Let Someone Else Do it (part 1)

You’re not good at something (either as an individual, or as a department). You have limited time and resources. And you have a simple choice:

Try to do it badly. Or let someone else do it.

Letting someone else do it is often a very wise idea. It’s usually called outsourcing (a couple years back, I had the brilliant idea that it should be called right-sourcing. A quick Google indicated that I wasn’t the first to think up that concept!…however, I still believe it is actually the better term).

I have managed to run my consulting business on my own, and I’m reasonably good at most aspects of it. Except bookkeeping/accounting. I hate it. And this week, I finally decided to outsource it. It’s a drag on my time and energy, and I cannot seem to gain fluency at it. So why should I bother anymore?

When consulting with my pharmaceutical clients, one of my first considerations will often be a “right-sourcing” strategy. If there are internal resources to develop and manage something, great. But often, a program or platform or solution is put in place far more successfully with an outside partner.

Why?

1. Expertise – often, an outside resource possesses the focused knowledge and abilities that your internal group simply does not possess.

2. Efficiency – if someone else already has a solution in place, how much quicker is it to plug into that, than to try to re-invent the wheel?

3. Time – you may not have the time to devote to creating or managing something new. There are only so many hours in a day.

4. Cost – Many times, it is less expensive in both the short- and long-term to allow someone else to accomplish certain tasks than to add headcount.

There are other reasons, but these are chief. My business is to be a “right-source” for you in setting strategic direction, figuring out optimal solutions, and selecting suppliers. In that sense, I join your team for a season as a resource to help make rightsourcing decisions.

Coming in Part 2: typical scenarios where right-sourcing should be considered.