Thinking about outsourcing? Start thinking about nearshoring

When thinking about outsourcing most companies put cost reductions in first place. True, there are clearly also other criteria that are considered as well, but the main reason to outsource is in fact to cut costs. As a consequence, companies looking for an outsourcing partner often overlook the importance of their partners’ location.

Location – or better said: proximity – should be decisive when picking your outsourcing partner. At Bart Spekking interim management, we want to advocate for nearshoring, offering the strongest collaboration opportunities thanks to geographical proximity. We’ll explain why.

Facilitating communication

The closer your outsourcing partner is located, the easier it will be to communicate. Not only is it a lot easier to meet your outsourcing partner, you’re most likely sharing the same time zone. Therefore the working hours of two parties based nearshore will be rather similar, facilitating communication. Apart from that, you’ll probably (partially) share the same national holidays as your partner or at least be aware of any differences. As a consequence deadlines are a lot more likely to be met, all thanks to sharing your proximity. It’s as easy as that.  

Less cultural differences

Each country has its own work culture which can severely impact business relations. Countries in the Northern part of Europe have the same values about for instance transparency and meeting deadlines, while countries in Southeastern Asia will be more likely to understand each other when a symbolic gesture is made by a thankful account manager. The same holds for languages: misreading an email could have a drastic consequence if understand incorrectly, leading to a possible disturbance in your partnership. The closer your outsourcing partner is located to your company, the more likely it is that you can speak the same language or even share the same mother language.

Advantages in terms of legislation

Another advantage of nearshoring is how legislation works. In the European Union we share a lot of the same values and although the EU consists of 28 members, our legalisation is adapted to enable the free movement of goods, capital, services, and labour. Even when not being part of a common market as is the case in the EU, by nearshoring companies will be a lot more aware of changing legislations, and can therefore apply new processes in order to adapt to such changes. With smoother, more efficient communication, and legislation advantages comes a service that is delivered faster and of better quality. Sometimes there’s no need to travel the world to find what you’re looking for.