The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a lot of companies, schools, and other establishments to impose a remote work setting. While some businesses already have some experience in having employees who's in remote work , your entire company operating out of the office can be a big adjustment.Related: COVID-19 Business Continuity Plan for Online Stores
In remote work, new policies need to be established, your employees will encounter struggles, and other preparations need to be rushed. Luckily, there are ways to maintain business continuity and the productivity of your now newly remote work employees.
The cliché, “communication is key” is now one of the essential elements that will keep your business alive. You always have to know the current capabilities of your workforce.Perform daily check-ins with your remote teams to see how they’re doing. Ask them about what might affect their productivity and respond accordingly.If the remote work employees have personal issues at home, empathize with them to show that you care. If it’s operational risks like information security or network latency, have them talk to your IT guys to guide them through it.
Part of communication includes being communicative with both credit and feedback. As your business engage in remote work setup, your employees can’t see you, and therefore some of them will exert more time overthinking what you actually meant with your “okay” or when you don’t reply.Give credit to ease their feelings of isolation that come with working remotely. A little “good job” or “this looks great” can go a long way.On the other hand, if you don’t like what they did, give constructive criticism so that they know how to improve. This is best done on a call so they can gauge your emotions through your voice. Moreover, constructive criticism will boost their morale as you show you’re open to improvements.
Luckily, the technology to keep a purely remote work business going has been around for the longest time. Since you can’t have a physical meeting for brainstorming, collaboration, updates, or feedback, use other communication channels.Use Skype for short meetings and Google Hangouts, Zoom, or Discord for conferences that require screen sharing.For communication channels, you can always rely on Skype, but if you want a more secure platform, Slack is our client favorite.If you want your teams to be organized while giving you the capacity to track their progress, use project management tools like Trello, Asana, or Basecamp.
To maintain remote work productivity, you have to set expectations in sprints. Sprints could be weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or quarterly tasks that you expect them to accomplish in that period.In the middle of these sprints, it can also be helpful to have a quick meeting to talk about their progress, action items for the days, or any impediments to work and if they need help with anything.This will build your trust with your remote work employees and give you peace of mind as you focus on production, not screen time. At the same time, your employees won’t feel like they’re being micromanaged, which can also affect their motivation to work.
Finally, you have to check on your remote work employees regularly. And by that, we mean to check on them as a person and not as an employee.Ask how they’re handling the crisis and give advisories on what to do, like wash their hands or practice social distancing. Encourage them to communicate if they start exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms and whether their health insurance can cover it.Your employees need to know that you really have their back through this crisis. Employees that feel like their company cares about their wellbeing will work better. And when they work better, your business will grow further.
At the end of the day, it will all come down to how much you care about your remote work employees. Because in times of crisis, that’s when they know if they can rely on you as well. If you effectively manage your now remote employees, don’t be surprised if your business still thrives even after COVID-19.
Building an in-house team in the USA involves various costs, including salaries, benefits, office space, and equipment. Salaries can range widely, with tech roles often commanding $75,000 to $150,000 or more annually, and operational roles like marketing, sales, and administration varying from $40,000 to over $100,000. Benefits, including health insurance and retirement plans, can add an additional 20-30% on top of salaries. Office space and equipment costs depend on location and needs but can significantly increase total expenses. For a small team, annual costs can quickly sum up to several hundred thousand dollars, with exact figures depending on the team's composition, the company's location, and the benefits package offered.
Meanwhile, the cost to outsource in the Philippines varies based on each job function. For example, if you are looking to outsource to a call center, the average cost for a customer service rep is $5.00/hour on the low end and $12.00/hour on the high end.If you want a more comprehensive price and breakdown of costs, it will vary from one outsourcing company to another. However, more often than not, the standard pricing cost to outsource model is based on certain computation.
The cost to outsource is usually calculated based on the skill of the resource, the number of people you want to hire, and the tenure of the contract. In the Philippines, outsourcing companies calculate fees based on workforce cost, service fees, and government-mandated benefits. This allows an outsourcing company to come up with unique service models to fit their respective target markets.
All workforce cost is always charged to you since the cost to outsource are driven by the market rates for the positions you want to fill. Moreover, these costs will vary depending on skill level — whether entry-level, experienced, or expert prospects. For example, an entry level graphic designer will cost 30,000 PHP (534.66 USD) and an expert may cost more than 43,000 PHP (766.35 USD).
Note: Conversions will vary from time to time, depending on exchange rates (1 USD = 56.12 PHP, as of February 2024)
Every outsourcing company will have its respective service fees as part of the cost to outsource, which generally include a fixed fee per employee per month to cover all their operating expenses. These operating expenses will typically cover equipment, utility bills, taxes, and more. Some outsourcing companies will give you perks depending on the total size of your outsourcing team, which may or may not be part of your negotiation stage.
As prescribed by the Philippine labor laws, each employee is entitled to several benefits like the following. Don’t worry, your outsourcing partner will handle all of these for you as this is part of the business' cost to outsource and it is under its payroll department. Feel free to have them explain this in detail once you come into contact.
Another part of businesses cost to outsource is the employees' 13th month pay. According to the Philippines’ Department of Labor and Employment, the 13th-month pay is equal to 1/12 of the basic salary of an employee. This is usually given at the end of the year, with pro-rated values depending on the start date of the employee.
The Philippines is hours ahead from the US, and this depends on which state you are in (Washington DC = 12 hours, California = 15 hours). If you want your outsourced team to work at your hours, they are entitled to a night differential pay of not less than 10% of their basic salary, which is usually $400 above based on an average monthly compensation of $4,000.
Social security contributions are shared by the employer and the employee and is a part of the cost to outsource business services in the Philippines. As of 2024, the contribution rate is 14%, with 9.5% shouldered by the employer and 4.5% by the employee. The rates vary every year, and may reach 15% by 2025.
PAGIBIG is pretty much the government’s way of ensuring that the Filipino workforce will have savings going while they work. This is usually for housing purposes, or when an employee needs to borrow money. An employer's contribution rate is 2% of their employee’s basic salary.
As of 2020, the PhilHealth premium rate is 4% to 5%, again depending on the employee's monthly salary. This serves as a health insurance benefit, albeit some outsourcing companies still give a separate health insurance benefit from a private provider because healthcare in the Philippines is expensive.
After having an overall idea about how it costs to outsource in the Philippines, the challenge now is to balance cost-effectiveness, the quality of the service you’ll get, and how well your needs will be met.
Partner with an outsourcing company like KDCI who can build you an offshore team based on your custom requirements. This way, you’ll only invest in the resources you need, when you need them, all without sacrificing quality. You also won’t be tied to fixed pricing commitments.
Contact us today to learn more about our services.
Published: May 27, 2015
Updated: February 27, 2024
Rebranding and brand refreshing differ in many factors; however, often, they are confused with each other. These factors depend mostly on what your goals for your business are, and how you want to achieve those goals. It all boils down to how much effort you are willing to put into your brand.
When it comes to effort, rebranding takes first place.Rebranding involves a full overhaul of all the basic structure of your brand and then reestablishing it into a new face.Contrary to what most believe, rebranding isn’t just a simple update in the brand logo, redesigning the Ecommerce website, or changing the brand name. It must have the purpose of introducing the company in a new emotional and mental light to its consumers.
Meanwhile, a brand refresh involves updating or “refreshing” a part of the brand that is already familiar to its consumers. Instead of an entire do-over, a brand can choose to update visual components or adapt its messaging to either a more specific, or a broader buyer persona.More often, brands that undergo a brand refresh are brick-and-mortar stores who wish to adapt to the growing Ecommerce industry. Sometimes it’s refreshing an old website or modernizing the brand itself and its assets.
To know whether you need rebranding or a brand refresh, you have to know the elements that you need to update or change, and why it’s necessary. Branding is all about conveying your company’s image and purpose to consumers.Therefore, if there is a particular component that doesn’t follow your standards, then changing, updating, or removing may be necessary.
It’s common for businesses to engage in a rebranding process. The reason can sometimes be because of a tarnished name or reputation. Other times it’s because of company expansion or corporate decision.As for your Ecommerce business, there can be many circumstances that will drive you to rebrand. Knowing when to rebrand is essential to reduce the chances of exhausting your time, effort, and — most importantly — money.
There are many reasons why a brand can’t compete with its industry rivals. It could be because of inauthenticity, disappointment from consumers, poor product quality — the list goes on.Although one thing is guaranteed, brands fail because they can't adapt enough to go against competitors.Take Apple, for example.It was almost entirely bankrupt in 1997 until a hopeful Steve Jobs rebranded the company from something that sells computers (like its main competitor, Microsoft) into a brand that caters to all the possible technological needs of its consumers. They even went as far as changing the company name from Apple Computer, Inc to just Apple. Since then, it got to its feet and grew into a multibillion-dollar company.So if your Ecommerce business’ sales are plummeting — or it’s too far behind from competitors — there’s a chance that you might need to rebrand.However, we don’t recommend you to enforce a full-on rebranding just for this sole reason immediately.So, steer clear from impulsive decisions.Take the time to sit down and conduct an honest, comprehensive competitor analysis. This will allow you to have data-backed information about whether or not you need to rebrand or refresh. If the necessary changes are too distinct, then you need to rebrand.
In 2003, Philip Morris, one of the largest tobacco brands in the world, was proven innocent from a smoking-related death case.After that, they immediately changed their company name before anything damaging happened for being linked to such negative publicity. Additionally, they also had to develop an entire communications strategy, refocus their marketing campaigns, and redesign their logo.Critics thought that it was a PR maneuver to protect the corporation’s image. However, Philip Morris (now called Altria) insisted that it was more of their way to reach a broader demographic since they also sell products other than tobacco. Either way, they still stand as a multibillion-dollar company today, all thanks to their quick rebranding strategy.Hopefully, your Ecommerce brand or business wouldn’t have to go through any defacing incidents that might force you to rebrand. Otherwise, this could be one of the most — if not the most — expensive rebranding you will ever have to go through.The best thing that you could do is to prevent or address mishaps immediately before they grow into something bigger. One of the best ways to do that is to have a team of dedicated customer support representatives.Every Ecommerce brand needs a customer support team, so you’re going to need someone who can help you find people to fill those seats. Having us as your business partner means you have our full dedication to finding the best talent available.You focus on developing and growing your Ecommerce business while we take care of your customer service and HR needs here. Find out more about the customer support talent that you can outsource through us and click the button below.Help me build my customer support team
In Psychology, consistent branding can be considered as a form of psychological priming. Priming is the act of presenting a prompt or stimulus — like an image or a word — to someone to influence how they will respond or react to the succeeding stimulus.In business, it’s one way to establish a consumer’s expectations about a website, product, service, etc. To build familiarity with your Ecommerce business, you have to introduce your brand over and over again with the same language and imaging.When a brand has inconsistencies across its channels — website, social, mobile app, et cetera — it’s a clear indicator that it doesn’t know what to convey to its audience and who its audience is.Inconsistencies will confuse your target audience about what your company, product, or service does.However, it’s common for Ecommerce businesses to encounter inconsistencies because marketing and sales channels grow with new technology, as well as techniques and strategies.These new features or updates can force you to rebrand, especially if you want to adapt to what your target market wants.
Rebranding for changing audiences is more often influenced by either the company outgrowing its target audience or the target audience outgrowing the company.When you outgrow your target audience, it could be because of your brand expanding and adding new products or services that don’t fit your current demographic. Another reason could be your brand being typecast even after attempts of marketing your expansion.Rebranding can help you target a broader audience and continue to grow your brand.Meanwhile, rebranding may also be needed if your old target audience has outgrown your brand. Some business owners will be uncomfortable with this. Unfortunately, many companies have died because of their unwillingness to grow with their audience.What you may be doing for the past ten years may not work today. Your target consumers in that time have grown — and will continue to grow older — and a new generation will replace them.For your brand to survive, you have to continuously create new strategies to progress and catch up with your consumers.
Growing out of your goals when you first started business piggybacks on the rebrand reason for changing the audience.Just like how Dunkin’ Donuts rebranded their company into just Dunkin’ last January 2019. After almost 70 years, the company decided to drop the “Donuts” to follow a new goal, which is to serve coffee and to “modernize the Dunkin’ experience” for its customers.Dunkin’ invested millions of dollars in the rebrand, which included a new logo, packaging, advertising, website, and social channels. Of course, for their customers to feel the rebrand, they also remodeled their stores, starting from the US to all their branches in the world.Rebranding is also about how much you are willing to risk to achieve new and better goals to grow your business.
As simple as refreshing seems when compared to rebranding, don’t underestimate how a simple brand refresh can influence how your customers view your business. Sometimes, something as necessary as a change of logo can make or break your company’s reputation.So, to make sure you go for the “make” rather than the “break,” here are some pointers about only needing a brand refresh.
As new technologies arise, new and updated marketing channels have appeared to improve how you target customers and — of course — make a profit.While your Ecommerce company may not encounter the same struggle as older, traditional businesses, you still need to brand refresh if you’re using earlier digital channels.Here are some questions you should consider.
Essential to brand refresh is to keep your Ecommerce channels updated is to remain informed about the latest marketing trends. If you see something that you can use and will help you reach your goals, don’t hesitate to incorporate it into your strategy.Although, adding a new channel to your business doesn’t mean you have to rebrand. If you can still use a similar voice, messaging, and design on your website into an app, then all you need is a simple brand refresh.
On average, an Ecommerce website (or app) must be redesigned every 2 to 4 years or so. This could vary depending on the performance of your traffic and conversions. If your website is doing well, you might not need to brand refresh and make a full redesign.On the other hand, a site not reaching business goals might have to be redesigned again after a year or less.Other parts of your business may also need to be redesigned, but probably not as often as your website and app do. Brand logos are usually updated every five years. Meanwhile, new and modern email template designs have been popping up and driving conversions.Word of caution, though, don’t change or update your designs just because you’re tired of it — aka, brand fatigue.If it’s still performing well, then you probably don’t have to invest too much time worrying about a redesign.Hence, every change in your design must have enough data to prove that you need a brand refresh. Otherwise, you’re only wasting time, effort, and money.
Your messaging must continuously speak in the same voice and follow your goals, regardless of the medium used.Keep in mind that the whole point of your brand refresh in messaging is to make your customers understand what you want to tell them and why they should do it.Many problems can arise from messaging issues if not addressed immediately. Worst comes to worst; this may deter your customers from purchasing or going back to your Ecommerce store.Luckily, messaging issues can easily be set right after a brand refresh. The best place to start is to conduct a content audit, which will allow you to see all of your content as a whole.Moreover, auditing can help you develop more content strategies and target specific types of consumers based on the marketing channel and buyer’s journey they are in.As for your website, don’t write your content alone.There is a whole surplus of experienced talent out there that you can hire to write compelling content for you. However, the entire hiring process can be a drag if you have other priorities to accomplish, which is why we want to help you.One of the job roles we can help hire and house for you is an Ecommerce content writer. We can help you find and build your content team, giving you the ease of having an offshore department.That way, you can cut expenses that would’ve been spent on utilities, office space, or technology if you expanded locally.Help me find content writers
Sometimes, some of your products or services no longer reflect what your company believes in. Other times, they don’t fit well in your strategy anymore because they perform poorly. This could be because of misaligned products or services.Product alignment lets you place existing and prospective consumers into segments to know what product they want, and how they’ll react to the product. When products or services are misaligned, your products target the wrong customers, which may lead to poor sales performance and unreached goals.Conducting a brand refresh can help you realign your products.Though the strategy of brand refresh depends from one brand to another, it could include surveys, purchase behavior data, customer service evaluations, and more.Using data, you can see which products need to be updated or removed and what products you are missing.Growing Ecommerce businesses struggle to brand refresh and make these changes because of attachments to the initial idea. Still, you must monitor, evaluate, and adjust so that you can sell your products better and ensure that they cater to what your customers need.
Two things: (1) The audience that you want to target initially didn’t respond well to your brand, and (2) you want new customers from a different or more specific demographic.Either way, a brand refresh can help you achieve both of these goals.A brand refresh due to retargeting will affect your brand positioning, which will involve:
The key to retargeting is to know why you want to sell your product or service in the first place. After that, you have to allow the people to feel something when they see your purpose, as this will affect how they interact with your business.This is crucial for Ecommerce businesses because of competitors and you only have the content of your channels to do the selling.If your brand fails to speak what you want to convey, then you’re going to have a tough time selling your brand. In this case, a brand refresh can be beneficial for your business.
Now that you know when to rebrand or brand refresh your business, we’ll help you conduct them effectively so that you don’t throw away precious time. Let’s begin with running an effective rebrand.
To know where to start rebranding, you have to reevaluate the current state of your business. The best way to do this is to gather the data you already have.You can start by conducting a competitive (or competitor) analysis.Although, most likely, you’ve already conducted a competitive analysis before. However, if it’s been more than a couple of years since you did, you need to perform another analysis because your competitors change.Still, you can use that old data to see what you and your competitors changed, and if you can incorporate those into your business.After that, analyze the current behavior of your consumers and target market. This includes data on how your past marketing and sales campaigns performed.The data will give you an idea of what part of your business needs change.The last thing you need to reanalyze is your business’ goals and mission. Are they still what your business is trying to achieve? Does your Ecommerce business still reflect what you stand for? Do you want to focus on other, broader, or specific parts of your business?
You can never accomplish a rebrand by yourself, which means you have to be receptive to each other’s feedback and ideas. After all, any successful rebrand always has a dedicated team working behind the scenes.Every member of your team must be informed about at least the summary of the data you have gathered. This will save you time and effort, as everyone will more likely pitch ideas relevant to the goal of the rebrand.During brainstorming, everything must be adequately documented so that you don’t lose ideas that could be your ticket to a successful Ecommerce business.After the brainstorming, you must go back to Step 1 and conduct a financial analysis. This will give you an expectation about the costs, and if the rebrand fits the budget.
Executing the concepts or strategies that you have brainstormed about is where most of the action happens. This may or may not involve a redesign of the logo or website, revamping your content, introducing new products or services, and much more.Another thing that you can incorporate in the execution process — although not entirely necessary — is testing out the changes.Through testing, you can have a clearer picture of how your target demographic will react to the changes before you market your rebranding.
Your customers need to know that your business is undergoing a rebranding process. Think of it as reintroducing yourself to someone you already know, but you have a different face.If you have a brick-and-mortar store, you can put up signs about your rebranding. For Ecommerce channels, notify them by publishing press releases, sending out emails, or adding a banner on your website or app.Now, at this point in your rebranding process, you may still be conducting the execution process. This will give you time to think about how you will market your rebrand.Gather all the marketing tools that you will need to communicate your message. Moreover, make sure that all those tools follow your new brand strategy through KPIs.After marketing your rebrand, gather all the data of your KPIs and see how your target customers responded. If the data tells you that you still have areas that need much improvement, do it before you relaunch.
After your first day of relaunching, you must collect all the necessary data about the performance of your rebrand. Again, you must be aware of all your KPIs to determine whether your efforts were successful or not.Conduct in-depth financial, sales, and marketing analysis. If your rebrand results in a failure, find out what you missed and which part of the rebrand didn’t convert well and change it accordingly.
A brand refresh doesn’t involve drastic changes and in-depth procedures. All you need to do is make small but necessary changes to improve your brand or product’s performance. Here are the steps you need to follow when you brand refresh.
Similar to rebranding, you have to research to ensure your brand refresh will be worth it.You can start by listing down the things that you want to change in your brand with more specific buyer personas in mind.Why are you conducting a brand refresh in the first place?You can collaborate with your teams to give you valuable information about your actual buyer personas.If you want more initial data, you can also start by performing a competitive analysis, which will also include an honest examination of your business. Compare your strengths and weaknesses and take note of the things you can incorporate into your business.Next, look for the latest trends that you can use to tackle your reasons for a brand refresh. Incorporate what you’ve gathered in your research into a strategy or action plan.
Second step to brand refresh is to apply the necessary updates. Apply the updates based on the information you’ve gathered and the strategy you’ve formulated. More often than not, these updates will involve changes in either or both visual identity and messaging.Since you’re an Ecommerce company, most changes in visual identity will involve your logo, website, app, or email templates. Be careful about making drastic changes in your brand refresh because if there’s anything more noticeable than your messaging, it’s your visuals.Meanwhile, changes in your message may be a simple content update on your homepage or something more complex, like switching to a different tone-of-voice or perspective. Regardless, keep in mind that your messaging must be truthful to your business’ identity.At the same time, a brand refresh on your messaging can also help support your visual updates. Your customers will appreciate a good explanation of the essence of the brand refresh.
The final and most tedious part of a brand refresh is the analysis and optimizing stage. Not only does it require you to be patient in waiting for results, but you also need to be receptive to how your customers respond to the refresh.The best way to analyze and optimize your brand refresh is to conduct A/B testing. This will give you information about the effectiveness of any change that you apply to your brand.Now, after analyzing the results of your brand refresh, you have to optimize if there are still parts of your refresh that need to be improved. Additionally, document the results just in case you need to conduct another refreshing in the future.
Ecommerce businesses stand on the foundation of data-based decisions, including brand refreshing and rebranding.Without your data, you risk sitting in the shadows of your competitors as you’ll only be copying what they are doing.Therefore, to stand out, you have to know how to receive, respond to, and integrate whatever form of feedback you receive into your Ecommerce strategies.If you need help with your rebranding or brand refresh, put your trust on Ecommerce service providers like KDCI!
Increasing the efficiency of businesses has never been as easy as it is today, thanks to offshoring. It paved the way for companies to develop strategies that can quickly expand their capabilities and ultimately boost their profit.
Your business is unique in its own way. What may work for big companies may not be the right decision for you. So, if you’re looking to benefit from offshore staffing, here are the things that you can expect and how you can incorporate them into your business.
A common promise of offshore staffing is cost-effectiveness. It’s a force multiplier, and you gain a competitive advantage because you can funnel money elsewhere and growing other aspects of your business.
You also have the option to DIY or hire an outsourcing company with offshore staffing services. There is, however, a risk to DIY-ing that it’s challenging to search for good people, or you may employ substandard talent.
On the other hand, building a team through an outsourcing company makes it more than just for cost-cutting. It brings value to your investment through highly capable and experienced talent who are focused on growing your business. Moreover, you get to save up to 60% of costs like:
Therefore, to actually achieve value for money, find an outsourcing partner that fits you and see how you can capitalize on what they can offer. If you own an Ecommerce business, then it would make sense to partner with an Ecommerce outsourcing company.
Untimely events like natural disasters, power outages, security breaches, or pandemics can affect business operations. Therefore, having a robust business continuity plan ensures that your company can still survive when untimely events occur.
Offshore staffing is one of the best strategies for business continuity because you have an unaffected team overseas to help you.
To use offshore staffing for business continuity, you need two things:
Through these, you can rest assured that your business can and will survive whatever untimely challenges your company may face.
If you’re struggling to support your online business amid the COVID-19 pandemic, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re more than happy to help you get through this pandemic through our outsourcing solutions.
Outsource staffing to a country with a different timezone gives you the advantage of running your business 24/7. Additionally, having an outsourcing partner to help you manage your offshore team means you can sleep well at night knowing that your company is running smoothly.
Businesses in the US can benefit from this timezone advantage by outsourcing to countries like the Philippines, Australia, China, and other countries at least 12 hours ahead.
Some of the most common tasks online businesses can outsource are:
If you don’t like the idea of 24/7 business operations, many outsourcing companies are willing to work at your hours and provide fast turnaround times.
You won’t have to worry about getting your products or services months down the line. By working with an experienced offshore team, you can get access to the same quality of service and skilled professionals as you would in a local market.
Many of the outsourced professionals can utilize industry-leading technology to collaborate and provide timely digital deliveries that will improve the capabilities of your company.
The benefits of expanding your operation capabilities and speedy turnaround times through offshore staffing comes with improving in-house efficiency. Since you can outsource your minor — but critical — tasks, you can develop your internal workforce further.
For example, if you’re just starting to build an online store counterpart for your brick-and-mortar business, that would require a lot of product data entry, product description writing, and more.
These tasks, although seemingly effortless, takes quite a while to accomplish. If you delegate these tasks to your internal employees, it can slow down your overall progress and delay your launch date.
With offshore staffing, your staff gets extra support from overseas. You can then delegate higher-value tasks to your internal team, or even move them up into leadership roles.
Expanding departments is one of the most evident signs that your business is growing.
As your business grows, the offshore model helps you respond quickly to increasing demand and workload. Because it enables you to expand your team headcount and infrastructure rapidly, and without significant up-front investments, like capital expenditures, taxes, and other operational costs.
Offshore staffing can help you expand without overcrowding your current office space and without overspending. Moreover, hiring an outsourcing company means you have someone to take care of your employees, including housing, HR management, taxes, and more.
Contact an Outsourcing Company
Working with an outsourcing company will give your business the option to have an account manager who will manage your team for you. As a company, this means you just need to report what type of skilled employees you need and the services you need.
An outsourcing company will most likely have a team of experts for whatever task you need, making sure that they fit your requirements and that they can deliver on time. This can free up management resources to add to your level of production at home.
Offshore staffing comes with many benefits for the growth of your company. However, doing it the right way by partnering with an experienced outsourcing company with an excellent track record will help you achieve more. Start building your offshore team and contact KDCI today!
Published: June 9, 2015
Updated: March 24, 2022
Since the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous businesses have been struggling to maintain production and come up with their business continuity plan. While lockdowns and quarantines are necessary, you may be worried about the health and livelihood of your employees and your family.
Unlike brick-and-mortar stores, online businesses have a chance to continue operating amidst the pandemic with the help of a business continuity plan. As people are advised to stay at home, this has caused a surge in online shopping, as people took to going online for their needs instead of going out. Even Amazon saw this opportunity and had to hire 100,000 new employees, both part-time and full, just to keep up with the surge of online purchases. Here’s how you can do the same.
First step in your continuity plan is the assessment of your business situation. Gather your team — preferably online — check on them and make sure everyone is alright and well. If anyone is showing symptoms, urge them to self-isolate and follow safety measures, especially if they’ve been exposed to an infected person. After being a good leader, it’s time for business. Evaluate the current status of every part of your business. Determine the financial, operational, and physical standing of your company. Check your inventory, confirm that your supply chain is intact (i.e. with manufacturers, etc), coordinate with your shipping carriers to see the status of their operations. Make preparations to ensure that critical business operations are still being met. You should be prepared to make adjustments such as finding alternative suppliers and manufacturers, and other distribution channels as part of your business continuity plan.
In the midst of a crisis, you have to be keen on where your finances go so you have to determine your recovery priorities. Incorporating your finance management in your business continuity plan will help you minimize further losses and find how you will recover whatever you have already lost. Most experts predict that the economy will rebound later in the year, while others say that the market will bottom out long after the peak of the pandemic. Regardless, it’s important to have a plan of attack on how to keep your business afloat. If things come to a head and you’re considering wage cuts and staff layoffs but can’t afford to lose those positions, you can consider outsourcing to other countries for a cheaper option.
As the pandemic progresses, some of your teams may already be paralyzed or you might have to build another team for other areas of recovery. However, you may not currently have the capacity to expand or hire new people locally, so the best way to tackle this is through outsourcing, where you can take advantage of up to 60% savings on labor costs. As part of your business continuity plan, start determining the tasks that you need to outsource. Most likely, you may need more help with customer service emails, chat support, or social media, but you can also outsource tons of work, including:
Now that you’ve determined the tasks that you want to outsource, you need someone to do it to complete and make your business continuity plan materialize. The best, safest, and easiest way to outsource this is through an outsourcing company. Through them, you can guarantee security and quality of work, as they already have experience and an established structure to handle clients such as yourself. Before choosing an outsourcing company, research their expertise. It’s best to partner with an Ecommerce specialist, as they’re most likely to have all the services you need. Maximizing their services is less of a hassle since you only have to communicate with one company. Contact an Outsourcing Company Today
Before you sign a contract with an outsourcing company, communicate every detail of the work that needs to be done. Schedule a meeting and talk about the offshore team, the project, the quality of work, timelines, and deadlines. This is a crucial stage in your business continuity plan because your outsourcing partner needs to know your expectations. Sometimes, this is also where misunderstandings can arise, so you have to be clear with your terms and conditions. Outsourcing companies like ours will provide you with flexible terms and customized solutions. We want to know your goals and objectives, and with that, we recommend actions on how we’ll get you there. Before you read through the proceeding steps, you can contact us right now for inquiries and we’ll get to you as soon as possible.
Once you’ve settled with all the tasks you can outsource and already have someone to fulfill them, you can easily focus your business continuity plan on on-the-ground procedures like your order fulfillment process. Here are the points you need to review:
If you have a third-party shipping partner or fulfillment warehouse to assist you, it’s best if you communicate with them to know their strategies regarding the pandemic.
You can skip this step in your business continuity plan if you have a shipping partner since they will have separate terms or strategies for shipping. However, if you have a warehouse and a delivery team, you have to arrange safety measures for them in your business continuity plan, such as social distancing and enhanced cleaning and sanitation. Find ways on how to keep your employees safe; you can’t afford the coronavirus to spread in your company as you might be forced to stop operations entirely.
While executing your business continuity plan, schedule web conferences with your teams — both internal and outsourced — for updates or further strategies. Having scheduled web conferences is a good way to manage your teams if you have them working remotely. Moreover, it helps boost remote employee morale as conferences make them feel they’re part of the team.
There wouldn’t be a business to continue if your customers don’t know you’re still running. Therefore, you have to inform them that you’re still active and ready to serve them. In your business continuity plan, you can choose to write an article or press release that talks about your business continuity strategies or adjustments that will occur in light of the pandemic. Additionally, you can also create a social post or a simple banner in your mobile store app for a brief announcement. Here’s how we did ours: KDCI’s Full Production Gameplan Amidst COVID-19
Finally, to streamline your business continuity plan efforts as you move forward, you will need to set up progress reports, especially since almost everyone is working remotely. You can choose to have weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly reports, depending on the team and what you need from them. More often, our Ecommerce clients opt for weekly progress reports, since a lot of them outsource their data processing and management to us.
Through business continuity plan and management, your online store can survive this pandemic. As long as you put your priorities in line and have a good team to back you up, everything should run smoothly. If you’re looking for an outsourcing partner to help you build an effective business continuity plan, don’t hesitate to contact us! We’d be more than happy to help you keep your online store running during and after COVID-19.
Today, the business world is offshoring to outsourcing companies like never before, no matter how big or small the business.Statistics show that 52% of small businesses plan to outsource for increased business efficiency and skills. However, only 37% do so. Little did some businesses know, those who capitalize on outsourcing solutions are more capable of scaling up operations, access talent that can be difficult to hire locally, expand the capabilities of their business.It’s understandable, however, that some are anxious because of the time difference. At the same time, some don’t know how to choose the best outsourcing company that fits their business. So, we’re here to help with that.
While many companies are focused on where to outsource and what companies would best serve their needs, it’s vital to consider some factors when selecting an outsourcing company.Here are some of the top factors that go far beyond financial concerns when selecting the right outsourcing partner:
One of the main goals of hiring an outsourcing company is to reduce the work you already have on-site while you focus on other business matters. So, you have to ensure they are capable of producing quality work with minimal revisions.It’s easy to see how an outsourcing company performs because they’re most likely to have a website. There, you can browse through their About Us page, and previous work or testimonials.
An essential part of a partnership with a business entity is trust — especially when you’re limited by the screen of your computer or phone. Hence, don’t hesitate to ask about everything you want to know about their company to see if they’re a good fit.Most of our first-time-business-owner clients worry about trusting outsourced work and for an understandable reason. This is why we always take the extra mile in proving them that we’re a trustworthy, experienced outsourcing company through detailed case studies.Check out our case studies
An essential part of a partnership with a business entity is trust — especially when you’re limited by the screen of your computer or phone. Hence, don’t hesitate to ask about everything you want to know about their company to see if they’re a good fit.Most of our first-time-business-owner clients worry about trusting outsourced work and for an understandable reason. This is why we always take the extra mile in proving them that we’re a trustworthy, experienced outsourcing company through detailed case studies.
The attrition rate determines the strength or weakness of a country to satisfy outsourced work based on workforce and skill. A high attrition rate can mean a country has a saturated workforce for a single skill (commonly IT) or problems with pay and government support.In the Philippines, the attrition rate is low because Filipinos are capable of handling various jobs. An online business, for example, can outsource digital marketing, graphic design, accounting, customer service, and human resource management.Another thing that affects attrition is company culture.Poor company culture leads to more cost in the long run, as employees are more likely to leave the company. Losses in having to train replacements, and then you lose out on their productivity during the ramp-up period as it usually takes a few weeks before new employees reach full productivity levels.Therefore, it’s better overall to retain employees, and that’s usually done through good company culture, skills training, fair compensation, and more.
While you have the choice to still be in charge of managing your offshore team, you can outsource this responsibility as well. Don’t hesitate to ask details about who will be responsible for leading your outsourced team.Aside from being an outsourcing company, KDCI also specializes in offshore staffing. We can handle the talent search, shortlisting, and other HR work, while you have the final say at who gets hired for what job role. With 20 years of experience, you can trust our standards in looking for great people for your business.
While you may be able to cut costs through an outsourcing company easily, the best partnerships are the ones that give you the most value for your money. One of the critical factors you have to consider to ensure profit is taking advantage of time zones.It’s a good idea to choose an outsourcing company that has a location in a time zone that will match well with your company, or someone who will adjust to your time zone. Doing so will help your business to have more operational flexibility. It will allow you to service a broader client base.Outsourcing companies like KDCI always accommodate clients in terms of time zones. We go out of our way to communicate with you in real-time. Plus, you also have the flexibility to have your teamwork in your time zone since we operate 24/7.
There are some areas of the world where the process of outsourcing can be more challenging. Logically, you would want an outsourcing partner in a country where the government provides adequate support for the industry.The Philippines, for instance, provides incentives and benefits to companies that outsource to the country as well as to employees. However, there is some nitty-gritty like taxes, lease, payroll, and more. Hiring through an outsourcing company lets you work through all legalities seamlessly.
An outsourcing company’s access to talent determines how big they are as a business. It’s better to put your trust in a more prominent, experienced outsourcing company so you can rest assured you’re putting your money in the right place.Outsourcing to the Philippines is a great way to have access to the right talent. In 2019, based on a report by the United Nations, the Philippines has a 97.95% literacy rate, having the highest in Southeast Asian countries.This isn’t surprising as they churn out around 680,000 graduates a year, ready to be hired for just about anything. Moreover, you can be sure that members of your offshore team are trained and certified to produce the products or services you need. You can also be sure that these products or services comply with your standards.
Because you’re going to rely on a lot of online communication and technology to keep your businesses connected, it’s essential that you find a partner that has excellent access to technology. Ensure that there is a reliable system in place for transferring files and communicating.In terms of infrastructure, an outsourcing company should ideally have an office for offshore operations. This is a good sign that they are professional, and your offshore team will be in a healthy working environment.Quick note: before signing with an outsourcing company, make sure they have contingency plans or business continuity plans. This ensures that they will be prepared in case of power outages, internet issues, data breach, and other scenarios that can interfere with work.Contact us
Speaking of communication, language is also essential in any offshore team. Make sure that your outsourcing partner has people that you can talk to and actually communicate with.Effective communication plays a big part in maintaining efficiency and ensures that the time and money you spent are appropriately utilized. Luckily, the Philippines is considered to be one of the best English speaking countries in Asia.
We understand that outsourcing or building an offshore team can be a huge leap for you and your company. With our experience in the industry, you can guarantee that we’ll give you the best value for your money. We’re more than happy to answer any questions or inquiries you may have, so don’t hesitate to contact us!Published: May 28, 2015Updated: March 17, 2020
A quick research of good offshore staffing countries will lead you to several articles pointing to the Philippines — one of the top BPO providers in the world. The country has long been established as a key player in the outsourcing industry, along with India, Brazil, and Eastern Europe.However, as with all things, there are benefits and drawbacks to outsourcing to the Philippines, and we made a quick list to help you think it over.
First advantage of outsourcing to the Philippines is the country' English proficiency. One of the major concerns of some companies when it comes to offshoring is the language barrier. Luckily, unlike outsourcing to countries like Ukraine, China, or Thailand, you will hardly ever experience this with Filipinos.According to EF English Proficiency Index, the Philippines ranks 20th out of 100 countries/regions and 2nd in Asia. So, if you are planning on outsourcing to the Philippines, it won’t be difficult at all to work and collaborate seamlessly. You’ll have strong communicators who you can understand, have discussions with, and resolve issues with a lot easier than accents and other things language barriers may present.
Another benefit of outsourcing to the Philippines is that the country has a good understanding of Western culture. The US colonized the country for 48 years, from 1898 to 1946, before the US recognized the independence of the Philippines. After that, some Americans chose to stay in the Philippines, while the country itself held strong ties with the US, which greatly influenced the culture of the Filipinos.This led to Filipinos adopting Western culture, including food, language, education, and religious freedom.
A diverse pool of talents is the third advantage of outsourcing to the Philippines. Philippine universities churn out thousands of highly capable workers yearly, leading to a large and diverse talent pool. They produce over 700 thousand graduates, most of which are qualified and capable of handling work for you.In terms of technological competency, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Philippines currently has over 37 million Filipino millennials, with a median age of 25.7 years old. A demographic familiar with technology and is capable of understanding it to improve businesses.
Depending on which state you live in, the US has a higher cost of living — housing, utilities, healthcare, food, and taxes — compared to the Philippines.According to Statista, the average US citizen would need between 58K to 99K USD per year, while the average Filipino citizen can live comfortably with between 9.6K to 14.5K USD per year. Therefore, statistically, you will always have to pay more for local talent compared to outsourced talent.The reason behind this difference is the currency movement and current economic gains of PHP being weak compared to USD. At the time of writing (March 3, 2020), the exchange rate of PHP to USD is 50.79 PHP to 1 USD, making employment costs lower than in first world countries. For this reason, outsourcing to the Philippines is one of the top choice that businesses consider.Read more about how much it costs to outsource to the Philippines.
Fifth advantage of outsourcing to the Philippines is the country's security, flexibility, and scalability. While you can technically DIY an offshore team, the most secure way in outsourcing to the Philippines is still through a company like us. We work as your business partner, and hence we are flexible in terms of developing effective, customized provisions that work for you. We’ll talk about your business, your goals and objectives and recommend the best course of action.On top of that, outsourcing allows you to scale your team without additional infrastructure costs. You have the freedom to expand your team, depending on what kind work and workload your business needs at the moment.
The Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) has been working towards providing training programs to train BPO workers since 2013.eLearning solutions like the Learning English Application for Pinoys help senior high school students and college students prepare to meet the BPO demands after graduation.Moreover, the IBPAP, an organization solely dedicated to improving the IT-BPM industry in the Philippines focuses on innovation and getting government support for enabling the IT-BPM industry in the Philippines.IBPAP works to continuously further and maintain global competitiveness by getting the country to provide higher-value services. This allows Filipinos to remain efficient even with AI and automation.One of the objectives of multiple government initiatives is to elevate the proficiency of Filipino laborers, enabling companies outsourcing to the Philippines to flourish and expand.
The family-centered culture of the Filipinos complements their hardworking attitude. They have an innate want to support their families and to give them a more comfortable life, which ultimately becomes their reason to work harder. They have a lot more riding in the fact that they are employed and are supported by their employerHowever, as a new generation of Millennials and Gen Z’s enter the Filipino workforce, the value for work-life balance also becomes essential. Hence, you might have to coax them into working overtime or working during weekends if you really need them to.Businesses are not only getting the best out of outsourcing to the Philippines but they are also able to provide opportunities to millions of Filipinos.
By outsourcing to the Philippines, you can reduce the number of management tasks you need to handle, which can enable you to concentrate on your core responsibilities more effectively. Choosing to partner with outsourcing agencies like KDCI means you have an offshore Human Resource and management team who will help manage your team. We take care of handling employee attendance, tax headaches, leave reporting, and many more.Additionally, while you have full control over your team, you can also choose to have us hire a project lead for training and team management. All you have to do now is check on them from time to time, or read reports while you focus on other aspects of your business.
On the other hand, one of the disadvantages of outsourcing to the Philippines is its changing weather conditions. The Philippines is a tropical archipelago resting just in the West side of the Pacific Ocean. They experience an average of 20 storms that can cause power interruptions and cancelation of work and school in flood-prone areas within a typhoon’s path.Moreover, being within the Pacific Ring of Fire means they experience earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. On average, they feel about 100 earthquakes per year and, while they have 53 active volcanoes, they rarely experience eruptions.Fortunately, Filipinos are more than capable of handling remote work. Some outsourcing companies like KDCI also give the option to work from home. This is how we maintain business continuity in case of natural disasters.
Compared to the US (11 official holidays), the Philippines has a total of 18 official non-working government and religious holidays. Thus, businesses planning on outsourcing to the Philippines may also want to consider this factor.With the Philippine population being predominantly Christian, a lot of culturally important holidays are officially deemed as holidays by the government.However, employers are allowed to ask their employees to come to work. Hence, we rest this in our client’s discretion, as Philippine labor laws mandate that employees get paid more when they work during legal holidays.
Businesses that are planning on outsourcing to the Philippines should take note of the country's labor code. An employer cannot fire an employee at will in the Philippines. A justifiable cause and proper documentation are required to terminate any Philippine employee.Termination of any employee also requires that the company provide the allocated severance pay. However, labor codes that favor employees do lead to significantly lower turnover rates.
The Philippine labor code requires organizations in the Philippines to pay employees an additional 13th month and 14th month pay annually.This incremental month of payment is paid in December as a mandatory bonus to employees and is done to show concern for the plight of the Filipino working masses.
Every country and race have stereotypes, and the Filipinos are no exemption. Some foreign companies who planned on outsourcing to the Philippines and tried to DIY their offshore teams have had poor experiences with hiring Filipino talent.Because of the DIY-ing, they were more prone to hiring a less capable demographic, which led to generalizations that Filipinos are lazy or incompetent. Hence, to avoid this experience, put your trust on outsourcing agencies so that you hire quality talent and have proper HR to take care of them.
Bad traits aren’t exclusive to any country. However, with KDCI, our teams actively work towards turning our weaknesses into strengths and uphold the pros that are intrinsic in our work ethic.This breeds a culture of reliability and professionalism with our partners who trust to provide expertise in Offshore Staffing, Creative Process, and Ecommerce Services. Our clients who took the leap to work with us now have their operations up by efficient and custom KDCI teams who take their businesses further.Contact us today to learn how you too can take your business further.
Logos play an essential role in building a brand, especially for start-ups. Having a strong, striking logo and branding are integral in setting the stage for their entrance in today’s highly-saturated and competitive market.Coming up with a great logo and branding is not an easy task, however. It takes a combination of good eye for design and a great skillset to be able to execute it well.Today, we will share the creative design process that went into creating a logo and branding design for Haystak, an up-and-coming next generation index and search tool.The lead designer assigned to this case was Daniel Gutierrez, our Art Director, together with our 2 Senior Designers Bryan & Ryan.
Create the logo and branding style for the next evolution of index and search tool.
At the start of the creative process, we asked the client to provide us with a brief that we could use to start the logo and branding design for them. They provided us with their tagline, which was “Helping you find your needles”. They also provided us with the core concept of a magnifying glass with a needle in focus against a clump of hay in the background.Playing off those main concepts, we were able to brainstorm and come up with a couple of fresh and modern design ideas that would fit the direction that the client wanted to pursue in terms of branding.
We started off with the most obvious interpretation: a magnifying glass and a needle. However, instead of having the needle at the center, as in the initial brief, we chose to transform it into a handle. While it was simple in terms of execution, it was effective, and it produced a modern and sleek interpretation of the needle-and-haystack concept.
We approached the second concept with the intention of giving the idea of “hay” a more modern and unique feel. We thus came up with hay symbolized as a dotted spiral, with the needle at the center of it. This more abstract interpretation of hay was meant to reflect the concept of an endless void, and how data could be represented in that way as well.The general concept was also to stylize the needle as an arrow hitting a bullseye. This was meant to symbolize precision, a key characteristic of Haystak as a search and indexing tool for data.
In the third exploration of the logo and branding concept, we aimed for something clear and uncomplicated. During this time, the brand name evolved from Haystack to haystak - a sleeker and more memorable form perfect for branding. It was from these ideas that the concept of the needle merged with a single strand of hay was born.Combining the two concepts hit the mark, creating a simple yet unique logo that was very modern and sleek at the same time. More importantly, it was the version that the client enjoyed, and which they ultimately decided to go with for their branding initiative.
Creating a logo and branding design may not be an easy task, but it is one well worth investing in. With the right logo and the right branding, a brand can hit the ground running, armed with some of the best tools it can use to break into the marketplace effectively and successfully.This is exactly why it is crucial that in building your logo and branding strategy, you have the right team to do the right kind of work for you.KDCI is a Creative design outsourcing company in the Philippines and we specialize in building teams of professional logo and branding designers who do exceptional work for some of the best companies around the world.With our team of expert designers on board, you are always guaranteed top-notch, professional logo and branding design services every time.To learn more about what KDCI has to offer, contact us today
KDCI Outsourcing participated in the 11th International Innovation Summit (IIS) last November 12 at the Marriott Grand Ballroom. The one-day event was hosted by the IT and Business Process Association for the Philippines (IBPAP), the premier association for the IT-BPM industry in the Philippines. This year’s theme is “Next PHase: Leading the Charge, Withstanding Headwinds, Driving the Future of IT-BPM Today”.
IIS 2019 aims to address issues regarding the Philippines’ competitiveness in the global marketplace as one of the top investment destinations in the fields of animation, contact centers, game development, shared services, healthcare information management, and software development. The summit focused on policy building, technological innovations, and skills development for human capital as the three main driving forces that are essential to future-proofing the industry and achieving maximum growth and productivity.
IIS 2019 brought together various industry leaders and entrepreneurs to speak about the Asian economic landscape, keeping up with digital transformations, and the importance of lifelong learning for the Filipino workforce. The event was attended by key stakeholders from the government, the academe, allied services, and business organizations within the industry -- fostering cooperation between the sectors towards a common goal. The day ended with a gala night where the participants had the chance to build mutually beneficial relationships and create new opportunities for collaboration.
KDCI Outsourcing firmly believes in the direction that IBPAP is steering the Philippine IT-BPM industry. We are fully aligned with their initiatives to continue the exponential growth of the industry despite the challenges presented by the local and international economic landscape. Through our own efforts and the continued guidance and support from organizations like IBPAP, we remain optimistic for the future by becoming better prepared for the next phase of the industry.
What started out as a few agents, has grown into an invaluable partnership with KDCI. With more than 40 team members, we are lucky enough to count as part of our Cedar Family. Thank you so much KDCI for making our Company better!
We have found KDCI to be a consistently reliable partner, always willing to ‘go the extra mile’ to ensure our valued customers receive the best possible service.
KDCI plays a very important role in our catalog and content operations. They are responsive, kind, and always willing to help us as much as possible. We have been working together for more than 4 years, and we hope our partnership will be even more fruitful in the future.
Having collaborated with KDCI.co for our creative needs, I can confidently attest to their unparalleled expertise and dedication. Their team consistently delivered innovative solutions that not only met, but often exceeded our expectations. Their professionalism and attention to detail are commendable.
KDCI were able to grow with us with any future requirements. We have a lot to do when it comes to our business, and everytime we come back, they're right there with us and able to deliver.
KDCI's team has been instrumental in helping us not only modernize our platforms but also increase the experiences for the customer, and to deliver on the tsunami of content that came their way.
We had a lot of difficulty finding qualified talent in the United States. Honestly, I don't think we had thought about outsourcing at all as a potential option, but we were very open to it once we heard about it. We love our KDCI team. They're just like a regular part of our team, it's just that they're thousands of miles away.
It's been five years since we started working with KDCI, and it just keeps getting better and better. We've grown together and achieved a lot of shared success. Overall, they're incredibly professional yet fun to work with. We are incredibly happy to have found them.
We're so glad we partnered with KDCI to develop a unique platform that delivers personalized customer experiences without compromising functionality or security. It was an amazing experience, I won't hesitate to start another project with them again.
