The COVID-19 pandemic sent shockwaves across economies and every sector of business around the world.  Small to medium companies everywhere have been on life support and many smaller companies have closed down over the past 12 months. The business world has taken a definite knock. Visual Capitalist agrees. The companies that have made it this far have had to actuate heavy budget cuts to stay afloat. Unfortunately, retrenchments were also inevitable despite being a last resort. Outsourcing, on the other hand, has seen an increase. This is due to the fact that technology now facilitates better collaboration regardless of distance. This is expected to increase in 2021 and the years to come.

What is outsourcing?

Outsourcing is the practice of sub-contracting or delegating projects, tasks, or business processes to external contractors. That essentially means that some of your business functions, tasks, or projects will now be handed over to a seasoned specialist contractor like a digital marketing agency. 

What is the difference between Outsourcing and Insourcing?


Let us say you are an ecommerce store, and you have a task that requires graphic design. You remember that Jane from accounts mentioned in her cv that she has experience with graphic design, so you call her in to help. That is insourcing. Outsourcing would have been looking externally for a specialist graphic designer.

3 main reasons why you should begin outsourcing specialists in 2021. 

  1. Maximised efficiency

John owns and runs a furniture manufacturing company. He decides to expand his business by doubling production and exporting his handmade furniture to other countries. While some companies have the resources to keep the entire export process in-house, John does not. It would cost him far less to just outsource to an export specialist.

Benefit: As with every angle of business, there are laws and regulations you should abide by. Outsourcing to a specialist guarantees legal compliance for your business. You will not make losses based on lack of knowledge. Your chances of succeeding are much higher because you now have an expert at your disposal.  This allows you time to focus on the core aspects of your business, like production and business development.

  1. Reduce hiring costs
    Hiring can be expensive and time-consuming. From the creation of the recruitment strategy, figuring out what special skills are required of the recruited, to spending money on job websites and conducting interviews, screening, and background checks. This entire process can take anywhere between 8 to 12 weeks, after which comes training. It could take them another 3 to 4 weeks of adjusting to become fully productive or ready to work according to your standards. You have invested so much time and money.

Benefit: Outsourcing takes all that effort away by being fast and efficient. All it normally takes is one or two conference calls or meetings to discuss the scope of work and your business objectives. They send you a quote. You pay. They begin. All this inside of a week. This is precisely why you should outsource to a recruitment agency. You tell them exactly what you want and in no time, they have the exact match for you. Save your money and time.

  1. Get expert specialists the first time.
    While searching for the best-qualified digital marketing manager to join your team, you may find that you’re having trouble finding a candidate that actually has a full-stack digital marketing skillset. This is time-consuming because you must sieve through numerous candidates.  The same applies to when hiring a personal assistant. With government-ordered lockdowns in effect across the world, many office workers have had to work remotely. This has transcended the role of a personal or executive assistant. It has become important to outsource the very best personal or executive assistants who know how to work remotely and are tech-savvy. 

The advantage of technology also makes it possible for you to outsource assistants that closely match your selection criteria from all over the world. In fact, long before the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual outsourcing was already available but under-utilised. AVirtual for example, is a Cape Town based outsourcing company that connects specialist international virtual assistants with business leaders around the world and has been providing this cutting edge service for years.


Benefit:  Outsourcing makes it possible for you to hire the very best specialists without the time burden of recruitment and breaking the bank. The company you are outsourcing has already done all that HR work for you. When you call them, they simply assign an expert based on your requirements, you meet the assigned expert and if you like them the work can begin immediately.

The COVID-19 pandemic has stretched the range of limits in the way business is conducted. Remote working has redefined collaboration. Predicted business practises are leaning towards the increase in outsourcing for sustainable business.