Friday, January 11, 2008 Mid-size BPO firms to rise
THE Philippines’ business process outsourcing (BPO) industry could benefit from the softening of the US economy, an industry player said.
“Companies in recession (in the US) are now considering outsourcing as a way to save money,” said SupportSave Solutions Inc. president Chris Johns.
He said small and medium companies in the US have decided to follow multinational firms when it comes to outsourcing their back-end operations.
This, he said, could put Cebu and the entire Philippines at an advantage, considering the large talent pool available here and the proficiency of most Filipinos in the English language, among others.
In an interview with Sun.Star Cebu yesterday, Johns expressed optimism in the country’s BPO industry whose growth is not only evident in the entry and or expansion of more multinational players, but also the rise of small and medium BPO companies.
Under-served
“These clients (small and medium US firms) are growing. They are the under-served segment of the market,” he said. He pointed out that since these firms make up the bulk of the US economy, their plan to venture into outsourcing will certainly uplift Cebu’s position as the next outsourcing capital of the world.
A recent survey conducted by industry publication Global Services and investment advisory firm Tholons named Cebu as the fourth emerging outsourcing destination for global companies.
“Cebu’s potential in the BPO industry is huge. In Manila, the market is more saturated because of many big companies. But Cebu, other than having a huge talent pool, is more hospitable,” said Johns.
SupportSave, a pioneer “low-cost” BPO company founded by Johns in 2004 which was incorporated last May 2007, has been operating in Cebu since November 2006 with 326 available seats.
Johns said initial capitalization for the Cebu operations was approximately $220,000.
The firm offers 65 percent voice call services and 35 percent non-voice call services. It caters to clients in various fields, such as medical, software, insurance, e-commerce, publishing and financial services.
Less stressed
Johns said because SupportSave targets only mid-size US clients, their call center agents feel “less stressed,” although they get a middle-income salary.
“We have no fancy technology but our working environment is more relaxed,” he said, adding that the company processes 30 to 50 applicants per day.
While other outsourcing firms offer scholarship loans to their employees, SupportSave gives its workers the option to own shares in the company.
SupportSave is a publicly traded company in the US with 12 million shares selling at $0.77 centavos per share, Johns said.
“Our company is employee-owned, which is not the case for many companies. All our employees start with 1,000 shares and eventually increase to 2,500 shares after one year of employment,” said Johns.
According to a report from Yahoo! Finance, SupportSave faired well in the US stock exchange with an 85 percent increase in total revenues or $211,305 for the three months that ended on Nov. 30, 2007. Its total revenues from June to August 2007 was $113,914.
Johns revealed that the company’s short-term goal is to fill its 326 seats in the next six months.
At present, it has 130 employees handling customer service, technical and administrative support, legal, accounting, engineering, sales, telemarketing, programming and virtual assistant services.
Johns said SupportSave is growing 20 percent monthly in the last 14 months, which he attributed to a rising demand for outsourcing services in Cebu. (MMM)
