Virtual Office Support
Are You on the Fence About Why or Why Not to Outsource?
by MBS Administrative Services on 07/03/16
There comes a time
when every business has to decide whether it is more beneficial to outsource their
front and back office support. Some
businesses will find that it is worthwhile to outsource all of their office
support while others find that it is more beneficial to keep some of the office
support in house.
If a business is experiencing rapid growth for only a short period of time, it is usually beneficial to outsource the office support for that period of time. It will be more cost effective for the business to pay another company to do the work instead of hiring more employees for a shorter amount of time. The other company is already capable of doing the work, whereas the business would need to train the new employees and give them benefits. Outsourcing can be perfect for businesses that do a lot of seasonal work.
Businesses will also outsource their office support to save money on office space and utilities, increase efficiency, start new projects quicker and stay focused on the core of their business. Businesses also do not need to worry about managing the employees of the firm that they have outsourced their work to. This saves the business even more time, because they do not need to replace employees, do performance reviews or continuously update employment manuals.
We recommend great caution when choosing to outsource. Most businesses are concerned with losing spans of control when they outsource. Others feel the outsourcing company may or may not have the same standards as their business, because they are only doing it to make money. Alternatively, they have nothing to lose if the standards are not preserved. In these scenarios, we highly recommend asking process based questions and checking references if a trusted colleague or company did not referee them to you.
In the past, outsourcing companies have been phenomenal for hidden fees. This was usually in reference to incidentals that maybe required but not mentioned in the original contract. Such as projects that involve multiple levels of servicing. However, avoid this by working with outsourcing companies that are transparent in their communications and invoicing. Look for statements on their website of proposal that state “No hidden fees.”
One of the biggest concerns of outsourcing is the confidentiality and security in the conveyance of information. We recommend signing nondisclosure and consulting agreements with the outsourcing company. Moreover, analyzing delegation of essential and non-essential tasks will minimize breach of information risks. We discuss this more in detail in our essential and non-essential tasks blog.
With so many pros and cons, it is easy to see why every business needs to decide whether outsourcing is a good idea. As long as a business sets up the outsourcing appropriately and there is significant time and financial savings, it can become a mutually beneficial long-term business relationship.
At MBS, our mission is to provide virtual office support that creates an atmosphere of professionalism, effectiveness and customer satisfaction for industry leaders, entrepreneurs and organizations. We are a US based outsourcing company offering talented, dedicated resources to clients seeking to streamline their processes. We offer competitive rates with no hidden fees. For more information on how we can help streamline your processes with our virtual office support solutions schedule a consultation today.
10 Apps That Help You Run Your Business More Efficiently
by MBS Administrative Services on 07/02/16
As a business owner, you always want to be on top of everything to run a smooth operation. From task management to planning and from handling social media to budgeting and accounting, each part of your business screams out for consistent levels of control. To help you achieve this, we have made a handy list of top 10 apps that will help you run your business more efficiently.
Evernote – This is a godsend for any business owner looking to get his or her workflow in order. Evernote allows you to store notes, information, documents, files, images and much more – from almost anywhere on the web and on all kinds of device – all of which you can access on the go from anywhere.
Buffer – Social media is a big part of many businesses toady – even brick and mortars. Buffer allows you to stay on top of your social media profiles and schedule tweets and posts from your facebook page in advance.
Trello – This is a collaboration tool which helps you organize your planning and keep a track of ongoing projects. You can use this as an individual or as a team working together on one project.
Slack – Slack allows teams a smoother workplace communication by replacing email. You can send attachments, chat in groups and easily search through old information.
Todoist – This is a minimalist app that allows you to manage your tasks by dividing them into daily, weekly and monthly order. You can color code tasks, create lists, manage tasks with friends as well as delegate business colleagues.
RescueTime – How often do you find yourself roaming around time sucking websites such Facebook, twitter, Reddit, YouTube etc. instead of focusing on your work? RescueTime is designed to combat that by helping you to easily monitor your browsing activity. It tracks the time spent on websites and applications and sends you daily, weekly and monthly reports which can help you boost your productivity by assessing where you spent most of your time.
Google Apps – This is a paid service which you can get started for as low as $5 per month per user and get access to Google’s entire suite of work apps that let you communicate, store, collaborate and manage your business.
Google Drive – This is a free cloud-based service from Google that allows you to save and access your files on the go. Pictures, excel files, doc files and lots of other file types that you need on a daily basis are supported by Google Drive.
Strict Workflow – Another great productivity app that lets you focus on your work by blocking access to ‘time wasting sites’ such as Facebook, twitter, YouTube etc. It is based on the Pomodoro technique by setting a 25 min timer in which you can work on your business with unwanted distractions and then take a 5 min break. This is available as an extension on Google Chrome’s app store.
Freshbooks – An easy to use, cloud-based accounting app that lets you take care of invoicing, expenses, time tracking, payments and reporting all in one place.
At MBS our mission is to provide virtual office support that creates an atmosphere of professionalism, effectiveness and customer satisfaction for industry leaders, entrepreneurs and organizations. We are a US based outsourcing company offering talented, dedicated resources to clients seeking to streamline their processes. Our dedicated resources are experts in virtual office support, 24/7 live receptionists and communications. For more information on how we can help streamline your processes with our virtual office support solutions schedule a consultation today.