Outsourcing to India

July 21, 2008

I have tried outsourcing to India several times.  Most likely, I will try again because some of the benefits are just too tempting to not try.

However, here is what I have found.  When I outsource to India, I have had the following problems in all three cases:

  1. Hours kept going up - and so did price.
  2. I did not get what I expected.
  3. I spent so much time managing the project that I could have done it myself quicker.
  4. People thought they knew what I wanted better than me.

By no means is 3 attempts going to make me an expert, but I have heard similar comments from other people as well.

On the other hand, I am very successful and happy when I work with independent contractors in the US.  Time and communication is a non-issue, and the price actually turns out to be less because they usually get it right the first time.  And you can find very talented people in the US willing to do hourly work on the side for under $25 an hour.

I would go to India for outsourcing for the following two reasons :

  1. Super simple tasks - redundant tasks that can be easily explained.  Such as collecting the emails and urls of marketing blogs.
  2. Big project with big budget - If I was thinking about building a programming team, I would open an office in India for ongoing development.  Not per project, but as an extension of my business with US trained managers running the show.  (So they understand expectations and are comfortable with communications)

Unfortunately, too many small business owners try to go that middle road.  Outsourcing a small but somewhat complex project that does not get executed properly.  The business owner is not an IT project manager, and the people in India are likely low cost outsourcing individuals that are happy to have the work and may be talented programmers, but not good managers.  In one case, we spent considerable time helping the Indian contractor get trained only to have them use the job and experience to get a job with a big company before the project was complete.

I am sure I will outsource to other countries again for simple tasks.  However, if you are trying to outsource marketing activities you really need to stay with people like in the Virtual Buzz Assistant network.  And for technology, you can also find some talented people in our network or find someone local that is happy to help you on the side.  A local intern or tech person that is willing to do some work at night and on the weekends will often be cheaper in the long run.

- Thank You!

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Comments

Got something to say?