Your Competitors Are Scaling With Offshore Teams (And You Should, Too)

In today’s competitive business landscape, many companies are discreetly leveraging offshore teams to scale operations, reduce costs, and access global talent. Whether it’s big business that needs to outsource production, or small to medium-sized companies that simply want to stay competitive, this offshoring strategy has often paid off for those that engage in it. This is why you can’t leave your business growth to chance. 

Case Studies of Companies Successfully Using Offshore Teams

Some of the most successful businesses today have had a hand from remote teams:

1. Slack: Before its official launch, Slack collaborated with an offshore design team, MetaLab, to refine its platform’s design and user experience. This partnership was instrumental in creating a product that now boasts millions of daily users. In an online article on Medium, it was described as an example of the best IT outsourcing success stories, with MetaLab’s valuable feedback helping Slack “create a tool that reached 15,000 users in two weeks of its launch.”
2. WhatsApp: To maintain a lean operation, WhatsApp employed offshore developers in Eastern Europe. The same Medium article noted that this approach allowed them to focus on core functionalities without inflating costs, contributing to their rapid growth and eventual acquisition by Facebook. They began by minimizing operational costs and acquiring highly skilled developers offshore to grow a highly successful company now with billions of active users in 180 countries.
3. Scale AI:  Founded by Alexandr Wang, Scale employs over 100,000 contractors globally for data labeling tasks essential in training artificial intelligence models. In an article, The Wall Street Journal describes the 27-year-old billionaire’s “sprawling army” as the ones who “perform the grunt work that powers the modern AI boom.” This extensive offshore workforce has been pivotal in scaling the company’s operations and contributing to its valuation of $14 billion.
   

You don’t have to be the next Open AI or Meta to make remote staffing work for you. Your operations need not be that massive for you to reap the benefits of offshoring business roles. Even small businesses, accounting firms, and healthcare companies have benefited from it. You only need a reliable partner that would build and help manage your offshore teams to your requirements.

The ‘Unfair’ Advantage of Global Hiring

Tapping into the global talent pool offers a competitive edge in terms of:

• Cost Efficiency: Offshore staffing can significantly reduce labor costs, at times with savings of up to 70% compared to onshore staff costs, allowing businesses to allocate resources to other critical areas. 

• Access to Specialized Skills: Certain regions offer a concentration of expertise in specific fields, enabling companies to enhance their offerings without extensive training. For instance, the Philippines is known for delivering exemplary CX experience. 

• Scalability: Offshore teams provide the flexibility to scale operations up or down based on demand, ensuring agility in a fluctuating market.

Steps to Start Offshore Staffing Without Disruption

What do you need to know and do to begin kick-start offshoring strategy:

1. Assess Business Needs: Identify which roles that can be effectively moved offshore by evaluating current capabilities, challenges, and goals. 
2. Select the Right Partner: Choose an offshore partner whose expertise aligns with your business objectives and who has a proven track record. Don’t just visit the website; hop on a call and see if the provider readily answers with clear insights and examples of how they have helped companies before you. And see if you can speak to an executive rather than just a sales agent. 
3. Define Clear Objectives: Establish specific goals and expectations to ensure alignment between in-house and offshore teams. Better yet, ensure you retain senior staffers to train and manage your offshore teams.  
4. Foster Strong Communication: Implement regular and transparent communication channels to maintain collaboration and address issues promptly. You can schedule an in-person introduction and training for assessment and to lay down systems, and do regular video calls to foster a stronger partnership between your onshore staff and offshore teams. 
5. Start Small and Scale: Begin with a pilot project to test the waters, with usually from five to ten people, then gradually expand the scope as trust and efficiency develop. 

By adopting offshore staffing strategies, businesses can emulate the success of industry leaders, gaining a substantial advantage in the global marketplace.

For more insights on offshore staffing, check out the podcast with our CEO Robert Brough.