The competition is only one aspect of how difficult it can be to turn a small business into a success. The odds are not in the favor of a small businessman, with most small businesses faltering within a few years of opening. The narrow margins of profit and the various financial obligations that a small business has make it difficult for an owner to feel comfortable with their financial situation for years on end. However, small business people should not let this information stop them from realizing their dream.

Successful small businesses have a number of factors working in their favor. The most important aspect of success early in a business’ life is the quality of product that is being produced. As well, the unique nature, the necessity, and the cost of a product can contribute to the success or failure of a small business. Small business owners who are successful often have a strong set of short, medium, and long term goals which push the company toward the top within their industry. Finally a business model that ensures financial stability, while producing a great product or products for years to come is the backbone of any successful business.

Perhaps the most overlooked aspect of small business is the recruitment of high quality professionals. These professionals can make or break a business, depending on their reliability, creativity, and commitment to the business. Small business owners should work with a recruiting agency in order to develop a strong set of personnel. Agencies can help owners target specific skill sets in their employees while saving them the expenses of excessive advertising and promotion. Small businesses can grow into big corporations or industry leaders through the use of creative recruiting methods and a commitment to excellence.

Source

Recruitment or outsourcing specific business functions from conception will immediately show savings in your overhead costs.  New start up business have had to streamline their operation in order to save money on overhead costs which means they initially hired a larger staff, paid for larger office space to house the employees and spent more money on computers and office expenses.

If they would have outsourced from the beginning they could have extended their operating capital reserves more efficiently.  In today’s global economy there is really no reason to perform back office functions within your own facility, whether you are a start up small business or a large multimillion dollar company savings are savings and outsourcing back office processes is the simplest and easiest way to do save significantly on your overhead costs.

For more Offshore Outsourcing Information contact us!  Get a FREE Quote Today!

Omar Pinto
omar@offshoresavingsolutions.com
Offshore Saving Solutions
310-928-3765

Dra. Marcela Vargas Sáenz - Specialist in Endodontics CIMA Hospital

“We take great pride in what we do. That’s why our Staff, use only the most modern, proven techniques to create magnificent smiles. As Dentistry evolves, every one of us at Dental Cosmetics Costa Rica continuously engage in ongoing education to further increase our knowledge and practical skills for the benefit of our patients.”

~ Dra. Marcela Vargas Sáenz

For years Costa Rica has proven itself to be one of the prime tourist destinations all over the world. The country is considered a paradise for foreigners, with great abundance in wildlife and nature treasures that made Costa Rica an excellent place for adventure. While more and more visitors flock the country because of its stunning landscapes and scenery, many are unaware that Costa Rica is also a great place for medical tourism. In fact, a 1991 survey conducted by the University of Costa Rica found that 14.25% of all the visitors to Costa Rica come to undergo medical care mostly in the form of dental surgery and cosmetic surgery.

Dental procedures in Costa Rica is very popular for US patients as well as to other continental patients that want to acquire affordable cosmetic dentistry. Dentist in Costa Rica are fully trained and certified by a national medical association and are all experienced in the latest and most effective cosmetic surgery and non-surgical techniques essential for the patients medical treatment. Patients planning to undergo affordable cosmetic dentistry or other dental procedures in Costa Rica must investigate and consult the Costa Rica Plastic Surgery Board to ensure the credibility of dentist in Costa Rica that will perform their medical treatments. The association maintains listings of credentialed physicians and can verify whether a particular doctor is presently certified or is completing training in preparation for certification.

A likely scenario for medical tourist is to fly down to Costa Rica and stay in the country at least one week to undergo their surgery, recovery and vacation. Usually, patients stay in the country for 7-10 days, enough time to for recuperation while enjoying leisure and relaxing trips. Many times the first days are spent sightseeing, followed by the planned affordable dentistry in Costa Rica and then some more sightseeing during the convalescent period. Affordable dentistry in Costa Rica can save patients of more than 50% of the original cost if taken in the U.S. Dental implants cost in the U.S. is around $3,000 while in Costa Rica, the same procedure with same outcome runs about $750. Medical tourism providers like GoSculptura, offers packages for affordable dental implants, cheap plastic surgery, gastric surgery and fertility treatments with included hotel accommodation, personalized assistant, complimentary consultation, medicines, nursing care and the surgery itself. These agencies are prominent all over the U.S. and steadily increasing in number. The services they offer are perfect for patients seeking for affordable dental implants as well as other medical procedures which they can’t afford in clinics in the U.S. With rock bottom dental implants cost, Costa Rica is fast becoming a sanctuary for low cost, high quality medical care.

For more information about affordable dental implants in Costa Rica, visit www.mycostaricaplasticsurgery.com

Doing business in Costa Rica is gaining acclaiming across many different business fronts.  Professionals and experts in specialized fields are finding that they can make a very good living here in Costa Rica.  In Costa Rica there is a welcoming philosophy for foreigners that can provide as high or higher quality of service for the country.  Outsourcing these professionals has brought global recognition to CIMA Hospital due it’s multi-cultural staff.

Our business at Offshore Saving Solutions is to provide quality outsourcing solutions for companies in the US looking to source there back office processes and one of our selling points for doing business in Costa Rica is the high quality health care that is available in this country.

For more Offshore Outsourcing Information contact us!  Get a FREE Quote Today!

Omar Pinto
omar@offshoresavingsolutions.com
Offshore Saving Solutions
310-928-3765

Costa Rica is one of the most vocal supporters of continental free trade, and already has its own agreement with Mexico and other countries of the region. Costa Rica’s numerous free trade zones and tax holiday opportunities are extremely enticing. They offer benefits such as exemption from import duties on raw materials, capital goods, parts and components; unrestricted profit repatriation; tax exemption on profits for eight years and a 50 percent exemption for the following four years.

A study done recently for the Ministry of Foreign Trade (COMEX) projects that by the year 2005, Costa Rica’s export earnings will amount to $15.7-billion, about four times the current figure. Intel will be leading the way; its exports, from the three manufacturing facilities the processing giant is building here, are expected to reach an annual $3.5-billion by the year 2001.

High-tech companies will spur the export boom, while traditional exports, such as coffee and bananas, will fall in percentages of overall figures, but in terms of revenue, will continue to grow.

Costa Rica is building a competitive advantage for itself and the many high-tech companies who have chosen or are pondering the option to operate here. It is a country at a turning point in integrating itself into the modern world economy. Those doing business here will have the inside track.

Source

There are many reasons to consider living, working, doing business and vacationing in Costa Rica.  The global economy has shifted our ability to make bold business moves especially in an Economic Climate that is stormy to say the least.

A strong stable government and still thriving economy, one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world and a society welcoming foreign investment and free trade if you are considering Offshore Outsourcing Costa Rica needs to be high on your list of possible destinations.  

For more Offshore Outsourcing Information contact us!  Get a FREE Quote Today!

Omar Pinto
omar@offshoresavingsolutions.com
Offshore Saving Solutions
310-928-3765

I’d like to take a moment to go over several simple tools and methods to help small business owners keep track of and prioritize the various tasks involved in operations.

1. Use a Whiteboard

Whether it’s a whiteboard, blackboard, bulletin board, or a simple notepad, try to keep a weekly log of primary tasks up front and center. While there are a plethora of online programs and tools for organizing daily/weekly tasks, it helps to back it all up with a basic pen and paper list. It is integral to have this weekly ‘grail’ to refer to when you hit a wall – try placing it in the center of your office for everyone to see. Utilize different colors or check boxes to re-enforce accomplishments or the completion of a task.

2. Use Google Documents

While Microsoft Word is still the standard in word processing, Google Documents has several advantages that make it the perfect online tool for inter & extra-office collaboration. Need to brainstorm a list of potential clients for your wedding cake business? Simply hop on Google Docs, create a new sheet, and share it with as many collaborators as you like. The whole team can then log onto the document and make edits ‘live,’ to avoid the hassle of huge email chains or lengthy phone conversations. Also be sure to try out Google Spreadsheets, a MS Excel alternative that allows you for seamless organization and collaboration.

3. Use Recruiting Software

If you are a small business is the process of finding the best talent available, the task can become process intensive and fairly complex. Keeping track of multiple candidates, reviewing resumes and tracking progress can drastically slow your company’s forward movement.

One way to combat this small business brain freeze it to utilize a recruiting software package to track applicants, manage resumes, and provide a collaboration tool for your hiring managers. Many modern day recruiting software solutions live completely online, making it incredibly simple to access and utilize with the click of a mouse.

4. Prioritize with Flexibility

Sometimes, when it’s just you and 500 different tasks, there will be a tendency to jump from one task to another before completion. This can be good and bad. It’s good to be flexible and not bang your head against any one task if you aren’t making any progress. Sometimes it helps to step back, breathe, and come back to something with a new outlook. However, if your mind wanders too far and too often, nothing will end up done. Try to find the balance between priority and flexibility that allows you to find a natural rhythm in completing weekly tasks.

5. Early Calls

If part of your business involves contacting potential clients, cold calling, emailing or collaborating with various individuals, I would suggest using the first half of the week for this. People have the natural tendency to be more receptive during the first half of the week. After Wednesday many potential business contacts begin to fade into their weekend shelters. Getting a hold of these people on Monday or Tuesday will make the second half of your week far more productive.

For more Offshore Outsourcing Information contact us!  Get a FREE Quote Today!

Omar Pinto
omar@offshoresavingsolutions.com
Offshore Saving Solutions
310-928-3765

Once very dependent on its tourism and agriculture as its leading GNP it is now one of the leading Latin American countries for Offshore Outsourcing in IT development and manufacturing, high-tech telecommunication services for call centers and customer service centers.  Costa Rica has one of the highest literacy rates in the world next to the US and Canada and offers foreign companies the same quality of employee in Costa Rica that they could find in their own country.

IT programmers, developers, graphic designers, web page designers, fluent in English and Spanish and submerged in the US culture.  The US has an incredibly large presence and influence in Costa Rica and contributes significantly to the economic stimulus so much so that the Costa Rican Government, ministries and financial institutes continue to improve the ease in which foreigners can do business in Costa Rica.

What companies in the US are finding is the manufacturing plants for IT production are financially more feasible than production in the states and because of the level of education, experience, infrastructure and technology that the quality of production meets the same standard of excellence as you would find in the US, if not better.

By Omar Pinto

For more Offshore Outsourcing Information contact us!  Get a FREE Quote Today!

Omar Pinto
omar@offshoresavingsolutions.com
Offshore Saving Solutions
310-928-3765

As of late, there has been an upsurge in the volume of foreigners taking flight to foreign countries in order to seek jobs, train employees at their branch office or to merely visit the other part of the world while combining it with a business motive. It is now common to spot an America or European living and working harmoniously with his Costa Rican and Guatemala counterpart in the same city and in the same office.

Cost cutting and increasing profitability has always been the main motive for offshore outsourcing. The trend of offshore outsourcing and the fact that foreigners are willingly to work and reside in third world countries shows how businesses can bring about a shift in the population demographics across the world.

Population relocation began a few decades ago when wealthy citizens of the East were lured by the modernized Western societies and chose to stay there. The second and third generations of these migrations now make a large portion of the country’s population. But a few decades ago, no one would have ever dreamt of the Western world willing to settle down in the Eastern part of the world however the increase in offshore outsourcing has made this dream a reality. The trend has brought world class businesses to third world countries which have resulted in the modernization of facilities in these countries. Spotting a foreign national in Costa Rican or Guatemala City is now common place.

Source

For more Offshore Outsourcing Information contact us!  Get a FREE Quote Today!

Omar Pinto
omar@offshoresavingsolutions.com
Offshore Saving Solutions
310-928-3765

Introduction The question that a client asks before choosing an outsourcing vendor is that do they have the expertise & understanding of my nature of business? Clients aren’t interested in saving a little cash if they feel that they are exposing themselves to significant additional risk or hassle. You need to show them that while they will be able to enjoy the advantages, they can also trust you to minimize/eliminate the downside.

Convince them about your capabilities:
The question that a client asks before choosing an outsourcing vendor is that do they have the expertise & understanding of my nature of business?

You need to spend most of your time listening to the client to understand their business objectives, concerns and priorities. Try to learn as much as possible about their business functions – operations, resource management, areas of work, who their end customers are, etc. Then identify their need to outsource. Understand what are they currently investing on – R&D, technology maintenance, customer support – and their pain points like project over-runs, maintenance, legal issues, HR costs etc. Then come out with a solution that shows how you can address the pain areas, save costs and minimize risks.

Clients aren’t interested in saving a little cash if they feel that they are exposing themselves to significant additional risk or hassle. You need to show them that while they will be able to enjoy the advantages, they can also trust you to minimize/eliminate the downside.

Strive to be the partner with whom the client can achieve a long-term partnership and minimize financial risk exposure. Comparing hard cost between ‘outsourcing’ v/s ’staying in-house’ is inevitable, so build some soft-ROI during the process, including mitigation of risks, business continuity, opportunity cost, and so forth.

Counter their apprehensions (perceived or real) against offshoring: Anyone who has looked at outsourcing (particularly offshoring) would have had a bad experience of some kind. Most of us have had a frustrating experience at some point dealing with outsourced customer care when calling our bank, telco or utility company.

Usual drawbacks that are associated with offshoring are
- Fear of loss of control over processes and performance
- Language/communication difficulties
- Deadline difficulties
- Productivity issues
- Quality issues
- Customer relationship issues
- Increased risk
- IP issues

There is no point in pretending these perceived drawbacks aren’t out there – you have to convince customers that you can overcome these by providing evidence of how your organization handles these issues – use examples from previous engagements, or client testimonials to demonstrate successful transition & execution of offshore work by your company.

Closing the deal: To clinch an offshoring deal, you will need to break up your proposal to a potential client in three parts:

Value Proposition – Why outsourcing to your company can deliver benefits over in-house alternatives.

Peer & Industry Comparison – What their peers and competitors in the same industry and some famous ones in the other industry are achieving through outsourcing. Explain how outsourcing has practically been increasing over the years – That companies are only too happy with the overall results … with more & more companies signing bigger & bigger contracts now.

Missed Opportunity – What will they miss out on if they do not outsource now. Explain how outsourcing will make their organization re-look at the ways it does business and at a strategic level, will help accelerate the growth of their company regardless of the specific objectives around cost savings and quality improvement.

by Biplab Saha

]]> http://www.offshoresavingsolutions.com/blog/convincing-clients-for-outsourcing-their-business-offshore/feed/ 0 http://www.offshoresavingsolutions.com/blog/the-benefits-of-mailroom-outsourcing/ http://www.offshoresavingsolutions.com/blog/the-benefits-of-mailroom-outsourcing/#comments Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:24:54 +0000 opinto http://www.offshoresavingsolutions.com/blog/?p=133 The post functions of a company can be a large administrative overhead. Combined with an increasing move towards distributing mail electronically upon receipt this can become a major problem, especially with the large financial outlays required for scanners and other IT equipment and software.Mailroom outsourcing companies can handle all of your typical incoming mail room functions, from receiving mail through to scanning and distribution.

What is Mailroom Outsourcing?

With mailroom outsourcing, your re-directed mail will be received and digitised with the key points pulled out. Digitised documents will then be stored on a document management system so that all processes associated with the mail can then be handled on-screen and in some cases automated.

You don’t need to outsource all your mail processing if you choose not to. Often it works best for businesses just to outsource business critical mail, as this benefits the most from outsourcing anyway.

Mailroom outsourcing can be particularly beneficial for things such as:

* mail shot responses * customer service reply paid cards * surveys

Using mailroom outsourcing in these situations takes the pressure off in-house staff and means you will usually have results much quicker than if you tried to handle things in-house.

Mailroom outsourcing is also useful for:

* redirected remote office mail * application forms * regular correspondence

The cost of handling business critical mail can be very high when you add up all of the staff and overhead costs. Most companies still rely upon less efficient manual paper routing processes to convey mail from one location to another for processing.

Key benefits

Some of the key benefits mailroom outsourcing could bring to your company are:

* Allows you and your staff to focus on core business activities * Reduces storage needs * Improves speed of delivery * Reduces transport costs * Centralises mail processing * Automates mail routing * Improves traceability and compliance * Introduces ongoing process automation * Reduces cost of processing * Eliminates postage costs * Eliminates copying costs * Reduces overheads * Means greater business flexibility and agility * Improves service levels and reliability.

by S Cornish

For more Offshore Outsourcing Information contact us!  Get a FREE Quote Today!

Omar Pinto
omar@offshoresavingsolutions.com
Offshore Saving Solutions
310-928-3765 ]]> http://www.offshoresavingsolutions.com/blog/the-benefits-of-mailroom-outsourcing/feed/ 0 http://www.offshoresavingsolutions.com/blog/how-does-outsourcing-help-america-part-1-geography/ http://www.offshoresavingsolutions.com/blog/how-does-outsourcing-help-america-part-1-geography/#comments Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:45:38 +0000 opinto http://www.offshoresavingsolutions.com/blog/?p=107 No matter which side of the debate you’re on when it comes to outsourcing, the fact is that outsourcing is here to stay. Over the last 15 years, the internet has changed everything about American businesses, both for the better and for the worse. It’s changed how we buy, sell, communicate and even profit. Outsourcing, like the internet is now impacting almost every part of American businesses. So the question is, “How does outsourcing help America?”

Well to answer the question honestly, I think you and I will have to throw out our perceptions of what we think outsourcing really is. So throw out the idea that outsourcing is about sending jobs overseas, and get rid of the notion that outsourcing is just about saving money. Now I know that’s what probably comes to mind first, but that’s because we haven’t really looked at what outsourcing really is.

Asking the question “How does outsourcing help America?” is the same as asking “How does the internet help America?”. Whether you answer good, bad, or indifferent to either questions is a matter of “use.” Simply put, the definition of outsourcing is the ability to leverage geography, time, and resources in order to bring better solutions to the marketplace. So let’s take a look at the first area of outsourcing in regards to leveraging geography.

Its A Matter Of Geography

If you own a business in West Palm Beach Florida, and you have to hire a personal administrator, you are bound by geography. You may not realize it, but when you go to put an ad in the paper, the only people that will respond are those that live in a reasonable distance from your office. Try running an ad for a personal administrator in West Palm Beach Florida and see if anyone one New Jersey calls to inquire about the job. Now if your business had the right technology, leadership, and systems, and if the person was qualified enough, you could hire that person from New Jersey and you are no longer bound by geography. Setting your company up with ability to outsource to other parts of the US would give you the advantage of not being bound by a limited local talent pool and give yourself the pick of the litter when it comes to hiring.

In addition, what if you needed to hire several staff locally, having a system in place for outsourcing would allow you to hire more local staff without taking on more overhead. So you wouldn’t be forced to move your offices to a bigger location, buy more desks, equipment and install more infrastructure. Did you know that Jet Blue outsources over 1000 jobs in their home reservations department to Americans to work from home? This allows Jet Blue to cut overhead, corporate space, electricity, office supplies, and literally save millions on other costs in order to create more affordable travel for you and me. All while providing better quality of life for its employees that work from home. Here’s a great article on Jet Blue’s innovative outsourcing (homesourcing) strategies.

Let’s say your business is in Mobile Alabama, and your selling life insurance to people in New Jersey. Your sales person that comes into your Mobile Alabama office with a strong southern accent may not have the best closing ratio for prospects in New Jersey. On the other hand, if your office is in New Jersey, your sales agent that has a fast talking New Jersey accent may not have the best closing ratio for selling clients in Mobile Alabama. Setting up an outsourcing strategy to hire employees, like hiring someone from Alabama to sell prospects in Alabama, could be a strategy that really grows your business.

South Florida was hit hard by the housing collapse, and had over a 10% unemployment rate. If those that lost their jobs in Florida positioned themselves a virtual agents, administrators, information technology consultants, they may be able to get a job immediately by other American companies that use outsourcing as a strategy to grow their business.

So how does outsourcing help America? In my opinion, it helps America by allowing companies to leverage geography and use that advantage to give better service, better pricing, and a more efficient process for you and me the customer.

Source

For more Offshore Outsourcing Information contact us!  Get a FREE Quote Today!

Omar Pinto
omar@offshoresavingsolutions.com
Offshore Saving Solutions
310-928-3765

Clients may or may not be apt in performing such noncore activity, but one thing is for sure, that client will certainly benefit from such outsourcing. It is completely at Client’s discretion to allot the duties required by them.  BFOs will certainly perform any activity, like accounting, processing, procurement and customer service, with full capability. Business function outsourcing providers will perform the task according to guidelines provided by their clients and under strict quality control measures.

The BFO market in Costa Rica is expanding because they are qualitatively very high in their human resource management as well as providing state of the art services with state of the art technology and are very cost-effective as well.

It’s a popular notion, that Clients are benefitted due to cost-savings, primarily. These savings can be passed on to employees as one time benefits or Company’s share of the profits. They can also be utilized in expanding their business and upgrading business activities for better performance.

Cost Saving is just another feature of employee and human resource outsourcing.  BFOs charge their clients on a contractual basis and per employee performing the business function. Therefore, it is counted as a fixed cost, instead of a variable expense by the company.  Setting up your own BFO department is costly, time consuming, and takes a considerable amount of effort and manpower management. Delegating the desired activity to a business function outsourcing unit saves on all these factors, quite substantially.

Jobs are easy to perform, gets done professional and without any hassles. The quality with which BFOs perform their job provides immense relief to your Company. There are no unnecessary extra expenditures, nor any investment blockages.

BFOs main line of business is outsourcing job activities within strict quality control.  Any kind of emergency will be met with immediate remedy so that client activity does not suffer in any way.

by Omar Pinto

For more Offshore Outsourcing Information contact us!  Get a FREE Quote Today!

Omar Pinto
omar@offshoresavingsolutions.com
Offshore Saving Solutions
310-928-3765