Watched a video by Chad Kimball the other day. Interesting. Though I have thought about this biz model my self, and did a few deals as described below. Many of us IM:ers outsource to get more free time and to scale up our businesses. And so we should, it makes a lot of sense. But what about letting another branch on your IM tree grow out, using outsourcing as a business in it self. There´s a lot of demand in the western world for different tasks that our guys from India, Bangladesh and other countries are perfectly capable of carrying out. So imagine the following; You scan for example CL for gigs/ computer, there you´ll find for example a business that needs a website done, they have a budget of $500 ... You COPY THEIR INQUIRY STAIGHT OFF and paste it in to a Email message to your outsourcer ... He gives you an estimate which would probably land between $50 - $100 in comparison (normal difference). That´s a $400 profit deal! Scale this model up and you´ll be making some serious money. On outsourcing in it self! Pat
Hi Pat, nice idea and there are probably many people who do this for living. I saw some gigs where they searched for "Dreamweaver tutors"...you could simply hire someone to make small videos about this topic and sell this for a higher price. The possibilites are endless with outsourcing...
Outsourcing is great in the first place for IM:ers, more free time and scaling up your business at the same time. If you would say that to a "non IM:er" they would never get their heads around it. With this biz model it gets even cooler! What do you do your self ... ? Nada! Except for some communications. Pat
I did outsourcing 2 years ago and it was profitable and nice. But if your workers screw it up you're the one who gets hurt. Especially on long term deals.
I think that outsourcing is great but only when the person who is supposed to pay is honest and pays. What do you think "steffun" Read this thread http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=1843213&highlight=steffun+stole You put a black eye on outsourcing.
I've actually made some money doing this. My friend's boss needed a website to be built. He said he would pay me $1,500 dollars to get one made so i just went to Scriptlance and got a really nice website built for $500 which was outsourced to a nice fellow in India. I made $1,000 profit for doing probably a total of 2-3 hours of work. I had to work for 3 hours with the webdesigner to make sure he was doing the project complete but the money was worth it in the end!
Nothing new here... Outsourcing has been a mainstream business model for web design, web development and other web related service needs for years. With sites like DP, Scriptlance, GetAFreelancer, RentACoder and of course, Elance, outsourced services as a business model has been around for years. So long as you get reliable staff, success can be achieved and you'll be the hero! On the other hand, get left holding a project in your hands that YOU, yourself cannot complete - you're going to be the ZERO!... Cheers and Good Luck!!
gvannorman Hehe, what can we say other then that Steffun was busted on this one But let's not turn this thread in to a battle field, I want to get all of you guys opinions, input, feedback, constructive criticism on the topic "Outsourcing as a business model in it self" I did this posting in the thread you linked to: glasslook sorry to hear man ... but you should always protect your self. This is like going for a wet night out in Bangkok where I happen to live, without a pack of Durex in your pocket Kidding aside, either by asking for 50% payment up front or a very easy way is to deliver all the work with a big fat WATERSTAMP all over each picture plus reduce the resolution. He can visualize the work you have done, but he can't possibly use it for commercial purposes. We learn as we go along ...
Of course, you need to be very careful with this method. Some freelancers aren't very good at what they do. But if you find one of quality, keep hold of him or her and you can make good money.
shakingspear Yeah, you definitely need to have previous experience with the outsourcers you choose to work with you on deals like this since in the clients eyes it is YOU who are responsible for all the projects. The clients wont even know that there is a third party involved.
outsourcing is great for everyone involved, believe it or not it actually even creates jobs for americans because it reduces costs for companies here which allows them to hire more employees. my dad owns a sourcing agency, he sends out emails for a couple of hours a day and plays golf/goes on the boat for the rest, makes real good money.
Pat, I am sorry for that. I actually came to this thread with leaving a great post in mind. Then I seen that steffun posted here. Which in turn brought up the other thread. So I couldn't resist posting what I posted. So, here is what I have to say about outsourcing as a business model. The way you presented it makes it sound very lucrative. I think that it would work, just remember that being the middle man you are the one that gets bit if something goes wrong.
VisualDynamite I totally agree with you, but some mean that it "steals" local jobs ... but in the long run I think it IS good for the economy. Does your dad get his outsourcers from over seas of is the opertion nation based? Pat
his clients are normally from the USA, where we live, he then obviously has contacts over in hong kong which contacts the factories because he does not own them, simply gives them work to do. that's one thing i don't like, people saying they're against "sweatshops", if these people had a better option, they would be doing that. people over there love the factories, if they didn't have them they wouldn't even have a job. if they were to raise the prices, the factories would move elsewhere, i know a lot of stuff is not being made in vietnam.
gvannorman Yeah, sure, I will always be the responsible 100% since I dont even want the clients to know I'm using outsourcers ... Again, for those who wants to try this out; never ever use an outsourcer that you dont have previous experience with! Pat
Great advice. I agree with this and its coming from personal experience. I used to go find higher paying writing jobs. Then I would find someone to write for me. This was great work because I got paid and did very little work. The problem is that if your "employee" does not work out. You better