The media in the UK has been awash with negative buzzwords around the economy for several years now. 'Times of austerity', 'The Global Downturn' 'Double Dip Recession', 'Hyperinflation' and 'The Great Depression' have been so widely used and abused they are now commonly heard at dinner tables up and down the country.
In reality, whether the scaremongers are basing their claims on fact, fiction or opinion, the UK is facing financial challenges in the years ahead. Local government has been ordered to reign in spending, and some have done so in the extreme. Birmingham City Council have made announcements that they will be outsourcing all non-core services in contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds.
Why then, am I advocating starting a new business when so many doom-sayers are playing up the negative elements of the economy?
I believe now is the time for the UK to become more enterprising, not less. It is time for British Entrepreneurs to step up to the plate and turn their spark of an idea into reality. In the words of the recently axed Enterprise UK – its time for people to “make a job, not take a job”.
Unemployment is on the rise, particularly amongst young people. New efficiency drives and cost cutting measures in the service sector coupled with increased automation in retail and the loss of the UK's manufacturing base have all conspired to create the current economic climate. Government and other organisations that should have spotted these trends and created new opportunities to fill the breach have failed to do so.
On the positive side, the same trend of globalisation, automation, outsourcing and efficiency drives which has been championed by big business and is turning the global labour markets on their head is opening up unprecedented opportunities for small businesses and start-ups. Technology, particularly the internet, is smashing down barriers to entry at an alarming rate and there has never been a better time to start a business.
10 years ago it may have cost upwards of £5,000 just to get a half decent website off the ground. Today, new businesses can tap into a global on-demand workforce of millions through websites like Freelancer.co.uk [0] and get the same work done for 1/10th of the price they would pay locally.
A Chip shop in Chesterfield can get its packaging designed in Chennai for under £50. A new hairdressers can get its logo, business cards and gift vouchers designed in Harare for less than £100. The list of opportunities is endless.
Just about anything you may need as a start-up business can be outsourced online, it can be turned around quickly and at incredibly competitive rates. What's more, my site, offers protection to both buyers and providers of services. Money is not handed over to the service provider until you are 100% happy with the job they have done. Contrary to the hype, there need not be any risk involved – just reward.
So, if you have an idea for an iPhone App, you need a website designed, or you need help with your business plan or marketing strategy – you can get it, on time, for a fixed price and with no risk at all from Freelancer.co.uk [0].
I am so confident you will find online outsourcing good for your business, I am offering all readers of New Business Magazine the opportunity to post a trial project, free of charge using the voucher code NEWBIZ.
by Matt Barrie
CEO Freelancer.co.uk [1]