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What to look for when outsourcing

• Relevant qualifications and experience.
• Recommendations from people you respect.
• Personal compatibility - do you respect them? Remember they may have to tell you things you would rather not hear. Can you take it from them? Do they irritate you?
• Location - not necessarily important any more but it is useful to meet occasionally.

Further guide

For a fuller article on the topic, How to outsource successfully, visit www.better-business.co.uk and click on the Solution Centre. You will find it under Operations. It includes pitfalls to avoid, and sample questions to ask of suppliers.