In 2019, the US outsourcing industry reported revenues of $26 billion! With outsourcing booming globally, it’s no longer a luxury that’s reserved for large corporations.

Being on a limited budget should not prevent your start-up from reaping the benefits of contracting to a third party. Smaller businesses stand to greatly benefit from smart outsourcing—increased efficiency, reduced costs, and an improved bottom-line being just some of these benefits.

Here are some outsourcing tips for small start-ups.

Know what to outsource

Work out what you can outsource. As a creative start-up, the entrepreneur has many shoes to fill. With limited time and resources on your hands, you should be focusing your energy on the main revenue-generating functions—design and production in this case.

Administrative tasks, emails, and customer management take up a lot of time and energy. Outsourcing them can open up spare time for other profitable core activities that require your attention as the creative lead.

Focusing more energy on these tasks directly impacts your bottom line, and these increased profits can be re-invested into the business for expansion.

Outsource per project

With there being freelancers all over the world now, all willing to lend a helping hand,choosing the right one for the job can get tricky.

A freelancer who charges hourly rates is an attractive choice when you’re on a budget. But it can also be detrimental; more often than not, how much you invest determines the result you get.

When you first start outsourcing, do so on a project basis and not on hourly rates. For example, you can bundle administrative and email management tasks and put them up as a project. This will help you save on the costs of hiring two different people at hourly rates. Project postings are also more likely to attract experienced professionals.

If the project is successful, you can negotiate work on an hourly basis to ensure a good return on investment and quality work that boosts your brand.

Outsourcing the production process

As a start-up, it’s more than possible that you have limited creative talent. For a lot of new businesses, the garment manufacturing process can be daunting if you do not have expert help.

With a limited budget, it’s hard to hire experts for each step of the process. Outsourcing part of the process is a standard business practice in the fashion industry, but it needs to be taken on very cautiously.

Rather than hiring from a freelancing network or looking for professionals separately, it’d serve you best to work with a professional manufacturing company.

Garment manufacturing companies can provide you with all the expert services you need under one roof. If you have a fashion start-up in L.A.and haven’t found the right company yet, look no further.

At Lefty Production Co, we provide skilled support to start-ups at all stages—sourcing, design, production, and marketing. Our professional pattern makers and consultants can provide you with the services you need to get your fashion brand to really take off. Visit our website or call us at(323) 515-9266 to explore your options today.  

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