Your content platform is growing, engagement is soaring, and new opportunities are on the horizon. But as exciting as that sounds, there’s a challenge – your team is stretched thin, deadlines are piling up, and hiring in-house feels slow and expensive.

This is the reality for many digital media companies as they scale. The demand for high-quality content never stops, but expanding efficiently while keeping costs under control? That’s a balancing act.

So, how do successful media companies manage to produce more content, maintain consistency, and optimize their workflows – all without the burden of in-house hiring? The answer lies in dedicated teams.

Scaling Without the Growing Pains

Every digital media company wants to scale, but not every company can afford to build a massive in-house team overnight. Traditional hiring comes with significant costs – salaries, benefits, equipment, and training – not to mention the time it takes to find and onboard the right talent.

Dedicated teams solve this problem by offering instant access to skilled professionals who integrate seamlessly into your existing workflows. Whether you need video editors to create engaging content, a content moderation team to ensure quality and compliance, or developers to optimize platform performance, a dedicated team provides the expertise without the hassle of recruiting and managing full-time hires.

And the best part? Scaling up (or down) becomes effortless. Instead of scrambling to hire when demand spikes – or making tough cuts when things slow down – you have a flexible workforce that adjusts to your business needs. This ensures continuous growth without disruption.

Streamlining Production: More Content, Less Stress

As digital media companies expand, so do the demands on their production teams. Editorial calendars grow, video content becomes more complex, and the pressure to deliver high-quality material faster than ever keeps increasing. Keeping up isn’t easy, especially when internal teams are juggling multiple responsibilities.

Dedicated teams help ease this burden by taking on high-volume production tasks, such as video editing, content moderation, or managing social media assets. These specialized professionals focus entirely on execution, making production cycles more efficient, reducing turnaround times, and keeping content quality consistent.

With a dedicated team handling execution, your core staff can shift their focus to strategy, creativity, and audience engagement – knowing that operations are running smoothly. This removes bottlenecks, optimizes workflows, and keeps content moving seamlessly from ideation to publication.

The result? Less stress, higher output, and a production process that actually flows.

Optimizing Workflows Without the Extra Overhead

Scaling isn’t just about producing more content – it’s about doing so efficiently without sacrificing quality or stability. However, expanding an in-house team comes with significant overhead costs, from salaries and benefits to recruitment and infrastructure.

A dedicated team offers a smarter alternative – not as a short-term fix, but as a long-term extension of your business. Unlike freelancers or project-based outsourcing, dedicated teams provide stability, expertise, and seamless integration into your existing workflows. These are full-time professionals who become embedded in your daily operations, aligning with your goals and evolving alongside your business.

Here’s why this model works so well:

• Consistent expertise at scale – Your dedicated team grows with your company, ensuring continuity and a deep understanding of your processes, brand voice, and objectives.
• No hiring and training headaches – Skip the recruitment cycles and onboarding process. Your dedicated team is already trained, fully committed, and ready to contribute from day one.
• More efficient budget allocation – By reducing the administrative costs of in-house hiring, you can reinvest in content innovation, audience engagement, and strategic growth while maintaining a stable and skilled workforce.

Instead of managing a revolving door of short-term hires, companies that work with dedicated teams gain a scalable, long-term solution – one that allows them to stay agile, competitive, and focused on what truly matters.

The Secret to Staying Agile in a Fast-Moving Industry

The digital media industry is constantly evolving – trends shift overnight, audience preferences change, and new content formats emerge at a rapid pace. Staying ahead isn’t just about producing more content; it’s about having the right team in place to adapt, innovate, and execute efficiently.

Dedicated teams provide this agility by offering specialized talent that integrates seamlessly into your operations. Whether you’re expanding into new content verticals, localizing for global audiences, or experimenting with new formats, a dedicated team ensures you can move fast without compromising quality or overburdening your internal staff.

Unlike short-term outsourcing or project-based hiring, dedicated teams are built for long-term collaboration. They evolve alongside your company, gaining deep knowledge of your workflows, audience, and brand voice – allowing you to scale strategically rather than reactively.

More Than Just Outsourcing – A Smarter Way to Grow

For digital media companies, success isn’t just about keeping up with demand – it’s about staying ahead of it. That requires a stable, scalable team that can handle production needs today while preparing for the challenges of tomorrow.

By working with a dedicated team, you’re not just outsourcing tasks; you’re building a long-term partnership that strengthens your ability to grow, optimize workflows, and focus on what matters most – delivering exceptional content to your audience.

If your company is ready to scale without unnecessary overhead, operational bottlenecks, or hiring struggles, a dedicated team might be the key to unlocking sustainable, long-term growth in an industry that never slows down.

The post Why Digital Media Companies Thrive with Dedicated Teams appeared first on Cosmic Development.

In business expansion and operational efficiency, outsourcing is often embraced as a strategic method to fulfill diverse objectives, ranging from cost reduction to accessing specialized skills and improving focus on core business activities. This approach involves contracting external organizations to handle certain business functions or projects, effectively extending the enterprise’s capabilities without requiring extensive in-house resources.

However, like any significant business decision, outsourcing introduces its own challenges and potential hidden costs. These can stem from various factors such as cultural mismatches, unexpected management requirements, or quality discrepancies, which may not be apparent at the outset. Additionally, the long-term implications of relying on external entities can complicate business processes or dilute brand identity.

Businesses can mitigate these risks by thoroughly understanding these pitfalls and engaging in proactive planning. Effective strategies, such as clear contract terms, rigorous vendor selection processes, and robust communication frameworks, can help transform outsourcing from a potential risk into a substantial reward. With a well-executed outsourcing strategy, companies can achieve their immediate goals and ensure sustainable growth and competitive advantage in their industry. 

Unveiling the Hidden Costs

Outsourcing is frequently seen as a cost-effective strategy for businesses looking to streamline operations and reduce overheads. By transferring specific tasks or entire functions to external specialists, companies often anticipate significant upfront savings and operational efficiencies. 

However, this approach can sometimes introduce unforeseen expenses that, if not meticulously managed, have the potential to erode the very benefits it aims to provide. These hidden costs can emerge from various areas including quality control, communication challenges, compliance issues, and fluctuating contractual terms, which might not be immediately apparent. 

As we explore the hidden costs in more depth, it’s essential to understand their potential to impact not only the financial aspect of a business but also its operational integrity and strategic positioning in the market. Recognizing and addressing these hidden costs early can make the difference between outsourcing that enhances business capabilities and outsourcing that complicates them. 

Here’s a closer look at some of these hidden costs and how they can impact your business.

Quality Control and Revisions

While outsourcing can reduce direct labor costs, it may lead to increased expenses in quality control and revisions. If the external team doesn’t fully grasp your standards or project requirements, you might find yourself in a cycle of revisions and quality checks, increasing the total project cost and timeline.

Communication Barriers and Misalignment 

Effective communication is the backbone of successful outsourcing. However, language barriers, cultural differences, and time zone discrepancies can lead to misunderstandings, delays, and misalignment with your business objectives, contributing to hidden project management and coordination costs.

Dependence and Flexibility Issues

Outsourcing can sometimes lead to a dependency on external providers, making it challenging to adapt quickly to market changes or internal strategy shifts. This dependence can become a hidden cost if it limits flexibility and responsiveness.

Transition and Termination Costs

The costs associated with transitioning tasks to an external provider or terminating an outsourcing relationship can be significant. These include knowledge transfer, severance, and the potential need to bring operations back in-house or find another provider.

Strategic Approaches to Mitigate Hidden Costs

To fully harness the potential of outsourcing and effectively mitigate its hidden costs, it’s crucial to implement a series of well-thought-out strategies. These strategies are designed to not only address the immediate challenges but also to anticipate and prevent future issues that could arise from outsourcing partnerships. By adopting these measures, businesses can ensure that their outsourcing efforts are both productive and cost-effective, aligning with long-term goals and enhancing overall operational efficiency. 

In the following sections, we will delve into specific strategies that can help manage the risks associated with outsourcing, improve communication and workflow integration, and ultimately secure a more stable and beneficial relationship with outsourcing providers. 

Thorough Vetting and Clear Contracts

Select your outsourcing partner with care, focusing on their track record, expertise, and understanding of your industry. Clear, detailed contracts can define expectations, deliverables, timelines, and quality standards, reducing the likelihood of costly misunderstandings.

Emphasize Communication and Collaboration

Establish robust communication channels and regular check-ins to ensure alignment and address issues promptly. Investing in relationship building can improve understanding and cooperation, reducing the costs associated with misalignment and revisions.

Plan for Flexibility and Scalability

Choose outsourcing partners who can adapt to your evolving needs, allowing for scalability and flexibility. This approach can reduce the costs associated with switching providers or adjusting to market changes.

Understand the Full Cost Spectrum

Beyond direct costs, consider the indirect and long-term implications of outsourcing, including the impact on your team, brand reputation, and operational continuity. A holistic view of costs can guide better decision-making.

Cosmic Development: Leading with Transparency through Dedicated Teams

At Cosmic Development, we prioritize transparency and alignment with your business objectives, making us your ideal partner for strategic growth. We specialize in the dedicated team model, offering a more transparent and integrated approach than traditional outsourcing methods.

Dedicated Teams: A Clearer Path to Success

Our dedicated teams function as an extension of your in-house staff, providing clarity and continuity that traditional outsourcing often lacks. By working closely with your operations, these teams ensure that every aspect of the project aligns with your business goals, culture, and expectations.

Full Integration and Open Communication

With Cosmic Development’s dedicated teams, you benefit from direct communication lines and complete integration into your business processes. This setup not only enhances collaboration but also significantly reduces the risks of miscommunication and misalignment – common hidden costs in traditional outsourcing.

Commitment to Your Goals

Our commitment goes beyond providing expertise; we focus on creating a partnership that deeply understands your long-term objectives. This approach minimizes the indirect costs often associated with outsourcing by ensuring that every action our teams take is geared toward your company’s success.

Transparency in Every Step

We offer transparent pricing based on a flat monthly rate and detailed project scopes to ensure there are no surprises along the way. Our dedicated teams are committed to maintaining the highest transparency in operations and communications, making it easier for you to monitor progress and manage outcomes effectively.

Choose Cosmic Development for Dependable Outsourcing

By opting for Cosmic Development’s dedicated team model, you choose a partner committed to transparency and tailored solutions. Let us help you navigate the complexities of outsourcing with a strategy designed for success, minimizing hidden costs and maximizing alignment with your business needs.

Embark on your journey with Cosmic Development and experience an improved outsourcing model that is both transparent and effective. Contact us today to discover how our dedicated teams can drive your business forward with integrity and precision.

The post The Hidden Costs of Outsourcing & How to Avoid Them appeared first on Cosmic Development.

Pursuing an IT career is quite common nowadays, but carving out a successful IT career journey at the same company for a decade is something you don’t see every day. The Managing Director of our company, Antony Naumoff, has built his career at the same IT company and is a rare example of loyalty and dedication. He has been there from the very beginning, throughout the years, up until today, when the company is growing rapidly and has recently celebrated a ten-year jubilee.

Read and find out how it all started and the challenges and achievements along the way of the success story that Cosmic Development is today.

The original article in Macedonian is available here.

Anthony Naumoff is the Managing Director of Cosmic Development. He was born and raised in Chicago, USA, attended Kansas State University, and graduated from University American College Skopje.

His life story is extraordinary. He is one of the rare people who returned to his parents’ homeland and graduated college and started working for a local company. That company started from a small office in Skopje eleven years ago and has spread across four locations with nearly 150 employees today. One of its most loyal clients is a unicorn startup that has recently become a publicly traded company, trading on NASDAQ, and is valued at more than $2 billion. A few people from the Cosmic Development team had the honor of attending the NASDAQ bell-ringing ceremony in New York City, an experience that they will probably never forget.

Cosmic Development is a Canadian IT solutions and staff augmentation services provider with over a decade-long tenure. They provide custom-made, dedicated talent solutions to companies of all sizes. Thanks to their unique approach, they select highly-experienced developers and other professionals from different business areas and create flexible and customizable dedicated teams for clients and business partners worldwide. Their outstanding services are supported by a wide net of teams spread across different locations. They have offices in Toronto, Skopje, Bitola, and Belgrade. A company set in this way is a new deal for the IT industry.

You are in charge of one of the leading IT consulting and development companies that have put Macedonia on the global map. Tell us how it started eleven years ago and where the company is today.

Sure! We started eleven years ago as a company with only one employee, working on a trial period with only one potential client. Luckily, one of Cosmic Development’s founders, a very famous and successful businessman from Canada, is of Macedonian origin and his heart and thoughts are always with Macedonia. His respect for the country where his ancestors were born went beyond words, and he tried to help Macedonia in the best possible way. The idea for this success story and opening of this company was born when he visited Macedonia. 

After the initial trial period had proven to be more successful than we expected, we started growing slowly but steadily, and we started promoting our business to clients outside of the country and within the country in front of potential employees. 

We first opened and started growing the Skopje office. Things went well, resulting in the opening of offices in Belgrade and Bitola. The Belgrade office gave us direct access to a large talent pool from the IT field, which was a clever step in cases when we couldn’t find employees with specific skills in Macedonia. At the same time, the office in Bitola helped us grow as a company in providing BPO (business process outsourcing) services.

Today, with more than 150 employees, it is truly amazing to see the progress we’ve made. Soon we are opening a modern and state-of-the-art office in Bitola. I am really happy about that, and I can freely say that the company is experiencing stable growth and intensive development as never before. But our growth is effective and allows us to create and maintain a positive working environment which is absolutely essential for us.

For years, Cosmic Development has been on the list of the most wanted companies to work for, according to employees. How do you stay ahead of the competition in a country with many IT companies, especially considering the Balkans’ shortage of high-quality workers suitable for the global market?

There are several factors at play. Above all, we practice a relaxed and positive working environment. We strive to introduce play-and-relax zones, flexible working hours, location flexibility, and good employee benefits packages that are regularly enhanced. Additionally, our employees are free from administrative micromanagement, which is key to preventing fatigue and killing their creativity. 

We also strive for openness and transparency toward our employees. Our honest relationship is incredibly important, and we recently put a lot of attention and focus on it. Our employees are always informed about our goals, achievements, and plans. We are always realistic – we never promise what we can’t deliver, and most importantly, we are always fair and honest with the whole team, without exceptions.

We are not perfect, and no business is, but the thing that helped us achieve success is that we are always learning from our mistakes and trying to improve for our employees and clients.

Cosmic Development is oriented towards outsourcing a wide range of IT services. In your client’s testimonials, mainly from the USA and Canada, one can read their impressions about your company. They say that the relationship you establish with your clients is of relational rather than transactional character, and your services are produced through interaction between the clients and the teams.

Yes, that’s right. Our motto is: We build teams for brands! But that doesn’t mean we only hire people who will work for a particular client and will be told what to do. Our way of working is characterized by a high level of trust between the company and the clients and cooperation and mutual respect between the clients and employees. Our clients want employees that will cooperate and give ideas and improvement suggestions that can have a significant impact. They want a team that can work jointly and effectively, not just anonymous workers from some corner of the world working on the given task.

This combined effort is very serious, but it helps establish an effective collaboration where both parties are satisfied with their work. And a job that is completed successfully is crucial for clients and their businesses. 

Your growth and development allowed you to expand your services in the area of non-technical services (BPO). What types of services are most requested?

Besides IT, we also offer non-technical services or BPO. We are currently oriented towards this type of service because it provides greater flexibility than IT services. The IT part is always slower but with steadier growth because the market is very saturated and competitive. On the other hand, the BPO part allows us to grow and hire more people faster. Additionally, the current client base needs workers from this sector, which explains our continuous growth.

What is your company’s potential, and what can Macedonia do to support the IT industry? How do other countries succeed in maintaining and developing this vital branch?

Macedonia has an exceptional and competitive IT industry. Getting a developer job, whether junior or senior, is much easier than before. This results from the growing number of tech businesses and their rising demand for tech talent, and we expect it to grow in the coming years.

The pandemic has normalized remote work; now, many developers prefer remote work or freelancing. Our company has successfully adapted to the new reality, and we let our IT professionals choose their way of working.

Regarding the non-technical services we offer, I think Macedonia has unlimited potential in that area because the country has a young, talented, and educated workforce willing to work. That’s why our institutions must recognize the best companies and try to keep them. It is also essential to ensure that companies that take advantage of favorable business conditions and pay their workers low salaries, like those in India, are not supported. The BPO services are an excellent possibility for the country’s economic growth and can improve further if the workers are treated equally everywhere. 

And in terms of how other countries maintain and develop their IT sector, I wouldn’t comment because it’s not my area of expertise. However, investing in young people and their education and creating a favorable business climate for IT companies is never a mistake.  

Your job is keeping you in Macedonia. So what are your impressions, what do you like, and have you adopted any local habits? What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in this part of the world?

Over the years, things changed, and now it is not only the job that keeps me here. I got married and have a child, so my family life is in Macedonia. And although I was born in the USA, I love Macedonia and life here. Like any place in the world, there are good and bad sides. It is not perfect, but nowhere is. I love the way of life here. Macedonia has relaxed and friendly people, and they can be excellent hosts. If I could, I would spend my days in a kafana, talking with people.

Another thing I like is its natural beauty. Macedonia has many incredible mountains, lakes, historical cities, and undoubtedly the most beautiful women, as you can see by my wife! As I’ve already mentioned, the downsides are only natural, but I never focus on them; I only see the good things.

Under the right conditions, Macedonia has a vast potential to be a great place to live because it has a small territory and can quickly thrive, much easier than other countries.

What are Cosmic Development’s plans for the future, and what management strategies push companies forward? Please give us a little glimpse into the future.

Cosmic Development’s next plan is to continue growing and create a positive and stimulating work environment where our teams can develop professionally. The future is unpredictable, but we are sure that we will continue to aspire to improve, collaborate, and treat our employees in the best possible way. We will continue building a strong company culture that will drive business success.

The opening of the new office in Bitola is something that we are looking forward to and is a motivating factor for all of us. I believe that we are setting an example that will stimulate positive change in the life of this beautiful city which is a mecca for IT companies.

With this expansion, which is an investment in excellent working conditions, we will provide our employees with an exciting career journey, just like we always do, because we remain a company that is entirely committed to its people.

The post Our Mission is to Provide Our Employees With a Memorable Career Journey appeared first on Cosmic Development.

What started as a concept turned into multiplied success stories!

When Cosmic Development was founded back in 2011, it was based on the principle of helping businesses of various sizes grow. All by providing the best tech talent solutions tailored to every client’s needs and budget.

But that’s the one side of the story. The other and not that widespread story is that Cosmic Development has strived to establish itself as a modern and prosperous workplace from day one. 

After over a decade-long tenure, we are looking back on several inspirational employee stories at our company. 

From Tech Internships to Fulfilling Careers

From Intern to CTO – Vladimir Novachki

The story of Vladimir Novachki begins with his internship at Cosmic. For Vladimir, this wasn’t just an ordinary internship experience. He was excited that as an intern he had the opportunity to work on real applications, used by real people. After completing his internship, he was more than willing to take the job offer. Novachki had a chance to lead tech teams and work on various projects before landing the Chief Technology Officer position. For young developers, Novachki has simple advice: “Magic wands don’t exist in real life, when it comes to programming it’s really important to stay up-to-date with the newest technology. Make sure to fully dedicate yourself to continuous learning in this profession and the success is yours!” Novachki has practical ways of getting the right sources of information regarding the latest technology trends. He uses Practical Dev, Hacker News, Reddit, etc. His favorite technology stack is LEMP and he highly recommends it.

From Intern to Web Developer – Viktorija Velichkovska

This is the sixth year of Viktorija working at Cosmic. She started her career as an intern, had successful cooperation with her mentors there, and was more than willing to continue her journey with Cosmic. As a developer, she faced a lot of obstacles but managed to overcome them. Her main challenges were associated with the lack of a standardized development process. Velichkovska started to notice this phenomenon while working on projects with different teams. “Every individual has a specific work approach, which is great but has an impact on the complexity of the work, therefore it’s more time-consuming.” Instead of being discouraged, Velichkovska became more proactive. For the less experienced developers, she recommends building experience through open-source projects.

Over a Decade-Long Careers at Cosmic Development

Atanas Arizanov – Tech Coordiantor

Atanas Arizanov joined Cosmic eleven years ago. He remembers his humble beginnings as a software engineer, PHP developer, and later on tech coordinator. From the very beginning, Arizanov was well aware of the challenges that are an integral part of this industry. As a tech coordinator, Arizanov has many responsibilities including managing multiple projects, regular and consistent communication with internal teams, while simultaneously controlling the system and network performance. This job position is quite demanding, as Arizanov states “It’s a race with time.” Nevertheless, Arizanov knows that having an internal feeling of peace is the key to overcoming any job deadline. With a smile on his face, while drinking his favorite cup of coffee Arizanov shares some very interesting pieces of advice. “Make sure to organize your day in such a productive manner, that you’ll become faster and more efficient even when your projects and virtual meeting are overlapping.”

Emilija Nikoloska – BD Consultant

Emilija Nikoloska started to work for Cosmic back in 2011. At that period, the company had just started with only six employees. She worked with only one client, just like everyone else. Due to her hard work and determination, she became a Team Lead and then an Office Manager. She was quite successful in that field but strived for more. Later on, her proactive attitude and diligence brought her into the Business Consultant role. It proved to be the right fit for both parties. Nikoloska shares that she finds inspiration and limitless energy from motherhood.

Bookmark’s Success Stories

Bookmark is one of the loyal clients that Cosmic has had since the very beginning. Here are some interesting stories from some of the best employees there.

Atanas Krangov [CTO] and Petar Shokarovski [VP of Engineering]

Atanas Krangov started as a PHP developer for Cosmic ten years ago. Since then, he made a drastic step in his career and progressed to a Chief Technology Officer for Bookmark. Krangov says that it’s not a role without challenges but he most certainly likes to overcome them. He found his passion for programming at a very young age. He soon realized that he is good at solving problems, and when it comes to software development simplifying the problem means everything. Apart from his professional life, Krangov likes to spend his free time motorcycling and having some leisure time with his family.

Petar Shokarovski became part of the Cosmic family more than seven years ago. He started as a web developer with a previous experience of almost 12 years. This is the reason why he is regarded as one of the MVPs in the company. His professional experience gave him the opportunity to progress as a VP of Engineering for Bookmark. A job title that he holds so proudly. Shokarovski is a dynamic person he has a food blog, likes to spend some time in the wild, and enjoys biking.

If you enjoyed reading these employee success stories and want to learn more about Bookmark and its CEO – David Kosmayer, please visit this page.

These are unique experiences that turned into realities. It seems that Cosmic thrives on giving its employees chances, guiding them in their professional path, and nurturing their potential. I hope this article gave you a glimpse of a few individual success stories, yet we are proud of every single career path and milestone.

If you are eager to join us and grow with us, go ahead and check out our most recent job openings.

Our employees are our greatest asset!

The post Employee Success Stories at Cosmic Development appeared first on Cosmic Development.

What a year, right? It’s been over ten months since the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic. We lived through lockdowns; we learned how to function with social isolation; we disinfected almost anything that could be disinfected; and most important of all, we made the abrupt shift to working from home. We did all that we can to embrace the ‘new normal.’ However, leading an IT outsourcing company through one of the most challenging years in the 21 century was anything but ‘normal.’ This year brought economies worldwide to their knees. Millions of people lost their jobs. And for so many industries, the future still looks uncertain.

So, what did this mean for the successful functioning of Cosmic Development? What did we, as an IT outsourcing provider, achieve despite the new reality? What were the main things that marked 2020 for us? 

Overcoming the challenges imposed by the new reality:

Introducing work from home policy

Since we are an IT outsourcing company with an employees-first policy and offices in three countries across four different locations, we took the prevention measures recommended by the WHO very seriously. After the first cases appeared in Canada, Serbia, and North Macedonia, we immediately shifted to working from home for the foreseeable future. 

As the situation with the virus escalated and it was clear that remote work was here to say, we made sure all our colleagues are safe and have all the essentials to do their work at their best. And having in mind that working from home was available for us even before the pandemic, we adopted this new way of functioning with ease. You can read more about introducing remote work and the useful tools we used here.

However, a huge role in the successful implementation of remote work as a permanent way of functioning had the HR department with representatives in each office location.

Keeping employees engaged during a worldwide pandemic

As we have all witnessed, this whole crisis happened overnight, and it majorly struck our social life. Within a short time-span, the entire world adopted a “new normal” where people practiced social distancing and avoided public gatherings. The bars were shut-down, the restaurants became take-outs, schools and day-care centers were closed, and we forgot what theaters look like. And, to top it all out, there is the global economic crisis and recession.

This harsh reality affected us all. Employers had little time to adapt and provide all the required conditions for successful operation. Whereas employees had to make sure they stay proficient and effective in a whole new scenario. And with the kids staying at home, caring for family members, and psychological pressure from the lockdowns, it became very stressful. 

Being the link between employers and employees, HR teams worldwide had to rethink their role as they had to adjust whole companies to social distancing practices and a new work environment. More than ever, they played a crucial role in keeping their teams productive, motivated, engaged, and connected.

Cosmic Development’s HR manager spoke thoroughly about measures that need to be taken in order to ensure employees’ wellbeing during these, well, let’s say, unprecedented times. She pointed out holistic and agile people management as best practices because every individual is different and unique in their own way. “To do so, our department has been in touch with all employees on a regular basis. Personal coaching in the form of one-on-one sessions were introduced for the most affected employees. While for the outgoing, we organized online contests and events where people could spend time with each other.”

The name we gave to these activities was “Cosmic Beats Isolation”, and we gotta say, it was fun being part of them.

Cosmic Development’s small wins during disruptive 2020:

1. High-quality work has never been at stake

From leadership to newbies, our offices (including the ‘virtual’ ones) have been a place where a bunch of skilled and dedicated professionals work together and achieve tangible results. Having these like-minded people gathered together and adding the nurturing company culture that Cosmic promotes resulted in one compact and very productive team.  

We talked with our team members on their experiences on several subjects, including: how our content editor keeps up with the ever-changing viral video market, overcoming stressful situations from a PHP Developer’s point of view, the technical challenges that video editors face, and how do they overcome them, and how to manage an agile team in these remote times.

Do you want to join our growing Cosmic family? We are hiring! Check out the most recent vacancies here! 

2. Events worth mentioning

In early March, two Rumblers, Marija and Natasha, attended the Digiday Publishing Summit for a good reason. As Business Development representatives and one of the first people to join the Rumble team at Cosmic, they had an excellent opportunity to mingle with the most prominent names in the publishing industry. An event where media leaders talked about the latest trends and useful tools. There were interactive workshops, speed networking sessions, and cocktail hours.   

Another event of no less importance was the Virtual HR Transformation Summit. Cosmic Development’s HR Manager Biljana took the stage and shared her valuable insights on contemporary HR practices and retention strategies. She joined a distinguished list of HR professionals to discuss Human Resources management’s most critical aspects of the new reality.

3. Constant growth has been maintained 

Thanks to our diligent Cosmic crew, we continued to grow even when the whole world stopped. Looking back, we can see incredible growth of some of our loyal clients and on-going scale-up of those who have joined us recently.

This year we have been working with clients worldwide and kept our presence in North America, Western Europe, Western Asia, and Australia. As more and more companies had no other choice but to go remote, our dedicated-team talent solution became an attractive option globally. 

Now let’s get back to our loyal clients. Rumble is winning the battle against Youtube, and here is why it became the obvious choice for video creators. If eager to learn more about Rumble, read how video content brought success to the platform. 

Another platform that saw incredible success this year was the AI-powered website builder Bookmark. What lies behind Bookmark’s success its combination of outstanding leadership and dedicated-team talent solution. Bookmark’s success story is now available, and you can become a part of it, especially if you are a full-stack developer.  

Let us help you scale up with the best IT outsourcing solution. We build dedicated teams for brands! Schedule a free consultation today! 

Watch Video: Cosmic Development 2020 Rewind – A Year in Pictures

With the vaccines rolling out slowly, we can say that we are looking to a brighter future in 2021. Our team is generally thankful for making it to 2021 with all employees being well and sound, bigger in size and experience, and ready for new challenges. What can be more valuable than walking out as a winner from one of the most challenging years in modern times?

The post Cosmic Development, an International IT Outsourcing Provider, is Looking Back at 2020 appeared first on Cosmic Development.

As we are walking in the last quarter of the notorious 2020, we can state one thing for sure: Remote work and distributed teams are here to stay. However, companies can be skeptical about moving their agile processes online when it comes to working remotely. At first glance, why wouldn’t they be? Especially having in mind that Agile was initially intended for teams that are physically located together in the same workspace. Even according to the 12 Principles of the Agile Manifesto: “The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation“––the first agile teams were intended to work together physically.

Some challenges arise for distributed software teams:

• Synchronizing teams in different time zones
• Building rapport without face-to-face contact
• Collaboration between different cultures
• Coordinating stand-ups and meetings considering that team members are online at the same time for a limited amount of time

These are genuine problems, but they are far from unsolvable. With almost ten years of experience in staff augmentation and software development services, we can share some insights and strategies to help you narrow the gap between working on-premises and remotely.

Structure Your Teams

Think of your team from a software engineer’s point of view: quality software architecture needs modular design, so design your software accordingly. The same goes for building teams. Every team should be able to develop a single fraction of the project, and by that, successfully reduce the dependence between your teams in different time zones or locations. You will actually make teams autonomous parts of your project or company. When a project requires team members to take part from different locations, they can focus solely on their integration points and APIs.

Code reviews are considered as an important part of the development process for remote teams. Since your people are working at different times, sharing knowledge of the code between teams makes maintenance easier.

Building and Maintaining Rapport

Agile teams need to build solid rapport between team members. This brings trust, reduces misunderstanding, makes self-organization easier, and builds morale and motivation. Take time, as much as possible, to get to know everyone within your distributed teams. A personal touch is a must. Creating strong rapport will lead to smoother communication between teams, which in turn leads to better workflows.

After all, who said that face-to-face meetings have to be offline? Especially these days, when Zoom and Google Hangouts have become our new-normal offices, we encourage using them in order to minimize the gap between distributed agile teams. At Cosmic Development, we are avoiding strictly scheduled Hangouts meetings for intra-team communication. Instead, we strive to create a culture of using video chats even for spontaneous informal conversations and ad-hoc meetings. Needless to say, instant-messaging tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams are very helpful in solving small issues or in simply keeping in touch. 

To help address some remote communication challenges within the team, you need to stimulate team members to have one-on-one video sessions whenever possible. These should not be formal, but they still need to be focused on work and oriented around knowledge sharing in a casual way.

Structuring a United Development Culture

Here are the four simple rules our teams follow in order to make remote work easier:

1. Overcommunicate decisions and procedures
2. Minimize the onboarding friction
3. Clearly define terminology
4. Create reporting guidelines 

Now, let us discuss each of them more thoroughly:

1. Overcommunicate Decisions and Procedures

When members of a distributed agile team make decisions, they need to communicate those decisions thoroughly. That sounds a bit obvious, but it is very easy to forget. Important decisions are often made in informal conversations; they are brainstormed between individuals or discussed spontaneously on calls between individuals. In contrast to this, small decisions are often dismissed as unimportant, especially if we focus on another part of the conversation. 

When working in a remote culture, everything, even the minute details, need to be communicated until the whole team starts moving in the same flow.

It is easy to lose meaning or essential information if you announce important decisions via email. Everyone in your dispersed teams needs to understand the decisions, the reasons behind each decision, and how they will be implemented. Team members that are working on outdated information can lead to major setbacks, hitting a blockade, and then re-communicating the whole process costs the team more time than accuracy sharing information in the first place.

2. Minimize the Onboarding Friction

You can tame the “first-day-friction” by utilizing a good onboarding procedure. Remote team members should feel at home right off the bat, which helps build cohesion between team members of different cultures. 

3. Clearly Define Terminology

While working with remote teams, clear standards around simple terminology like “complete” and “done” help manage expectations and ease communication. A clear definition of task completion eliminates ambivalence in work. For example, when sending a release that involves work from multiple teams, make sure to make it clear what “complete” means in this particular context: (a) the code needs to be written, (b) pull request created, (c) code needs to be reviewed and tested, (d) and finally integrated into the main codebase.

4. Create Guidelines for Reporting

Distributing the development process means that not everyone is online and ready for work when problems come up. We recommend setting systems and guidelines for troubleshooting, but reports and issue tracking. You will not believe how much easier such systems and guidelines make it for anyone on the team to track down and resolve issues. Code reviews and automated tests should be part of this process as it enables the remote team to make changes and validate them so they will not have any unexpected side effects.

Maximize the Mutual Online Time

The golden hours for remote agile teams are when most of the team members are online at the same time. This is the perfect time for stand-ups, coordination meetings, or one-on-one calls.

For teams that work in different time zones, a stand-up meeting is an excellent opportunity to share their issues, obstacles, or decisions. Having the stand-ups via video calls makes it easy to coordinate and catch-up with the flow, so everyone is up and running as soon as the meeting is done.

Instruct the project manager to closely monitor the entire team’s engagement during the stand-up. If there is an undue tension, or communication is becoming unfocused and counter-productive, your team members will quickly disengage.

Stand-ups do not have to be strictly daily meetings. You can have them a few times per week and use the other days for informal communication. Thus, a stand-up does not have to be just a morning routine, but you can organize it at the most convenient time for everyone that forms part of your remote agile teams. 

We all need to adapt and learn how to work within remote teams, communicate efficiently, and grow a cohesive culture. Many large companies have successfully implemented distributed agile workflows long before the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing them to cut costs and work more efficiently. On the other hand, remote work is very easy to implement for small teams that have previously worked together in a common office. Such teams can significantly benefit from the advantages of working remotely.

Stay tuned for Part Two, where we will talk to Bookmark‘s Project Manager about her hands-on experience with managing a remote team.

Sources:

• agilemanifesto.org/
• agilealliance.org/resources/experience-reports/remotely-agile/
• blog.stormid.com/distributed-agile-working/

The post Remote Work and Agile Teams are Here to Stay appeared first on Cosmic Development.

When hiring a web developer, you need to find the most suitable candidate with strong technical experience. However, it is also very important that the web developer you want to hire possesses a set of basic soft skills. Acquiring a web developer on your team, who has not only the technical abilities to get the work done but is an ongoing person with excellent communication skills, is the key that might bring success to your business. 

During a time when many IT companies have the “work from home” policy, abilities like clear and tactful communication with colleagues within or outside of the department who are also remote can determine whether someone fits for the job position.

Below you can find several questions that you can ask your candidate when hiring a web developer at a job interview:

1. Ask the candidates to explain to you a project they have worked on and the approach they took from start to finish.

Interview questions for a web developer’s position will help you learn more about the candidates’ work mindset — how they are gathering requirements, solving problems, managing user feedback, handling QA, and collaborating in a team setting. This way, you can also see whether they pay close attention to user experience.

2. Do some roleplay. Pretend you are a tech novice and ask the candidates to explain something in plain English.

Your candidate will likely work closely with other departments of your company. In other words, they will need to communicate effectively with their colleagues who are not tech-savvy, such as colleagues from marketing, sales, corporate communications, and other company areas. Ask the candidate to describe a topic all web developers should be familiar with, and look for their ability to communicate in non-tech terms. Some concepts to choose from are: Microservice architecture, AWS/Azure, Responsive design, MVC model, APIs, etc.

It would be of great help if you ask them to compare web development-related terms, for instance, to make a distinction between UI and UX or between front-end and back-end, depending on the candidate experience.

3. Ask if they have ever given a presentation.

The web developer you hire will play an important role in your company, so public speaking is a must-have skill. You will want to hire someone who feels comfortable when giving a presentation. And bonus points will definitely go to those who have spoken in front of large non-tech groups. After the presentation, ask them some follow up questions on how they gathered and organized information, and what they did to keep their audience’s attention. 

4. Ask them to name a website or app that annoys them and let them describe what was wrong with it.

Here is how to get an insight into your candidate’s awareness of current issues in web development, as well as their problem-solving abilities. We consider the right answer to be the one where they do more than just gripe about someone else’s work. They also need to offer real solutions to practical issues.

5. Find out what they do when an application stops working.

Problem-solving is at the very core of web development, so pay attention to how candidates talk about fixing things that go awry. Do they prefer to break down the situation and analyze potential causes? Are they able to ask for help when needed, and do they know where to find answers? How do they respond if their initial idea for a solution does not work out? 

6. Make them tell you about a time they have had to respond to negative feedback.

Your candidate will have to deal with many comments from beta testers and actual users of your product. The web developer you are looking for needs to know how to take that feedback, analyze it, and turn it into an action step. Listen to them and, if needed, ask them how they would walk through the issue and arrive at a conclusion.

7. Ask if they have ever been blamed for something that was not their fault.

This is a very challenging question. However, it is a good way of catching the candidate’s attitude towards teamwork. If your candidate is quick to throw a team member under the bus, that is a red alert. You need to hire a diplomatic person who does not get frustrated quickly and concentrates on working toward a solution.

8. Find out what was the biggest challenge of working on the front end of an application.

Your candidate would have worked closely with the rest of the development team. Find out if they understand how data is structured, what functions are available, how APIs are called, and how web services are configured. The chosen candidates should be capable of discussing the entire development lifecycle. They also need to show an understanding of where do they fit in. These inquiries will help you find out if you are talking to a web developer or a web designer who has a little Java knowledge.

9. Ask them to tell you about the projects they are working on (or have worked on) in their spare time.

Technology is moving fast. Therefore, when hiring a web developer, you need to be aware that you are looking for someone who invests some of their spare time in growing their skills and staying on top of current trends. Your candidate should be able to discuss their personal projects (past or present), and if possible, show you some of their work.

10. Ask what APIs have they worked with.

All applicants should have worked with APIs, at least for well-known commercial services, like those offered by Twitter, Slack, Dropbox, and the APIs suite that Google offers. The candidate you choose to join your team should demonstrate knowledge on API functions and should know how to integrate results into their design. Bonus points would go for the candidate that has helped to develop and document their own APIs. They need to be able to talk about how they worked with the development team to create secure and useful interfaces.

11. Find out what do they think will be the biggest trends in future web development.

This is an excellent open-ended topic you can begin when hiring a web developer. Your candidate may talk about technologies like Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages technology, Motion UI, AI-powered customer service chatbots, voice search, emerging cybersecurity threats, or advanced analytics techniques. Notice what they focus on and ask them about their genuine opinion on how this will improve, for example, user experience, what kind of challenges this technology brings, and how they would integrate the latest technology with their current work. By doing so, you can also find out whether they have the basic five personality traits that every web developer must possess.

12. Try and discover their SQL skills.

Maybe the web developer you currently need in your team does not interact directly with a database, but they must understand how data is structured. Any practical SQL experience, such as having worked as a database administrator, is highly valuable. 

13. Ask them what the most significant difference between developing for mobile and desktop is.

As you know, the most significant portion of your users browse on mobile, but the majority of the development work happens on a desktop. Your perfect candidate should know how to develop for both. They need to be able to name some crucial differences, such as screen size, touch input, limited multitasking, and variation in browser plug-ins. Candidates must know how to create a great user experience on any platform.

14. Show them a code, and ask them to find the error in it.

When hiring a web developer, try not to ask your candidate to write code by hand during an interview, because it is not an ideal setting for code-writing. We suggest you show your candidate a piece of code — such as a Java class and the JavaScript that invokes it — with some strategic errors in it and ask the candidate to debug it. This is a quick way to check their technical knowledge and find out their attention to detail.

While hiring a web developer at Cosmic Development, these 14 questions help us narrow down our list of candidates to those with the best technical qualities and strong interpersonal skills. For us, hiring candidates with balanced skills has been a great way to get ahead of hiring high-quality web developers in recent years. Using staff augmentation, we select top-notch developers and create high-performing dedicated teams for our clients and business partners. We can hire the most suitable candidates for you. Let us know by clicking here.

Sources:

• codementor.io/blog/web-developer-interview-questions-3ey8yl7epg
• theappsolutions.com/blog/development/tips-how-to-hire-web-developer/
• medium.com/@arun_goyal/how-to-hire-a-web-developer-7ee05caf5519

The post 14 Questions You Need To Ask When Hiring A Web Developer appeared first on Cosmic Development.

Websites and online forums thrive with numerous opinions on when is the perfect timing for a company to begin outsourcing IT services. If you are considering this option, you probably started an online search for the pros and cons of outsourcing. If that’s what brought you here, you are in the right place. Get ready to get inside information from a company offering outsourcing services for more than 10 years. Read our hands-on experience in addition to an ebook that will guide you on how to get started.

We are a Canadian IT company specializing in providing IT solutions and staff augmentation to other brands, and we discovered the numerous advantages of outsourcing IT services a long time ago. In this article, we’d like to share our practices to help you decide if outsourcing is the right choice for your organization.

First, let’s elaborate on the questions that probably started spinning around in your head from the moment when you began thinking about outsourcing. “Is it safe?”, “Why do companies use outsourcing?” or “Will outsourcing make you more good or harm?”. To help you clarify your ideas and thoughts on outsourcing, we decided to provide you with answers to the questions most often asked. Here we cover some of the fundamental questions that many ask before outsourcing IT services.

Basic Benefits of Outsourcing IT services

There are numerous reasons why you should begin outsourcing IT services today. Companies use outsourcing to cut costs, save on resources, operations, and increase the company revenue without hiring more employees. We have already covered the basic benefits of outsourcing in this blog post. As there are numerous reasons why you should begin outsourcing tech today, here is a summary of what is discussed in our ebook:

• Obtaining a high-quality product for a lower price
• Saving time by avoiding to figure everything out by yourself
• Finding employees that are valuable, trustworthy, and dedicated to growing your business

Outsourcing will not only help you save money and time, but it will also aid you with cutting down the exact amount of expenses on the needed resources. Alongside the overall cost-saving process, companies may also save on salaries, employee benefits, and training costs. Furthermore, outsourcing may prove helpful in terms of company rearrangements by adjusting the business model. Hiring different talents and experts from various industries on a global level might help you bring freshness to the current team and provide new perspectives for the company itself.

Hire a Dedicated Team for Your Brand

When hiring a remote team, note that the process may vary from one software house to another. Therefore, we offer you our simplified approach in five easy-to-use steps:  

1. State your preference in terms of needs, timespan, and budget  
2. Search along with initial selection (pre-vetting) 
3. Decide who will be invited for a final evaluation
4. Pick the right fit 
5. Sign one simple agreement and get started

Discover the three stages for finding a reliable software house and our five simple steps for hiring a dedicated team for your brand by downloading our ebook.

The post Everything You Need to Know About Outsourcing IT Services and Hiring a Dedicated Team for Your Business appeared first on Cosmic Development.

When preparing for an IT project estimation, you need to take into consideration a lot of factors that will help you build a dedicated team for your specific project. Throughout the process of estimating your most significant IT project, you will realize that outsourcing is the best option for profitability by getting the same quality for a lower price. Moreover, IT outsourcing is a great way to find the appropriate employees who are trustworthy and who will help you build your brand.

If you are considering outsourcing an IT development team, one problem you are certainly facing at the beginning is how to prepare your idea for an exact estimation. This article will guide you through the process of preparing and conducting an IT project estimation for your business. Read carefully the step-by-step procedure below:

Define Your Vision

The first thing you will need to do is outline your idea. Illustrate your vision. What kind of problems have you recognized? What is the solution you are offering? Maybe you are rolling out a cutting-edge product. Or to put it broadly – you may have a general vision to change the world. What is your solution, and what does it do?

Whichever this is, it is essential to tell your software development company what this is and to share your way of thinking. 

Provide Accurate Brief

Your software development partners will need some basic information. It is the pitch description of your project, your needs, and your visioned path. Describe the performances of your IT Project in the most manageable formula – as well as your visioned workflow. 

Explain the Specifications

At this point, you need to start getting technical. But remember, there is no need to go very deep into the matter. Things are getting technical here, but there is no need to get too deep into the subject. Your job is to remain on the surface. You can be concise, but leave specifics to the software development team.

Set Collaboration Goals and Expectations

To put it simply, what do you want to accomplish and in what time?

Consider your business goals and the tangible objectives that have been bestowed. This differs from the goals concerning your cause. In this occurrence, you should also keep in mind whether your project fits your determined future concept.

These must be reasonable, in terms verified by both the developers’ team and your company. The best method to do this is by setting universally-agreed metrics. Grant specifics, such as website visits, click-through rates, check out rates, bounce rates. Sometimes goals are driven by impulses, such as trends or a competitor’s product. That, too, can be sufficient to help with your outline as well.

Scope Your IT Project 

We are going to contemplate and look ‘deep within’ for this one. That is because here is where the IT project will do some fundamental soul searching. The scale of the project, what is to be done, where will it feature, how will it feature, who will be involved – this all needs classification.

Here are some inquiries to kick-start the thinking process:

• Is this a mobile application, or is it PC-based? 
• Is it maybe an embedded system?
• What functionalities will it have? For example: (CMS, built-in search engine, navigation)
• Will it need a particular infrastructure?
• What about the Data Security, how rigorous will it need to be?

Go over everything in details, leave no stone unturned.

Set Time Frames 

You must be aware that some projects take more time than others, primarily if you want them to be done right. The deadline has a direct influence on the project’s outcome, how it will be done, and the varieties of features you would like to incorporate in it.

As a rule of thumb, understanding that limited speed means limited quality is essential. This has more dramatic consequences when considering the budget too! But we will get to that in a second.

One thing is for sure: nothing ever takes five minutes, nor does it cost five dollars.

Communicate the State of the IT Project

As we stated earlier, depending on the design and circumstance, you may be building something from scratch. Make sure to let your new developers know the current growth of your project, as any actual information will surely be of some help. Maybe you have already created an entire, or half-finished model? In that case, let them know either way and make sure to share any essential information with them.

Most significant to note is that if you have created something like this already, albeit unsuccessfully, make sure to communicate this as well. Communicating outstanding issues that have occurred in the past is essential.

Get to Know Your Dedicated Team

Meet the crew! And make sure everyone follows you. Precise comprehension equals progress.

Your IT project should be built on excellent communication, succeeding expectations, and navigating among stakeholders. In projects as seasoned as those in IT development, make sure to avoid costly misunderstandings!

Have you communicated and established the parameters? Have you made sure they are understood to the finest detail by the development team?

Remember: to create – you must communicate. 

Estimate the Budget 

We would not like to lie to you. The budget is a big deal.

Do you know how much is your organization ready to spend? Keep this in consideration of your expectations.

Let us put it simply: the higher the budget, the broader the possibilities reach. Functionalities need time to be tested, whereas new features will also require development funding. Finances play a crucial role in the final quality. Bugs and glitches are best approached with room in the resources to deal with this problem.

Mock-ups & Wireframes 

Details are unquestionably helpful – as are the specifics. Sometimes a basic idea is a framework for perfection – make sure to bestow any introductory thoughts and plans with your development team. A reliable software house will provide professional, compact, and non-judgmental feedback to your project.

Make a Checklist

Think of this as a soothing reminder, preferably than a ‘make it or break it’ list. From our experience, it would be an astonishment if you had ready-made answers to all these points. The essential thing is to know what is to be understood and what there is to be asked. By doing so, it will assist you to recognize the competency of your next IT development team.

1. Do you have a concept? Start with identifying a problem, solution on how to overcome that specific problem, and a concept of providing the solution.
2. Be precise, but not too formal. 
3. Explore your idea. Ask yourself lots of questions.  
4. Have confidence. 
5. Set parameters. What metrics will determine your success? 
6. Be realistic. Time and money are substantial circumstances with substantial consequences. 
7. Details. Share as many of them as you can. 
8. Accomplish. Go for it, and be confident. 

As fundamental as these intents are, it is normal not to have answers to all of them. Just make sure to have them in mind. 

To discover more information about how to prepare for an IT project estimation for your business, you may need help from our experts. If that is the situation, please click here for a free consultation with our professionals.

The post How to Prepare for Your IT Project Estimation appeared first on Cosmic Development.

In an uncertain time and economy when every cent counts, even the smallest income in profit can impact the overall business profitability. The good news is that smaller steps and cuts usually bring a more significant effect. It is often uncomplicated, common-sense steps that improve the bottom line, especially for a small business.

This economic crisis influenced by the pandemic is an excellent time to step back and look carefully at your company practices. 

What are you doing well? And what can your company improve?

• Cut supply costs
• Cut operation costs
• Lower your financial expenditures
• Digitize your marketing
• Use time management strategies
• Enhance new digital trends and technologies
• Narrow your focus
• Use your office space more efficiently
• Use your employees’ skills
• Use open-source software
• Keep quality over everything

1. Cut Supply Costs

Cut costs and save money on office supplies by contacting distributors to let them know you are price shopping. Never settle with the distributors you already have and keep checking for offers from other distributors outside your current ones. Usually, the newer and smaller distributors provide better value and service as they are in the beginning, and they will strive to be more flexible and thus help you cut costs. Plan wisely, buy supplies once in a month or in bulk. And remember that buying bigger supplies will help you save money and cut delivery costs.

2. Cut Operation Costs

As a startup or company owner, you need to look for ways to cut operational costs and optimize resources. Here are our few suggestions:

• Resell the old equipment or consider other ways to use your waste to create another product or donate these to people or other companies in need.
• Rent the free space to another startup, digital nomad, or freelancer. You can rent one room, an entire office, or storage space.
• Follow and measure the operational efficiency of your startup or business to see the reduction effects and optimize your available resources. Track your performance parameters and see how they reflect your efficiency goals and offer incentives when you meet those goals.
• Have energy-efficient appliances. Turn off lights and unplug unused tech.
• Encourage telecommunications and work from home days.
• Go paperless, save nature and the trees and also cut costs.

See also: How to Manage a Business During the Coronavirus Outbreak

3. Lower Your Financial Expenditures

Check your insurance policies if you want to lower your financial expenditures. Also, check your financial accounts in order to find places where you can save money.

• Compare the competitive rates of all providers in order to save money on insurance. Then, ask your current insurance provider or lender to match the most competitive rate of all.
• Combine your insurance policies or bank accounts.
• Evaluate your insurance policies in order to ensure that you are not over-insured or that you do not have duplicate coverage.
• Do not accept any unnecessary debt. Conduct a thorough cost-benefit analysis and make a future forecasting when considering the option for business expansion. Take into consideration all the opportunity costs and the entire effect of debt payments on cash flow. A surplus of debt affects company rating, interest rates, and the ability to borrow in the future.

4. Digitize Your Marketing

The social media networks nowadays offer cheaper alternatives for reaching more specific and targeted leads and clients. Instead of spending on traditional TV commercials and billboards, with SEO and excellent content marketing, you can seize the search engines and generate traffic to your website and increase awareness about your startup or business.

Linkedin, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, and website articles and blogs are critical in lead generation and finding new potential clients. Study your buyer personas, target market and discover what will be a better method for reaching your targeted demographic, which social media channels are better to use, and how you can achieve them in the most efficient cost-savvy way. 

• Build a customer e-mailing list and a referral program. A client recommendation is far more likely to result in a sale than traditional marketing.
• Facilitate word of mouth marketing, use networking more, and advertise less. Clients are more likely to close a deal with a business or someone they recognize. Check the existing groups on Linkedin and Facebook. Make sure you provide valuable comments and recommendations to everyone in need, build up a community, and seize the contacts as future potential clients.
• Reduce marketing costs by having in-house marketers and do not hesitate to outsource when needed.
• Partner with other companies, organizations, and get sponsors for your networking events.
• Use social media instead of traditional marketing for better tracking and better results.

See also: How video content marketing brought success to one of our biggest clients – Rumble.com

5. Use Time Management Strategies

Optimization of employee productivity cuts your costs of doing business. Time is also a cost and money.

• Limit access to time wasters and other distractions. Propose usage of platforms and applications that help your teammates and employees to focus and concentrate on staying on track with their tasks.
• See where your employees or teammates spend the most time and dedicate a reasonable time to complete specific actions and functions. Help your team and offer your support if you see that there are tasks which consume more time.
• Schedule each activity and encourage your employees to update their schedules daily and weekly.
• Schedule a meeting only when needed. Make it clear that you respect everyone’s time and ask everyone to be on time, each session to have a plan and everyone to follow up at the appointed time.

6. Enhance New Digital Trends and Technologies

Reduce company costs by being more digital whenever you can use free online tools.

• Set up an option for a virtual office.
• Online meetings help minimize travel costs, and virtual offices can eliminate the need for physical space. While we certainly don’t want to remove personal contact, save it for the instances when it’s most beneficial.
• Use the free storage cloud services. Nowadays, online storages and technologies help companies, startups, and businesses to centralize essential documents and increase collaboration in an alternative to paper documents and meetings.

7. Narrow Your Focus

As a startup or a business owner, try narrowing your business focus as it turns out to be the most effective strategy for improving these situations. Limit the services you offer and the projects you accept, and you’ll see that you’ll be more efficient.

Another different way to adhere to your business focus is to subcontract. Rather than turn away business, maximize your capacity by outsourcing services whenever possible. More projects provide more revenue increase, while subcontracting equals lower expenses and saves you time and effort. The result is a better profit.

8. Use Your Office Space More Efficiently

Analyze how you are using your current physical office. Do you maybe have storage with many supplies, piles of paper files, and inefficient furniture or computer equipment that can be resold or used for a different purpose?

See if you can consolidate different functions or departments of your business into one. Use employees and office space for more positions, projects, or clients if you see they could use more experience and have free time. A conference, office, or meeting room that can be used as a rest or playroom is good to be checked. The opportunities depend on the nature of your business or startup.

9. Use Your Employees’ Skills

Your Human Resources department needs to have stay-in interviews for regular check-ups and tracking the employee career development and every new skill, training, and certification they will get. See how your company is using your employee’s experience, competence, and technical and soft skills and reevaluate if you could use them better based on your employee career preferences and future growth. Be open for inputs and give responsibilities to the employees with the most competence and efficiency in those areas.

Do not use expert salespeople for writing articles, placing Excel “numbers” or design tasks. Although one person must be skillful for a variety of functions, consider exchanging some of the functions with someone who is a better fit for those tasks and needs less time in doing those tasks with efficiency. If you don’t have the right HR department, you can always outsource this, and you will see how useful it is.

10. Use Open-Source Software

Open-source software is a software that can be freely used, modified, and shared among the team. Programs like WordPress allow you to save money on website creation and various other functions, easy to modify, edit for everyone that understands the technology. We are happy to share that many of our clients use WordPress, so feel free to reach us for a free consultation.

11. Keep Quality Over Everything

In the long term, you would like everyone to remember you based on the quality of your services, which sells better no matter what your business offers. Happy customers and clients increase sales through referrals and repeat purchases. Higher quality and a solid reputation allow you to charge higher prices, which equals higher revenue and a healthier business model.

We know these insights are overwhelming, but they are crucial for every crisis and every small business willing to strive. See what more our experts have to suggest. Check what you have done well this past year and what are your next steps for improvement by scheduling a free consultation with our team of experts here.

Learn more about how you can cut costs with outsourcing talents with our support. Schedule a time to talk with our Cosmic Development team and start saving time and cutting costs.

Sources:

• americanexpress.com/en-us/business/trends-and-insights/articles/10-simple-ways-to-cut-business-costs/
• hbr.org/2010/05/when-youve-got-to-cut-costs-now
• moneycrashers.com/cost-cutting-ideas-small-business-expenses/

The post Outsourcing Tips: How to Cut Costs in Pandemic appeared first on Cosmic Development.