Many businesses need to use subcontractors at some point during their operations. If you’ve recently taken on a large project or your existing remits have diversified, it’s unlikely that you’ll have in-house resources to meet these requirements. Investing in full-time employees isn’t always practical. The onboarding process alone is expensive and diverts time and resources from other areas of your business. Before you’ve settled on the right person for the job, you’ve already compromised productivity and efficiency in other areas.

Facility and property management is just one area where subcontracting is a good idea. Outsourcing can bring valuable insights that will drive productivity and help you better control costs.

At Brosnan Property Solutions, we’ve been providing facility management services and subcontractor support to clients across County Cork and Ireland for over two decades. We can help you rethink the way you do business, reaping the benefits of short-term subcontractor arrangements.

Subcontractors are used across all manner of industries, making it easy to scale up your operation and cope with changing demands and uncertain economic cycles.

7 reasons why you should be thinking seriously about hiring subcontractors.

1. Access Professional Expertise

Whether you’re looking for plumbers or an electrician, outsourcing facility management to subcontractors means you can tap into a wealth of professional expertise. While smaller businesses may have some in-house property maintenance resources, it’s unlikely that these will be able to deliver the same results as an experienced subcontractor.

Subcontractors have spent years honing their craft. When you bring in external support, you benefit from these years of insights. A subcontractor will almost certainly have completed similar projects before. They’ll be able to advise on the best materials and processes to complete any given task. Unsurprisingly, this leads to expedited workflows and efficiency gains.

2. Specialists Bring Value to Your Team

Sometimes, your company will need to tackle projects that call for specialist services. While your in-house teams may have a handle on facility management best practices, there’s likely a significant knowledge gap. If you want to deliver the best possible results for your clients, you’ll need to think seriously about subcontracting.

It doesn’t make sense to onboard permanent staff for short-term projects. Instead, look to subcontracting to fill knowledge gaps so you can confidently deliver value propositions to prospective clients. Provided you’re using a reliable partner, these short-term arrangements can be repeated in the future, allowing you to call on specialised knowledge and support on an ad-hoc basis.

3. Productivity Gains

For many businesses, this is arguably the biggest benefit of bringing in the services of subcontractors. While your existing teams may be able to handle certain tasks, it makes more sense to outsource these duties to a reliable third party. Your full-time employees get to concentrate on what they do best, while those time-intensive tasks are taken care of by professionals with extensive expertise.

4. Cost Control

It’s tempting to bring in full-time teams to meet tight deadlines, especially if you’re dealing with a large project. While this investment can seem like a good idea in the short term, any gains will be quickly diminished by increased overheads and unnecessary expenditure on labour. Outsourcing essential tasks to subcontractors is an easy way to keep overhead costs as low as possible. Furthermore, by using a trusted partner, you won’t have to worry about funnelling precious time and money into hiring and onboarding.

While subcontracts may appear to be a more expensive solution than hiring in-house talent, you need to think about the bigger picture. You won’t need to invest in equipment or a dedicated workspace for a subcontractor. Additionally, businesses don’t need to budget for full-time salaries and employee tax contributions. When you leave the outsourcing to someone else, you also mitigate risk. An experienced provider with access to a niche network ensures you’ll always get the right person for the job.

5. Tackle Large and Complex Projects

As your business grows and the client network becomes larger, you’ll find yourself having to deal with more complex assignments. However, for your organisation to evolve, you’ll need a ready-to-go network of subcontractors you can call on.

Experienced subcontractors ensure you never have to say no to a client again. You can approach tenders with more confidence, being able to compete against larger businesses with in-house teams. Using subcontractors also provides you with more flexibility. You can create bespoke teams with short-term staffing solutions if a client has particular demands.

6. A Flexible Approach to Facility Management

Having permanent employees in place to handle every eventuality might seem like an ideal, but it’s not practical. Using subcontractors is a flexible solution that lets you adapt to economic forecasts and specific client needs.

There’s no long-term commitment when using subcontractors. They’re brought in as and when they’re needed. Once they’ve delivered what they were contracted for, you part ways. However, the subcontractor model can be a viable long-term solution. This flexibility isn’t available if you’re relying solely on full-time employees.

If a project ends early or client needs change dramatically, you can’t simply drop full-time staff without shelling out for costly redundancy packages. If a member of staff has been with you for more than a certain amount of years, you’ll need to cough up two week’s pay for every year of service, along with another full week of pay.

7. Less Red Tape and Legal Issues

Subcontractors operate as independent businesses. As such, subcontractors aren’t covered by the same legal protections as full-time employees. You’ll want to nurture positive relationships with subcontractors if you’re thinking about outsourcing as a long-term solution.

However, fewer legal obligations make life easier for the average business. There’s less administration involved when dealing with subcontractors, while businesses also make substantial savings with reduced payroll tax contributions.

We Now Know Why To Use Subcontractors

Businesses of any size can reap the benefits of outsourcing to subcontractors. Whether you’re looking for short-term support to tackle bottlenecks or need high-skilled insights to deliver specialised projects, subcontracting is the obvious choice.

When you use subcontractors, you’re tapping into a rich resource of expertise that can set you apart from competitors. What’s more, depending on your requirement, you can enjoy significant cost savings and productivity gains in the long run.

Finally, this is a more flexible way to do business. You’re not bogged down by extensive administration and legal obligations, but you can still use the subcontracting model as a legitimate long-term service solution.

Looking for an Outsourcing Provider You Can Trust?

Are you struggling to meet complex client demands? Perhaps your business growth objectives are taking longer than expected. Bringing in subcontractors is a tried and tested way of bolstering your company with the helping hands it needs to succeed.

At Brosnan Property Solutions, we’ve been helping companies across County Cork with FM support and maintenance services for more than 20 years.

Why not get in touch today to talk about your subcontracting requirements? Get in touch via the online form or call the team today on 1850 911939.