certainly India's growth is remarkable and global industry leaders are recognized names (ArcelorMittal, Reliance, Wipro, Infosys). Anecdotally, its at hotels where you can most feel the impact of India's rapid shift from exotic tourist destination to must-have experience for any aspiring business leader, and where even four-star rooms can cost $300. Is it sustainable? I don't believe so. At least not in export-related manufacturing, and not the way things run today. Don't get me wrong...I don't doubt for a minute that India will loom large even in the lives of my children, if only because of its already massive and still growing middle class and their consumerism. But India has issues to contend with in order for a) its companies to continue ascending and competing on a global-scale, and b) for the country's growth to not overrun its already overextended capabilities.

In my opinion, companies that chose to source products and services from India are and will have to look elsewhere to satisfy their need for quality, low-cost production. In fact Indian companies themselves will need to do so. I have heard pundits say that low cost production is moving from China to India, but I fail to see what the net benefit of that will be (lack of a supporting, and clustered, infrastructure as China has, matched increases in labor costs etc). In my old industry the period of low-cost advantage and tolerable margins has all but disappeared under quality and reliability complaints, shipping costs and rapidly rising production costs (labor, raw materials, and energy inflation, all of which seemed to increase at higher rates in India than in the higher-cost countries we were manufacturing for). Its at the point where customers and the Indian industry itself, are knocking on China's door. India needs a period of consolidation, and time to optimize processes, systems, infrastructure and beliefs, before it can continue its break-neck pace of growth. What needs to be addressed?

Free & Fast Money

Though debt financing generally is expensive and hard to secure, India's government provides plenty of incentives for anyone to start a business, regardless of expertise. Combined with the massive inflow of foreign investment, they prevent capital discipline, encourage quantity over quality, and create excess capacity. Government subsidies take many forms, and are evident for activities across the value-chain, with some examples following[3].

Volume-based subsidies that encourage production, and export, above all else:

APEDA (Agriculture and Processed Food Export Development Agency) provides a freight rebate for every container exported.[4] The Vishesh Krishi Upaj Yojana (VKUY) scheme provides duty relief equivalent to 5% of the FOB value of exports.

Both APEDA and the MFPI (Ministry of Food Processing Industries) provide construction/cap-ex based subsidies that encourage an almost reckless expansion of capacity. A duty rebate is provided for all imported equipment, and a capital rebate for installing enabling infrastructure like cold-rooms or on-site microbial-testing labs.

Through MFPI and other vehicles, agriculture-based subsidies are dolled to farmers for seeds, electricity, fertilizer, and bank loans. Fertilizer subsidies alone cost over $4.3 billion in 2006-2007 and the central government issues special bonds to oil, food and fertilizer firms to offset losses incurred by selling at lower state-set prices.

J P Morgan expects these, and many other subsidies, to increase the government's liabilities by a staggering 2-2.5 % of GDP.[5] Even the cost of plastic crates, used extensively across the food chain, can be claimed for rebate. Though India's taxation policy is onerous (below), here the government is also generous: export-related profits, for 100% Export Oriented Units, are tax free; and buyers in EOU companies pay no sales tax raw materials purchased from companies that declare all their supply is for ultimate use in only exported products.

In so far as availability of capital, a good indicator of the interest in India is Private and Venture capital. Venture capitalists invested $928 million in 80 deals for entrepreneurial companies in India during 2007. [6] And from January to May of 2008, around 151 deals aggregating to $5.5 billion were concluded. [7] Since the 2005 highly publicized and profitable exit from Bharti Telecom by Warburg Pincus, every mid to large PE firm, and lately even focused small firms, have established presence in India. Consider that India is a $trillion economy, so money is there.

The first problem with this largess is a lack of capital discipline. Management (and even Promoters) is not encouraged to be stewards of investors' money. Almost willingly (see below on corruption) companies over pay for construction / services, have less vigilance on family-dealings, and have fewer demands on quality (since speed to market matters more). The outcome is felt afterwards: inadequate warehouses, lower than expected capacity, excessive down-time, frequent repairs, and ad-hoc work-arounds, all with a knock-on effect to quality, dissatisfied customers, inordinate time spent on problem solving, loss of accounts, and loss of long-term credibility.

The second outcome is lack of quality discipline. Look at the case of Suzlon, India's much ballyhooed wind-turbine manufacturer, in a problem that as been printed twice in the Wall Street Journal, most recently on June 30th. Its own Private Equity owners have said, "[Mr. Tanti] knew the window was open so he charged like crazy." Suzlon's spokesman said, "The product issues notwithstanding, we don't expect any major impact upon our sales." It will cost $30 million to fix problems, on revenues of $3.1 billion. This is no small problem. Edison Mission Energy canceled an order for 150 turbines because Suzlon was unable to determine the cause of blade cracking. The approach is commonplace, in my opinion, in Indian business. First exploit cost advantages to gain market share, then figure out how to make a good product. R&D follows marketing, and sales. Customers will not tolerate this for long.

The final outcome is that it creates artificially low barriers to entry. Promoters are encouraged to enter new businesses at the top of the value chain (from where the greatest hand-out gain can be had). But, rarely is the rest of the value-chain ready, and this forces short-term actions and ultimately sub-par quality as supply-vendors eschew effective processes to pursue volume. At the same time, there is hardly an industry in the world that can, without disruptions to pricing and quality, rapidly absorb the capacity created by these new entrants.

What happens if it all stops? Already, there is significant pressure at the WTO level to resolve the issue.[8] This is not to say that other countries, including the USA, do not subsidize. But, more to the point, just how much can the government afford? India is already forecast to run a crushing budget deficit of 9.4% of GDP.[9] Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has stated that India needs $450 billion in just infrastructure spending to sustain its growth[10] (NB India is a $1 trillion economy).

Waste

Firstly, water is India's most important, and most wasted resource. Farmers in some of the most fertile parts of India pay nothing for electricity, encouraging reckless pumping of water over poorly laid fields that allow much of it to trickle away (India spends twice as much on subsidizing electricity for farmers as it does on education[11]). Yet farmer suicides from the growing debt of larger pumps and failed crops are a serious problem. To quote, "...the ground here in India's fertile breadbasket is beginning to look like Swiss cheese."[4] This is exacerbated by factories that recklessly use ground-well water for housekeeping and production. There is an over dependence on monsoons to fill aquifers and wells (which is never enough), and on intermittent rain to keep crops watered. Poor harvest due to lack of water are not uncommon now in India. It is hard enough to find potable water, what if water can't be found at all? The World Health Organization reported that 31% of households in China lacked appropriate access to water in 2005, compared to a staggering 81% in India (and worse in rural areas).[12]

Secondly, time is wasted to an unimaginable extent in India. Opportunities are lost due to infrastructure, bureaucracy and communications-related issues. India's infrastructure woes are well documented.[13] If you have meetings in opposite ends of Mumbai, book a full day for driving (Shanghai and Mumbai are equal in size yet incomparable in infrastructure). Bangalore's new airport was built on the city's outskirts without a proper highway to get you there (from central Bangalore to the airport, 35km away, will take at least two hours[14]). Some suggest that much is accomplished by mobile phone and laptop. Not so due to frequent dropped calls and reading on pot-holed roads. Aside from this opportunity cost, consider the actual cost of travel with oil above $140 a barrel. Combine inadequate roads with a woeful rail system, fright-full public bus transport, frequent power outages (back-up generators do not suffice), spotty broad-band access (even in Bangalore, India's IT hub), lack of water and poor sanitation and sewer services, and one wonders how long the system can muddle along.

Time lost to bureaucracy is legendary. The World Bank's Doing Business 2008[15] report ranks India 120th out of 178 countries in terms of ease of doing business. (China ranked 83rd).[16] It takes 33 days to start a business in India, and at among the highest costs in all South Asia. It can take 224 days in dealing with procedures related to licensing to build a standard warehouse. There are up to 60 tax payments per year (compared to Sweden's 2) that can occupy 271 hours of work to pay. To export your products there are sometimes 8 documents to be completed (vs 2 in Canada), and it can take over 15 days to receive official documentary clearance to do export. As for exiting a business (and I know this from experience), it can take over a year for even a straightforward sale of shares. If you declare bankruptcy, expect to be in process for up to 10 years.[4]

Communicating in foreign countries always takes more time. But, people incorrectly assume that it is easier in India as most business people speak at least passable English. The common language is not a time-saver. There is a cultural gap that, I think, divides communications far more so than say, in China. In India, either you choose to spend a lot of time, up front, first asking open-ended questions, and then follow-up with leading questions to elicit true answers, or you run the risk of starting or ending a project for all the wrong reasons.

Finally, wasted land. Effective use of arable land has to be high on India's agenda. Yet there has been scant improvement in yields and no systemic upgrading of farmer skills. India's agriculture sector should be a pillar for growth considering India has the world's second largest area of arable land, second only to America.[17] Yet, many of India's staples like lentils, pulses and wheat are imported with substantial trade-deficit implications. Magnify the problem as the middle class grows and more people have access to meat (resource intensive). One cause is that most farming in India is still on acre-scale family plots, on which already impoverished farmers are not able to contend with inflation over 11%. More money is to be made selling land to developers, where values have increased 5 fold in a matter of years. So, arable land, that could be used to feed the world, gives way to hotels and mega-malls. To make things worse, poor farmers lack the skills or fair services to marshal and grow the one-time windfalls from land sales. Rent-seeking developers and corrupt officials ensure the greater benefit accrues their way.

Poor Quality and Reliability

There are two distinct categories of manufacturing to be considered here. Products that absolutely require high-technical competence and equipment to produce vs those where lower-cost production methods and equipment can be used instead of already practiced and robust processes. For the latter, the manufacturer generally: expects product imperfections (that are not immediately obvious to the user); does not compensate buyers when challenged for low quality (or will take so long to acknowledge the problem that the buyer, in frustration, agrees to a pennies-on-the-dollar settlement); and finds capacity relatively easy to add on. Examples of the latter are processed/packaged foods, textiles/garments, and call-center operations. There are indications that India has made tremendous strides in the reliable production of high-value items[18], like pharmaceuticals (though parts of the pharmaceutical industry still rely on high-volume over high quality[19]), and it is promising to note that along side its software industry, India's automotive sector and high-end electronics sectors are receiving global recognition, from Tata's low cost cars to Moser Baer's HD-DVDs and photo-voltaic cells.

But many Indian companies enter new markets with a low-price and rapid-sales strategy and inevitably quality suffers on poorly designed production lines, sub-par (often copied) production equipment, and from using inferior raw materials. In my previous industry, few Promoters gave adequate thought to the quality of raw materials, supply chain, production processes, service metrics etc. I know first hand what shortcuts were available in order to quickly make and ship passable product, and most manufacturers made heavy use of these.

Despite the country's relatively recent opening to the global economy, most Indians are still inward-looking and unable, or unwilling, to comprehend the levels of quality and service expected internationally. Until that changes, I m not sure that Mr. Baba Kalyani (chairman of Bharat Forge, the world's second-largest forging company) should use the past tense when saying, "The concept of quality [used] to be that if it works somehow, it's okay, but it doesn't need to work all the time."1 Not surprisingly, customer's Purchasing Managers rarely confess to being lured by low prices and promises of quality, only to find themselves under an onslaught of complaints for late deliveries and quality. In a feat of self-preservation they will justify the problems and support the vendor by promulgating blame on everything from the weather, to port-congestion in Chennai, to America's thirst for ethanol creating crop shortages in India.

As long as the money flows in, anyone can enter a new market and figure out how to make the products over time. Customers' factory floors and retail shelves are the new R&D ground. Perfect the sale first, the product second.

Opaque Markets and an Un-founded Belief in Legal Recourse

Certainly India's financial markets deserve less criticism than China's. Competition between the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange (both in Mumbai) has reduced costs and increased ease of trading. But to the extent that markets are efficient from an informational perspective, I remain skeptical. A business associate who is close to one of India's major newspapers, routinely holidays at the paper's villa in Goa. Some how he also manages to garner favorable reports of his companies' activities. His is a mid-sized listed company. If he can peddle influence, it is reasonable to assume that the majors can do far more. In a recent article[12], Mr. Tarun Khana suggests that freedom of press and right to assembly indicate transparency in markets. That people are free to protest on the streets and air their grievances in public forums, does not translate to a market that prices risk and growth correctly. There is a large gap between the information demanded (or peddled) by poor protestors and the information consumed by the media, which is fed to them by well structured and long-standing connections.

Ultimately, how do you police 1.1 billion people in an area one third the size of the United States? Many people believe that India has robust legal and enforcement functions. But consider that in Mumbai it can take 14 months to enforce a contract, which is nearly double that of China, and it can cost you 43% of the debt value to pursue legal action, and in second tier cities enforcement actions can take over 3 years.[20] In fact, it is fairly easy to bring a case against anybody given the right connections. In one tactic to collect on an over-due payment, actually used by a business associate, one can enlist local police to accompany you to the counter-party's home for a "sit down discussion".

Corruption

In a country where most people are desperate for cash and live from day to day, the urge to make a quick Rupee is understandable. Corruption comes from close family members, from trusted friends, from top managers. The patriarch of large family-business empire once said to me, "...corruption is the grease that makes the wheels of Indian business turn". Long-term incentive plans, golden-cuffs, annual appraisals for bonuses and the such work well in the West, but fall apart when your business relies on middling hires from unknown schools (I am not referring to those from IIT and IIM, who, I imagine are 1% of 1% of India). When you live day to day, planning for what will come at the end of the year, or beyond, is ludicrous. Even the word "bonus" is used with care. It becomes an entitlement. Corruption takes many forms, examples of some are provided below (none of these is anecdotal, they all happened).

Supplier Fraud and Intimidation: CFO tells vendors to buy products from his side-line business, and in return ensures payments on well-overdue invoices. MD of a Manufacturing company has a minority interest in, and Board seat at, a supplier of major raw material used by the Manufacturer.

Self-Dealing: Senior Manager forces Supply Chain department to purchase all stationary from his brother-in-law, and conceals the conflict of interest.

Labor Fraud: HR Manager funnels all Labor contracts to one Labor Contractor, at an inflated price, in return for personal payment of a percentage of the contract. Labor Contractor then signs up Laborers only from the immediate vicinity of the plant, thus ensuring that any efforts by Management to address Labor problems are swiftly replied to by protests, calls from the local Panchyat, and overt threats to Staff. Same Contractor uses physical violence to intimidate any Laborers brought in from surrounding areas and housed at off-site company apartments.

Sales Fraud: a Sourcing Broker, representing a large Canadian grocer, approaches an Indian manufacturer to inflate prices charged to the Grocerer, with the excess returned directly to the Broker.

That India has greater freedom of press, judicial independence and property rights than China, makes us feel better in dealing with India, but these don't immediately translate to a better business experience in India. Democracy in India is a career and industry in its own right, with the primary objective to create personal-wealth and party-profits, not to better the lives of those governed.

Much of the problems above have cultural causes. Firstly, selfishness towards anything outside one's immediate family. There is no sense of civic duty or responsibility. Secondly, Hinduism's rigid social strata and belief in reincarnation breeds apathy in those in poor circumstances, and arrogance in those who exploit their surroundings, where in the former believes things will get better the next time, and the latter believes they were destined to do what they do. Finally, a lack of sincerity and honesty, which is otherwise known well as India's "yes, yes" culture.

I am not making a moral judgment. In fact, some combination of these characteristics probably creates India's entrepreneurial drive to succeed. It does have a cost, though. It means there isn't a desire to create robust products and services that can stand the measure of time and international standards. People pursue the fastest route to success where short-term thinking and immediate results matter more. In a 2007 Fortune article, John Elliot puts forward a compelling argument that Indian manufacturing has shed its reputation for poor workmanship, inability to sustain on-time deliveries, and unwillingness to account for mistakes. Yet, even Mr. Elliot had to concede that, "...perhaps only a third of Indian manufacturing deserves these plaudits. The rest is stuck in its old ways, with little care for, or pride in, quality."[18]

So, is it a house of cards? India's domestic market has long suffered and grown accustomed to poor services and quality, so there is already a large, growing and very accommodating domestic market that itself can sustain some level of growth. As an exporter of both high quantity and high quality? I believe the jury is still out.

You may have noticed a recent sudden growth in online social networking and marketing opportunities, not only for personal use, but for your business as well. There are many new opportunities that exist that can be utilized to boost your online presence such as LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Plaxo, Squidoo, etc. The list goes on and on and it's growing rapidly every day.

It is suggested to begin with three social networking profiles, at the most, that best fit your industry and have the most potential to reach your target audience. An experienced Social Virtual Assistant can help you decide which platforms are best for you. Once established, proper management of your social networking profiles on a regular basis is necessary in order to be noticed.

The solution is to hire a Virtual Assistant to manage your social networking and marketing. Your experienced Virtual Social Networking & Marketing Assistant can:

* Set up your social networking profile
* Design your social networking profile to reflect your corporate identity and branding (where applicable)
* Pre-screen and accept new contact requests
* Send targeted contact requests on your behalf
* Send pre-approved comments on your behalf
* Manage your social calendar (update, announce & send invitations)
* Update your daily status
* Maintain your business blog
* Upload your marketing video(s)
* Maintain your contacts database
* Set Up your RSS feed
* Create a customized email campaign & newsletter

A skilled Virtual Web Assistant can also update and manage your website to create a streamlined experience of your brand across the web

Social Networking & Marketing is one of the most effective modern ways to develop awareness of your business to the public. Utilizing a Virtual Assistant who is experienced in the social networking scene is a great way to achieve the exposure you're looking for.

Most companies resort to outsourcing some of the office work to third-party firms to do the work for them. There are several reasons for doing this, and there are many advantages brought by outsourcing that benefit the company, as well.

Bookkeeping and other accounting functions are among some of the capabilities being outsourced today. It offers remarkable benefits to the company. Here are some to take note of:

Outsourcing Accounting and Bookkeeping frees you of precious time.
If accounting is not your main business, it makes sense to just have someone, a reputable firm to do the job for you. This allows you to focus on more important aspects of running the business. It saves you from actually hiring someone to do the functions in your company. Less time lost, less money lost, as well.

Outsourcing these services help you focus on your core competencies.
Just like what is stated earlier, if accounting or bookkeeping is not your core competency, then outsourcing it will help you concentrate on what should be made excellent in your business. Ultimately, you will be able to develop better strategies for your services or products.

Unbiased checking of your books and statements
When you get a reputable group to handle these important functions, it eliminates the chances of subjectivity. There will be less, if not no bias in coming up with the final results. This better enables you to decide if you should increase your capital investment or not, among other things.

Accuracy in the work
You can expect that third party business accounting firms will reconcile your books on a monthly basis with the bank account statement. They will make sure that you will be getting what you're paying for producing accurate results for you. What's best is that you can be sure that you have backup books that will keep all your records noted. That's accurate and reliable bookkeeping for you.

Outsourcing is a word which we hear a lot of these days but what exactly does this term mean and can it help your direct sales business to become a success?

Simply put, outsourcing is farming out work which you would rather not do yourself, to another business or individual. Can a direct sales business outsource? It most certainly can. Here are five things which your direct sales business can outsource to make your direct sales business operations smoother and more profitable.

1. Newsletters

A direct sales business owner needs an efficient way to communicate with their downline. One of the best ways to do this is via a regular newsletter. If you don't have the time or skill to do this yourself, you can easily outsource this work to a copywriter.

2. Identifying target markets

Pay someone to contact your current customers and conduct a brief survey to find some demographic information age, income, whether they rent or own their home and which products they use, along with any other questions you like. After the information is gathered, you might identify a few different target markets for your products. This information will be very useful in planning future marketing efforts.

3. Autoresponders

An autoresponder is an automated system for sending email to people on your email list. It is a huge time and money saving device. No need to understand how it works, as you can easily hire someone to set up an autoresponder system for you. They can write emails suited to just about any purpose which your business may require, all without any effort needed on your part.

4. Drop shipping

A lot of direct sales companies already outsource one this important part of the business operations. Drop shipping is done by most businesses. It saves many associates the hassle of having to maintain or deal with physical inventory.

Instead, the associate places the order for the customer and informs the drop shipper where the product needs to be delivered. If you are doing a lot of business dealing with orders to the shipper and it is taking up too much of your time, you may want to consider outsourcing this job by hiring someone to handle orders for you.

5. Direct mailing

This is a good way to keep in touch with your regular clients. You can mail them coupons or postcards by mail preceding special events and holidays. If your client list is large, it may be well worth it to hire someone to label and stamp these mailings rather than taking all the time necessary to do it yourself.

Outsourcing can be a real lifesaver for the direct sales business owner. You can not possibly deal with every detail of your business all of the time. Your time can be better spent on duties which will directly increase your business. Outsourcing these five tasks can actually help your business to become far more profitable.

Why use architectural rendering services? Presenting your project or product in visually appealing form gives you an edge over other artistic mediums. Clients rely on the final product, so why not present product with a 3D rendering, animation or walkthroughs?

Would you like to take a look at your newly constructed office building without being physical present on the location? Would you like to take a look at the flooring you have chosen for your house? Through the walkthrough, you can do all this! 3D Rendering and walkthroughs are becoming increasingly important selling concepts in the world of architectural design.

The 3D computer architectural services incorporates powerful conceptual tools into the required design process. With 3D architectural rendering service, one show roads, landscaping, neighborhood, required ambience and also multiple design options can be explored and resolved before the actual building begins. Henceforth, it can easily customize, given construction plan based on specific client requirements, much before the actual construction takes place in reality.

3d Architectural rendering services provide:

• 3d modelling

• 3d interior

• 3d exterior

• Photomontage renderings

• 3d architectural product

• 3d house plans

• 3d animation and walkthrough

Concept visualization focuses in realistic color renderings, exterior renderings, interior renderings and site plan walk-through. These could be colored, textured rendering or black and white conceptual sketches.

India became a reliable target for offshore outsourcing. Another factor like highly skills professional IT staffs are dedicated to provide complete and accurate 3d architectural rendering services to worldwide at lowest possible rate and turn around time. Indian based company specializes in Architectural 3D Modeling, 3D Animation and Walkthrough.

In recent years, outsourcing of software solutions has gained much importance. Whether it is a small business set up or a huge business corporation, the economic as well as competitive pressures involved in today's dynamic business environment has made it imperative for the business firms of all sizes to concentrate on their core business competencies.

Nowadays, a variety of packaged software solutions are readily available in the market. But, the requirements of the business firms vary according to the nature of the business, which in turn reflect the business software. Here comes the importance of outsourcing of software solutions.

Outsourcing of software solutions simply refers to the practice in which companies hand over their software needs to a third party professional or an IT consulting firm, which is mostly located in an offshore location. However, outsourcing not just means offshore. Nowadays, near shore outsourcing is also available. Software outsourcing is an excellent alternative for those business organizations looking for cost-efficiency and competitiveness.

Benefits derived from outsourcing of software solutions are endless. A key benefit of this process is that it provides access to talented as well as experienced team. Another prime benefit is that outsourcing provides access to most sophisticated technology. Technology is now changing at lightening speed, which in turn has made difficult for most of the companies to remain current with the latest technological trends.

RapidSoft Technologies is an outsourcing firm that keeps abreast with the latest technology and trends in software development; it enables them to acquire the best in the industry. Outsourcing benefits also include considerable reduction in HR cost. It would be a chaotic as well as expensive procedure to hire an expert for the development of business software. But, through outsourcing, HR expenses are limited to the duration of a particular project.

The works in connection with outsourcing of software solutions include a full range of services, from rendering a single point of accountability to support speedy return on low cost of ownership. Mostly, the services offered with regard to development of business software cover analysis of nature and requirements of your business, business consulting, software development, and maintenance as well as testing of software applications, and RapidSoft Technologies does them all.

Today, there is a plethora of outsourcing firms, both offshore and near shore firms, to render bespoke solutions for the development of business software. Many of the IT consulting firms maintain a section exclusively to cater to the requirements of outsourced business software works. Majority of these firms also provide services for the maintenance of software after its completion as well as implementation. Some of them even provide this service absolutely for free. No matter if you are urgently in need of some kind of software for your business needs, RapidSoft Technologies is quite capable of customizing packaged software according to your specifications.

BPO or business process outsourcing is big business in countries such as the Philippines, India, Russia, China and South America.

In recent years many US and European jobs have drifted to these locations to outsource accounting, information technology, services and manufacturing positions. Although outsourcing has been part of any company's business model for a few years already, only a decade ago that it has reached an unprecedented rise in demand as more and more American and European companies got aggressively involved in such dealings.

Among the top ten locations, the Philippines has seen tremendous growth in BPO. In fact, many companies are finding it easy to deal with the talent from this location because of its English speaking abilities, affinity to American culture and fast learning capabilities.

There are many more reasons multinational companies are drawn to the Philippines as an outsourcing country. Here are some more reasons to consider this location your next stop for BPO:

1. High literacy rate. Among the developing countries, Philippines ranks very high on the literacy rate which stands at 94%. City dwellers are bilingual. Filipino (the national language) and English are widely spoken.

2. College educated pool of talent. If you outsource to the Philippines, you can have pick of third party service providers who have a talent pool of college graduates and professionals.

3. Flexible. The rotation in working hours is not a problem. Some even want to work on nights because of the extra benefits. 24/7 businesses thrives in the Philippines.

4. Efficient and hardworking. Highly skilled, diligent and fast learners, the Philippines can compete with the rest of the world even when it comes to the most technical type of jobs.

5. Exposure. Most Filipinos like the professional experience that they get from multicultural environment. Working for multinational companies is preferred by most professionals because of the invaluable exposure that they get from it.

6. Highly trainable. With the proper training, Filipinos can easily adapt to new concepts and goals.

7. Wide coverage. Outsourcing locations are not only concentrated in its capital city, most cities nationwide are also in place to accommodate more projects.

8. Cultural affinity. There are many schools in the Philippines that are patterned after the American educational system. Since the Philippines was a colony of the US, western ideas and thoughts are not really alien to its people. More so, with Filipinos' high level of adaptability, they can grasp western concepts easily. So when you introduce western concepts to this country's workforce, you are assured that they will easily understand what you want to achieve.

9. Loyalty and retention. Despite the shifting schedule, many young professionals prefer to work for multinational companies so it's easy to keep them for the duration of the project.

With the above mentioned reasons and for as long as the opportunities for growth and benefits are well defined, the Philippines will always be a top destination for offshoring accounts.

Steel is critical to the growth and success of both developed and developing economies. In the United States, the importance of a strong and viable steel industry is recognized as key to economic and infrastructure security. The Steel industry in the United States employs about 120,000 skilled, efficient workers who use cutting edge technology and produce over $58 billion worth of high quality carbon, alloy and specialty steel products annually.

As the world's appetite for steel continues to grow, Steel fabricators across the world are finding it increasingly challenging to support the steel demands of the infrastructure and construction industries.

Steel fabricators purchase steel and fabricate steel members specific to the architectural and structural design requirements of projects. A key aspect of Steel fabrication is Steel Detailing. All steel members required to build the structure are fabricated and erected from shop and erection drawings created by the structural steel detailer.

Steel detailers work closely with architects, engineers, general contractors and steel fabricators. They usually find employment with steel fabricators, engineering firms, or independent steel detailing companies.

As steel based construction projects are on the increase, steel fabricators are finding it increasingly difficult to find steel detailing firms who can deliver good quality drawings on time and within budget. Furthermore, there is concern that a majority of the existing U.S based steel detailing firms are small businesses serving the local demand and therefore unable to increase their production output or invest in expensive technology to upgrade to next generation steel detailing applications like X-Steel and SDS-2.

In order to meet existing fabrication demands and secure detailing assets for the future, Steel Fabrication companies are outsourcing the steel detailing project work to established steel detailing companies overseas in countries like India where professionals speak good English and are highly trained and experiences in the field of Structural steel design and detailing.

Also the slowing down of the U.S economy is contributing to the surge towards outsourcing in general to reduce overall costs and meet financial goals. Steel Fabrication firms in particular are increasingly outsourcing functions like Steel Detailing to companies overseas who can offer produce quality shop drawings for a bargain price when compared to similar costs of production in the U.S. This trend to outsource Steel Detailing is also considered a competitive edge among many Steel Fabricators across the U.S.

As a result, Steel Fabricators are turning to established Steel Detailing companies like TradiantCAD, a Memphis, TN based company with operations in India, successfully serving Steel fabricators worldwide.

Sometimes a design business will take on more clients then they have time for. Work loads can go up and down and sometimes they will need to outsource this work a freelancer. Outsourcing is where the design company hires a freelancer or company to work on a particular project for them. The work is presented as 'by the design company' and all rights belong to them.

Outsourcing can be a great way to alleviate work loads and increase company clients. Many design companies work exclusively as banner or logo designers and advertising their services through their website can mean a fluctuation in the amount of work they receive each week. No design company wants to turn clients away when the work is coming in so outsourcing to a freelancer can be a great way to keep the clients happy, and save a bit of money.

Rather then turn a client away and receive no money for the project, it is more beneficial to accept the project and hire a well known or trusted freelancer in a competitive environment, pay a competitive rate for the freelancer and get the full amount for the project.

This is also beneficial to smaller companies who do not have the resources to increase their salaried staff or where the work load does not yet warrant a full time staff member economically. It therefore makes it more cost effective to pay a low rate for a freelancer to do one off jobs when required as opposed to a staff member working by the hour.

Logos and banners are usually a stepping stone project for relatively new freelancers. On bidding sites, freelancers use these projects to build up their portfolio so they can move onto other, bigger things. This means a company that specialises in logos and banners have a larger market available, with competitive freelancers that are either a specialist in the area or new to freelancing.

New does not have to mean less, new means a talented freelancer that has only just started out, or someone with company background that has switched recently to being freelance. This does not mean that there aren't poor freelancers out there. Bidding sites are usually highly beneficial to a company searching for a fresh freelancer to add to their arsenal. They encourage lower rates, and the company can enquire into everyone who bids. Most freelancers will have a portfolio or if not will be able to show concept work for the logos to show the style and direction they will develop. This enables companies to judge each freelancer individually and it doesn't mean they have to settle for sub-standard work. Each bid will have different merits, such as past experience, examples of work, concept designs, feedback from other projects and of course a low rate.

Freelancing work like logos and banners not only saves money, time and drama but also leaves the company free to spend time on the larger, more important projects that potentially bring in more money.

If your company is limited to just a few employees, or if your specialist area is design and graphics, you may find it hard when commissioned to build a complete web solution to meet the demands of your client. Programming work can be time consuming, and needs to be handled by a specialist in the field if you want an efficient, robust and secure solution. Especially in the field of e-commerce, you simply cannot afford to have your reputation damaged when someone finds security holes all over a client's site. If you are unsure of your abilities when it comes to programming, outsourcing the work to someone who knows what he's doing can be the best way forward.

Let's say you have been working on a complete redesign for a client and that they also want the functionality changing. Having looked at the code, it's such a mess that you realise it would take you twice the allotted time scale just to figure out how it works and hence it will need rewriting from scratch. You start work on the look and feel of the site and design some new graphics since this is your strong point, and you try not to think about the back-end, this can come later. The client is happy with your work so far and is looking forward to the end result.

So, you have the design completed, your front-end XHTML/CSS is all in place, but the website you are working on still needs a shopping cart, content management facilities and user authentication implementing and you only have 3 days left! What do you do in this situation? Enter the freelancer.

Hiring a freelance programmer can significantly ease the burden when tackling difficult or large projects. You can pick and choose the areas that either you don't want to work on or don't have the time for or that you are simply unable to do yourself, and let somebody else worry about them. Not only does this free up your time to work on other aspects of a project, but it can even save you money.

A lot of freelancers will have a library of well tested programming code to draw from that means they can complete new projects very quickly, enabling them to charge less for it, and ensuring you a fast turnaround time while still getting top quality, optimized and secure code. Another great advantage to the reusable code scenario is that the code will often be very well organized making it much easier if the client comes back for something changing to avoid rewriting it all over again.

In summary, hiring a freelance programmer can save you time, money and stress, making your working life easier without the added burden of extra employees. They can deal with the areas that you can't or can help to bridge the gap between small and large projects in that period when you have too much work for your staff, but not enough to hire more.

Medical Transcription Outsourcing is becoming more and more popular as sending information (medical confidential information) to and from the internet has become more secure. So there has been increased openings for entry level transcriptionists in and around the world to comply with the growing need of transcribed patients' records.

Usually, these medical transcription outsourcing companies have head offices which are based in capital cities in the United States, such as Chicago. But the outsourcing services can be found all around the world, but mostly in India, Philippines, and many others. This is for the provision of innovative solutions for healthcare documentation. Not to worry, as the transcriptionists are well-trained to handle medical specialities such as internal medicine, pediatrics, cardiology , chiropractic, gastroenterology and all other branches of medicine. These transcriptionis are dedicated, highly accurate and can deliver well within the turn-around-time. The institute that they belong to actually make sure that they do.

You can actually rely on these specialized medical services because there are legal and economical stipulations if they are not able to deliver their job well. They make sure that they hire skilled professionals even if it is for only entry level openings. These transcriptionists know that they should be able to deliver well, for them to advance in the field. They are able to follow the dictation and able to transcribe it well. You will be getting high quality coding, claims and medical transcription services possible. Their goal is to become your extension by providing you accurate documentation that you need so you can provide the best care for your patients.