Globalization is a big topic these days in universities. For us “Millennials”, it is a part of our every day lives. We buy foreign cars, wear foreign clothes, and buy anything we can online. We don’t think twice about it.
This doesn’t happen all the time, but it still surprises me when a client decides to work local instead of working with a company that works globally for the sole reason of going local. You do not find large companies doing this, it rarely comes up. Especially when it comes to technology.
I feel that there are many perks to working local, but there are many points you should consider before you write off certain companies with great reputations who aren’t next door.
- BIGGER TALENT POOL
Our company, for example, has many of our staff that live and work in our offices locally, but for designers and programmers, we hire the best of the best, wherever they may be. This has led to having exceptional staff in London, Austin, Los Angeles, Chile, etc. This means that we get to go through infinite resumes to find the best staff. As for our staff, living wherever they’d like makes them happier, thus resulting in better products for you.
- SAVE TIME
Many global companies save time by not traveling to see their clients at a moment’s notice. If a company takes time out of their day to come see you, this means they’re going to be doing this for their other clients as well. They may be sitting in traffic trying to get to another client’s office when they could have been working on your project. I also tend to find that meetings in person take 2-3x longer, making you much less productive. I personally can only do 3-4 face-to-face meetings a day, whereas I can get 10-15 conference calls in the same time. Last point on this one is… you’re busy! You don’t have time to sit down for hours in your project going over questions when a quick 5-15 minute call could do. And the call can be done from wherever you are in the world. It’s a much more efficient use of your time.
- SAVE MONEY
I said it in the last point and I’ll say it again. Money. Many of my clients decide to work with our global company because they get the high quality product for less. They aren’t paying for our conference rooms and special fancy chairs, not to mention that plant in the corner. With a company based out of an office in NYC, a portion of what you’re paying for is the desks, chairs, rent and over-inflated salaries so employees can afford more than a small closet. These costs can drive the price of a project up by 4x, easily.
- GET BETTER PRODUCTS
To compete as a global business, you have to be better than the local competition. Global businesses need to be faster, more responsive, higher quality and cheaper. With today’s technology and various types of screen-share meetings available, you can get a lot more done than you could 10 years ago. You essentially get the same effect of sitting next to someone, but much more efficient time utilization.
There are many instances when these points apply. It’s possible the best in the world may be in your backyard. But before you decide to go local, I encourage you to do what most companies are doing these days and be sure to look outside of your box. You may be surprised what you find.