If your business is small the chances are that your resources are limited; there may not be very many of you involved in the day-to-day running of things and so trying to cover every base may leave you all spread a little thinly. It may also be true that talented as you all no doubt are, there could be gaps in your combined skill-sets that leave some areas lacking an expert. When this is the case it often makes sense for a small business to consider outsourcing as an option.

Outsourcing in simple terms is contracting with another company or individual to provide a function that would otherwise be performed in house. Typically it is large companies outsourcing their call-centres over-seas or a hospital outsourcing its cleaning that gets the most press and usually not much of it is positive, but for smaller operations outsourcing is not just necessary, it can be essential.

Although larger firms often outsource for purely financial reasons, small businesses gain much more than a simple money saving advantage from contracting someone else to perform certain functions. For a start it allows a business to focus on its core occupation, whatever that maybe, and not waste time with activities that don't relate to its prime objectives. This in turn frees up what human resources the business does have and increases productivity.

It can also allow a small business to compete in a competitive market by servicing customer demand and offering things that would not usually be within their capabilities to offer. Streamlining operations and increasing flexibility without immediately having to fund an increase in business size can make an enormous difference to a venture's success. Outsourcing can also give a small business access to specialists and professionals that would not otherwise be a part of their team and allow them to keep-up with the most up-to-date technologies and systems without large personal investment.

Let's not forget also that although financial savings might not be a small business' only gain from outsourcing a particular function there is no doubt that it can save them a great deal of money and this is something that the smallest of us cannot afford to sneeze at. The cash flow advantages of contracting a firm that is set-up purely to perform the function you've engaged them for can be very good indeed.

So, far from just being the terrible thing that greedy firms do to developing nations, whilst destroying their own county's economy, outsourcing can be an incredibly valuable tool for small businesses to use in their struggle to succeed.