One of the questions you will find yourself asking when you are looking at scaling or expanding your business and considering strategy, is “what are the significant benefits of business process outsourcing (BPO)?”
BPO is a fast-growing B2B service that focuses on delivering core functions within your business by external providers. In this article, we are going to explore the industry and service, as well as outline the main benefits you are likely to experience given the right partner.
What is business process outsourcing (BPO) in simple words?
Business process outsourcing can be easily described as contracting core business functions to third-party service providers instead of hiring in-house staff. You could choose to outsource anything in your business that you feel is an essential function or activity, from HR to shipping and logistics.
Here at mselect, we are recognised BPO providers for HR and manpower for some of the largest brands in the world.
How does business process outsourcing work?
Unlike hiring freelancers and contractors to deliver one specific task within a business function, say a recruitment agent to find candidates for selection processes, BPO outsourcing effectively provides the whole function from selection to onboarding and even payroll and HR.
BPO services are usually provided by experts in a field, who can deliver bespoke services that immediately help you to gain efficiencies, by making use of better technology and providing staff on budget.
Once you agree on terms with a BPO company their integration into your business is fast, meaning that you can roll out new departments with a skilled workforce in a fraction of the time. This is great if you are expanding to new territories, growing into a new sector, or even scaling your existing business.
What is an example of business process outsourcing?
Let's use our recent office opening in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as a hypothetical example of BPO.
As you can imagine, as a new territory for us there was a lot to do in setting up our new office. Part of that setup was the consideration of staffing, HR and payroll solutions. Tax in this part of the world differs greatly from country to country, as does pay and employee benefits. We could have chosen to outsource the handling of this at our Saudi office to a BPO company. Fortunately, this is exactly what we do as a BPO business, but you get the idea.
Likewise, if we were a product business looking to expand into the US, one of our considerations might be to find a BPO provider who handles sales, distribution and logistics (also known as a distributor).
Is business process outsourcing a trend or a fad?
BPO is not a trend or fad that will disappear anytime soon. The business process outsourcing industry stood at a net worth of USD92.5 billion (15543.2 billion Iraqi Dinar) in 2019, according to Statistica. A figure at which industry experts expect to grow over time, as more businesses make use of BPO to benefit their brand growth.
Outsourcing staff is just one area where BPO has had a profound effect on organisations.
5 benefits of BPO outsourcing
There are considerable benefits to outsourcing core business functions to a BPO company.
1. Savings in time and cost
Time is a valuable and fleeting thing and as business owners, you understand the effects that losing time can have on your competitive advantage. Business process outsourcing allows you to open new departments and gain efficiencies in record time, allowing you to expand when and where you need it, as you need to.
Savings are also profound when you compare them to the costs of manning an in-house department, let alone the recruitment process to hire experts and the building out of bespoke technologies.
2. Improved agility and flexibility
If we have learnt anything from the last three years (2020-22) it is that agility is key to adjusting to what life throws at us. The same is true in business, there will be natural ups and downs, some we can account for and some we can’t.
Business process outsourcing allows you to be more agile in your approach to the way you do business and to the decisions you need to make in unprecedented situations. Help is now only a few clicks away.
BPO also allows us to consider consumer trends, whether that is adjusting to new service needs, or shifting to a more responsive approach to service provision.
3. Larger process efficiencies
Outsourcing your business processes has to be about accessing better technologies and tested methods, at scale, which will provide your business with great efficiencies. Let’s face it, it takes a long time (and money) to create and optimise a new team or a new system, so why not take advantage of something that already delivers?
4. Access to job function expertise
Here at mselect, one of the things we make sure of is that we employ the very best people to improve our technologies and business function processes. Their industry and function expertise keeps us innovative and forward-thinking, whilst focused on delivering the best BPO services for our clients.
This is so important for business owners like yourself because you aren’t wasting time learning the intricacies of roles within functions, or the nuances and compliance of the core function you need. Expertise means you get trusted advice and proactive actions when you need them most.
5. Opportunity to focus on business strategy
Your business requires your strategic focus and if your attention is elsewhere the business machine can start to slow. Using a trusted partner to deliver BPO is crucial if you want to gain bigger opportunities, as a business owner, to focus on improving and extending your strategy.
Looking for a reliable BPO provider?
Mselect has been a BPO provider to globally recognised brands for years. In that time we have excelled at creating bespoke technologies and employing leading core function experts to deliver business process outsourcing services renowned for their high quality.
If you are looking for BPO services in or from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon or the United Kingdom across the energy, telecoms, retail, industrial, healthcare, FMCG and education sectors - Contact us today!