More and more companies are beginning to outsource tasks as it allows them to tap into talent and business expertise globally. Not only does outsourcing save your company time and allow you to tap into great talent; it also provides opportunities for businesses like never before!
Some companies outsource legal services, content management, HR and administrative tasks. For us at Ikigai, we made the decision very early on to outsource IT, and it has worked to our benefit. We heavily rely on technology to efficiently run our business and understanding firewalls, structured cabling or mobile application development is not our core business. When it came to the development of our mobile application, we had anticipated it would take 6 months to build in-house. Learning the ins and outs of programming and developing an application would have been time-consuming and costly, to say the least. As such, we made the decision to outsource this and as a result, our mobile application was ready to launch in 4 weeks!
While outsourcing may make practical sense, does this mean you should outsource all your non-core tasks? Definitely not, so let’s explore the case against outsourcing!
Outsourcing can hinder the growth of your employees
There are times when outsourcing tasks can hinder the growth of your employees or limit the relationships you have with your customers. According to a Fast Company article, insourcing may be more beneficial when it comes to strategic changes in your business. It’s the act of your team getting their hands dirty in these takes that can ultimately grow your business. We all know that the best ideas and solutions usually come from the very individuals who experience the challenges first-hand because they have an in-depth understanding of the issues – an advantage over an incoming consultant – the solutions they generate usually speak directly to your customer needs. Hence, as suggested by Fast Company, keeping strategic changes in-house would strengthen employee morale and ensure consistency within the business. Moreover, there is usually a higher likelihood that these solutions are adopted and implemented!
Of course, as a coworking business, we want to make the biggest case for outsourcing your office needs. We know that commercial letting can be one of the most difficult parts of setting up a business for both small and large companies alike! Typically, searching for office space is time-consuming, expensive and riddled with complications! Discussions with landlords can take weeks if not months, and the capital expenditures required to set up a space with full-service amenities is often unattainable for smaller companies. Moreover, the inflexibility of traditional real estate leases that require a six-year, unbreakable commitment is outdated. As such, flexible office spaces today are highly sought-after, especially in contexts where a business can be here today and gone tomorrow or in situations where companies need to scale up and down in a matter of days.
Why joining the Ikigai community is great for your business
While building mobile applications may not be our area of expertise, coworking spaces are! At Ikigai, we provide SMEs, large corporates and individuals with beautiful, healthy, and flexible office spaces. What makes Ikigai different from other coworking spaces is our focus on wellness, which we believe has a major impact on productivity, creativity and the overall happiness of every individual that walks through our doors.
The benefits of joining our community include the standard perks such as complimentary yoga and meditation, knowledge and networking events, the flexibility to work outside under the trees or indoor in a professional work environment, a coffee bar with daily salad specials, a Mother’s room, a Prayer room and even showers! We argue that these amenities are becoming a requirement of the millennial workforce when deciding whether to accept a job with a company. Research has also shown that office spaces are now being used by employers as tools to increase employee engagement and retention! Incurring these perks in-house for a business can be costly and take away from the capital that could be beneficial elsewhere! Thus, we believe that outsourcing your offices need to us will help you reduce your CapEx, increase your flexibility by allowing you to scale up and down quickly and easily, provide your staff with perks that will see them remain happy at work and for longer and most importantly save you time by dealing with all the hassles of running an office space, such as Internet outages, serving of generators providing lunch and tea, receiving packages and everything else that goes into the upkeep of an office space.
Ikigai Nairobi houses small, medium and large enterprises within our community across our locations in Westlands, Lavington and Lower Kabete. Ikigai Riverside opening soon!
Leave a Reply