The Big Risks Of Outsourcing to the Philippines

I'm going to explain to you the risks of outsourcing to the Philippines.

I will also be arming you with my top tips so that you can avoid making the mistakes that other people have already made. 

The truth is, if you can figure out how to avoid the risks, then building your virtual team in the Philippines will be the single best thing you will do for your business this year.

Outsourcing to the Philippines while wearing a blindfold

It kind of goes without saying. Suppose you go into something without knowing the ins and outs. In that case, the odds of screwing up are enormous, whether outsourcing to the Philippines, doing PPC campaigns, or even building muscle in the weights room without first learning the core principles of hypertrophy.

The most important thing you can do is arm yourself with facts and know the right Philippines outsourcing companies. It would help if you read articles, listen to people who know what they are talking about, and make an educated decision.

I have put together some articles that you will benefit from. Not all of them will be relevant for your particular situation. However, I guarantee that at least 1-2 of these articles will help you.

• How to hire virtual assistants.
• How to work with social media virtual assistants.
• Step by step guide to virtual assistants in the Philippines.
• Why is the Philippines so Americanized?
• Everything you need to know about working with a real estate virtual assistant.

Outsourcing to the Philippines is a game-changer if done right. I mean, low-cost and educated English-speaking staff working for your business help you grow at incredible levels!

You know that I know firsthand the benefits of building an outsourced team in the Philippines, because quite frankly, the benefits, if done right, are spectacular.

But, you only get to enjoy those benefits if you do it right. Because like anything, if you do it wrong, you'll make mistakes that you don't need to make.

I suggest reading this article that explains how to outsource to the Philippines to avoid making those mistakes.

Philippines outsourcing tip: Educate yourself and learn the ins and outs of hiring virtual staff and virtual assistants. Don't go in blind. Arm yourself with the correct information.

You partner with the wrong outsourcing provider

First of all, if you want to, you can directly hire virtual assistants and remote staff in the Philippines on the VirtualStaff.ph outsourcing marketplace, which is one of the top Philippines outsourcing companies.

This option means you don't need to concern yourself with outsourcing partners because you've cut them all out.

However, for some of you reading this, it can be better to hire through an outsourcing provider, usually because you want the added benefit of having a professional outsourcing company handle the recruitment and other such things.

If you want to work with an outsourcing provider, there are a lot of Philippines outsourcing companies out there, some of them are good, and some, of course, are fly by night.

If you'd like me and my team to help you build your outsourced team in the Philippines, we have an enterprise service where we help you with all of the following things:

1. Recruitment: My team will find you the best virtual staff in the Philippines.
2. Client success manager: Somebody personally trained by me will be helping you make the Philippines outsourcing a success.
3. Legal protections: Our Philippines corporation will provide you with added protection.
4. Simple pricing: Our enterprise service is all-in pricing, meaning it includes everything.
5. Staff monitoring: Your client success manager will monitor and track the staff's hours.
6. Local compliance: We will ensure that everything is compliant with the local laws.
   
   

Michael Brodie's Top Tip: Be careful and avoid bad outsourcing providers who overpromise. If you want to hire direct, go to VirtualStaff.ph, post a job, and contact workers directly. If you want the help of a professional outsourcing company, see the VirtualStaff.ph enterprise solution, or choose from another reputable provider.

Trying to open an office while living in another country.

First of all, I think Covid19 has shown most of us that having remote staff is the way of the future. Yes, sometimes having staff in an office has its advantages. However, it would be better for most businesses to hire home-based staff in the Philippines.

That aside, let's say you wanted to consider opening an office in the Philippines. Let's take a quick look at what it would involve.

Here are the options you have:

Open an office in the Philippines

• You'll need to form a Philippine corporation and have a board of directors consisting of 5+ people.
• In addition to SEC registration and compliance, you also need a mayor's business permit, local barangay clearance, in addition to a lease on an office before you can get the fire inspection, environment clearances, and other such stuff. The Philippines, unfortunately, can be full of red tape, especially when most of this can not be done online! (Yes, you need to physically go into the local city hall and wait in lines to get the business permit).
• You're also now liable for employee health insurance, local taxes, social security, maternity, and other legally required things.

Go through a BPO (outsourcing provider)

This can be a wise decision for some businesses. In fact, with our Virtual Staff enterprise solution, we help businesses professionally outsource to the Philippines through our done-for-you service.

The advantages of going through a professional outsourcing provider:

• You'll get extra protection because the outsourcing provider will be a Philippine company. This means they can provide more accountability.
• Depending on the outsourcing provider, they will have an HR department that helps with recruitment. (Be careful, some outsourcing providers have staff they recycle between clients. I'd advise avoiding these companies).
• It can help if you're taking a big-picture look at things.
  
• It can be very turnkey.

The disadvantages of going through a professional outsourcing provider:

• It's more expensive because you're paying an all-in fee, so in addition to the staff salary, you'll be paying a management fee, and other such things.
  

My top tips for hiring virtual assistants or remote staff in the Philippines:

1. Don't try to pay as little as possible. Hire the best people you can afford because the aim of the game with successfully outsourcing to the Philippines is to replace local employees with equally skilled staff in the Philippines, save money, but don't compromise quality by trying to save too much.
2. Question your potential virtual workers on their experience and skills to ensure they can do the job.
3. Compare virtual assistants. You can find and compare thousands of virtual assistants here on VirtualStaff.ph, one of the best Philippines outsourcing companies.
   

I hope this helps. I'm not too fond of long articles full of filler, so I thought I'd keep it short and sweet.

Good luck!