There has never been a better time to invest in your business! The Dow is hovering around 11,000, unemployment has stabilized a bit and all the media seems to be convinced the worst is over. But, if you’re like most small to mid-sized businesses you know that your banker isn’t opening up the wallet yet and that you are still cautious on spending money.You worked hard and made tough decisions. In fact, this recession was quite different from others. In the first half of 2009 sales went down $68 billion, but net income increased $285 billion. At the same time productivity increased at an annualized rate of 6.6 percent.
Will your competition start hiring and give up those hard earned productivity gains? Don’t wait for that rerun, time to build a sustainable global operating model just ahead of the wave. Yes, we said global.
Will revenue in your business continue to increase ahead of your cost? Consider for a moment the consumers of your product or services and their plight. Between 1947 and 1973, the typical American family’s income almost doubled in real terms, not adjusted for inflation. What did they do? They shopped! Between 1973 and 2007 it grew by only 22 percent, and that includes the impact of many households having two income earners, rather than one. If you adjusted for inflation over this period the average family made less. Therefore, you can expect changes in consumption and for consumers to seek better value and price.
Do you think that the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India & China) invented globalization and that it will simply go away? Not likely, and in fact all we need to do is consider Romans, Persians, Egyptians, English, Spanish and French to understand that this is not a modern trend and that after over 500 years it is here to stay. The recent economic crisis shows us how interconnected we all are, and that those of us who don’t keep up may not survive. The United States currently has a trade deficit of $533 billion, while the BRIC has a trade surplus of $214 billion combined, which is watered down by India who carries a deficit of $91 billion because they must import oil much like the United States. Simplified, American consumers have less buying power and income, so they go to Wal-Mart. “Reverse innovation” allowed that organization to change the way the supply chain from manufacturer to store works, which lowers their cost and increases their profit margin, even if they can’t raise prices. They went global!
So you may think that having access to global resources is only for the big boys, and while General Electric built a city in a far away land, that you are just too small to do it yourself. The good news is that you are both wrong and right. The World Bank ranked 183 countries in 2010 on several criteria. India ranked 133 in “ease of doing business” and 169 with “starting a business, while China ranked 140 in “employing workers”. Emerging markets can be difficult to enter and contain many market protections, so pioneering on your own to set up shop may be harder than you think and require substantial amounts of time and money.
We all consider the argument of “build vs. buy ” or even rent in today’s business world. We know that globalization has been around and will only increase, and that our customers have less and less to spend. The question isn’t “if” but more like “how” to go global.
Cognet HRO was formed to answer that questions for small the mid-market companies. We are a Business Process Outsourcer (BPO) located in India and we specialize in helping Human Resource Service Providers. You have “back office” tasks that don’t help you spend more time with your customers, or focusing on sales. We have experience in your space, and guide companies to global resources that lift them to operational excellence.
We did all the hard work to be in India, now you can utilize those resources to not only reduce cost, but also increase productivity and allow for more flexible capacity planning. We have deep subject matter expertise at your disposal globally, and leadership locally with owners in the United States who have been in your shoes. You can access India and all it has to offer without leaving your desk, and remember it is your stuff we are managing in a partnership and typically on your systems. You just moved the cube a bit farther away and can hold us accountable.
In fact, we guarantee cost savings and productivity gain in the contract. We also plan to exceed your expectations by improving processes and finding innovative solutions to your business problems. We are an ISO 9001:2008 certified company, we know process. We are ISO 27001 certified, we know data security. Are you ISO certified? We can get you there and provide the benefits to your bottom line and customers. We can get you global.