Most SMBs Plan to Outsource

Ninety percent of small business owners plan to outsource some business tasks this year, up from 80 percent just last year, according to a study by B2B reviews and ratings platform provider Clutch.

Of the business functions most are looking to outsource, 27 percent said that they are looking to outsource their IT services. Others are interested in outsourcing their digital marketing tasks (24 percent), legal (23 percent), finance (23 percent), development (21 percent), and customer support (19 percent).

As for where they are planning to look for an outsourcing partner, 56 percent of small businesses that planned to outsource in 2021 did so onshore. Twenty-one percent of small businesses outsourcing tasks in 2022 intend to hire nearshore companies.

Outsourcing is bringing businesses a lot of benefits and advantages, the research also found. About 27 percent of small businesses are most motivated to outsource to improve their efficiency and save time, and 33 percent of small businesses outsource to access flexible resources.

Moreover, 26 percent of companies with 10 employees or fewer outsource mostly in the hopes of working with an expert, while 19 percent of small businesses with 251 to 500 employees primarily outsource to scale their businesses.

Clutch said that outsourcing is becoming more accessible to small businesses as remote work becomes the new normal and companies have already adapted to their own work-from-home policies.

The benefits of outsourcing, like efficiency and flexibility, are attracting more small businesses as remote work becomes the new normal, the firm concluded.