Dear Reader,
Sometimes you feel like knowing more about offshore & outsourcing & you don't find anyone to ask for it? Being the CEO of outsourcing company , many of times people like you, ask me this question in email or on phone- "Please tell me the way you operate the business & how to precede further?"
Let me break the problem into different chunks & solve it.
Let's understand - different offshore business methods:
We work using 3 offshore business methods:
1. Fixed Price Model: You tell us requirements, we estimate the efforts, you approve it, we work on it and you pay fixed money. You hold all intellectual property. Generally, online bidding falls under this model, where a buyer wants the lowest fixed price from the bids of sellers.
2. Monthly Price Model: You have lots of work, which you want to get it done regularly. You hire a person fully dedicated to you. You pay monthly salary. Again, you hold all intellectual property.
3. Partnership Model: You have the idea, but not much money. You want to get it implement it. In this case, we will evaluate the idea, develop it jointly and market it. Intellectual rights (source code) will not be with you. It will be with us.
In broad sense, you can choose any of the above methods as per your needs and grow your business.

Now, how to proceed for outsourcing work. Here are some common sense suggestions.
1. Trust nobody. Not me and not yourself.
When you outsource your work, you have to be careful There are many people who are not competent but still want to have your work and try to deliver it. They may fail and learn from it, but for you it will be loss of time & money. Talk to the CEO or founder of the outsourcing company, see the portfolio & talk to the references given by the company.
2. Prepare some small problems and ask the outsourcing team to solve it. May be you can decide to pay for it and sometimes you can ask for FREE evaluation.
3. Start with small project modules and watch for several points like - communication, project requirement analysis, how good they research or ask questions, regular status update etc. Small things can become bigger in future, so before you invest more of your time & money into outsourcing, just be careful and see if the outsourcing team can deliver.
There is a lot to say for outsourcing business & how to work with around it. So? far, if you use above 3 offshore business models & use 3 tips above to start outsourcing work, I am sure you will achieve greater heights in future for your business. Good luck!!!