How much volume makes a process worth outsourcing?

Key takeaways

The minimum volume to outsource a process is lower than most owners think, but it is not zero. As a GBL rule of thumb, 10 to 20 hours a week of related work keeps an outsourced team practised and accurate. Below that, bundle the process with related work, outsource it as a monthly batch, or keep it.

• 10 to 20 hours a week is a practical floor for a dedicated process.
• Below 5 hours a week, accuracy suffers from lack of practice.
• Bundle small processes that share systems or rhythm.
• Count volume in items and hours, not impressions.

Why does volume matter for outsourcing a process?

Volume decides whether the people running your process stay practised. A process done daily is remembered; one done twice a month is relearned each time, and relearning is where errors creep in. Volume also decides the economics: set-up, documentation and review cost roughly the same whether the process takes 3 hours a week or 30.

• Which business processes should you outsource?
• The process selection score: outsource, split or keep?

How do you count the volume of a process?

Count items and time for four weeks. Items are the units the process handles: invoices, tickets, orders, starters. Time is the hours spent, including checks and rework. Divide hours by items to get a time per item, which you will need later for pricing and for spotting improvement.

• Count items per week for four weeks.
• Record hours spent, including rework.
• Note the busiest and quietest weeks.
• Work out minutes per item.

• Count your task volumes before you outsource anything
• Standard times: how long should a routine task take?

What can you do when volume is too small?

Bundle the process with others that use the same systems or run on the same rhythm, such as billing, cash allocation and supplier statements. Or run it as a monthly batch so the volume arrives in one block. If neither works, keep it in-house and simplify it, because a small process outsourced alone usually costs more in management than it saves.

• Task bundling: turn scattered small jobs into one role
• Batching admin tasks: when it helps and when it slows you
• Linked processes: outsource them together or apart?

What does volume mean for cost?

Indicative managed offshore rates run about £9–£18 an hour. In an illustrative example, a 15-hour weekly process costs about £135–£270 a week in provider time, while set-up and review take about 3 hours of your time in month one. A 4-hour process carries the same set-up for a quarter of the output, so its cost per item is far higher.

• BPO cost per hour in the UK
• Work out your cost per task before you outsource

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: a process that looks too small in a quiet month turns out to have 15 to 20 hours a week once rework and chasing are counted. Counting properly often changes the answer.

• See client work
• BPO Solutions for UK businesses

Volume checklist

Check these before deciding volume is too low.

• Count four weeks, not one.
• Include rework and chasing time.
• Look for related processes to bundle.
• Consider a monthly batch.
• Compare set-up time with weekly hours.

• Process variability: why some processes travel badly
• A business process register: map every process once

Next step

Send us four weeks of volumes for the process you are considering. We will tell you whether it stands alone, needs bundling or is better kept.