Outsourcing Is Not A Swear Word

By Peter Brewer

Outsourcing is a word that in recent years has come to have negative connotations. Outsourcing is usually associated with sending jobs overseas with an attendant loss of employment domestically. This article will restore virtue to the term, and will explain how outsourcing can increase the efficiency and profitability of solo and small firms, or even larger ones.

This author is the owner and manager of a five-attorney real estate law boutique. Our firm outsources all of its word processing, all of its payroll functions, and liberally uses contract attorneys.

Let’s begin the discussion with the outsourcing of word processing. It is not necessary to send your word processing to India or to the Philippines in order to enjoy a cost savings. Employees in California generally command higher wages than in other states that have a lower cost of living. Accordingly, you can have your typing and word processing done out of state and not only benefit from a lower labor rate, but you can also substantiate the typist as an independent contractor, thus avoiding payroll taxes, health care costs, and other expenses of employment.