When Product Sourcing Is the Way to Go

When people hear the word “outsourcing,” they usually get a mental picture of a large corporation hiring another company to handle customer service. This isn’t wrong, as there are indeed many companies that choose to outsource the customer service component of their operations. But what you may not have realized is that services aren’t the only things you can outsource. More and more businesses are now choosing to outsource product development as well. Yes, that’s right. You can hire a company to provide you with the products that you will, in turn, sell to your customers.

When It Makes Sense

In general, it is a good idea to outsource product development when any of the following situations are present:

– You need a certain kind of expertise that no member of your team has; or if the only person on your team who has the expertise cannot devote his full attention to the task.
– You lack the resources needed to complete all of the necessary tasks related to product development.
– It costs too much for you to maintain an in-house product development team.
– You are looking for a fresh approach to product development.

Reasons to Outsource

Even if you are in a situation where product sourcing makes sense, you may still have some apprehensions as to whether that would indeed be the right way to go. Perhaps it will help for you to review the most common reasons why businesses choose to outsource.

1. The top reason why many businesses choose to outsource is that it significantly lowers their operational and labor costs. Understandably, this can have a great impact on your bottom line.
2. Businesses also choose to outsource because the strategy enables them to leverage global knowledge and expertise. Whether you like it or not, there are people halfway around the world with skills and capabilities that are difficult to find locally.
3. There are also businesses that choose to outsource because it gives them the opportunity to extend their reach and penetrate new markets.
4. For some businesses, this strategy is also a good way to augment their resources. Let’s say you only have a small product development team, and they can only do so much. You could delegate larger product development projects to the sourcing company to take the burden off of your smaller in-house team.

As mentioned earlier, you shouldn’t limit yourself to local manufacturers when you think about sourcing your products from a third-party company. There are many outsourcers from all over the world that can cater to your needs. China, for one, is a very popular sourcing destination. They have sourcing agencies that can not only help lower your production costs, but also minimize your risk and accelerate your business’ growth.

With 20 years of experience and a fully-staffed office in China, Asian ProSource may just be the perfect sourcing agency for you. But don’t take our word for it. Call us at 702-616-2298 to find out if we have what it takes to meet your needs.