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Zero.

(1 minute read.)

Very few… none, actually.

I'm open about how, in developing ventures, I favor 'extreme outsourcing'… using external service providers for 'almost everything'.

And although shifting the fixed-resource requirement away from the business itself, and onto the service providers, sounds attractive, surely it's a ridiculous notion?

No. It's not.

Having studied and considered the issue, I'm firmly convinced that 'yes, we can build and run sizable businesses with almost nothing in terms of fixed resources and costs, and that it can be managed by a few key people in a co-ordinating role (and even they can be contracted-in)'.

No staff? Yep. You read that right.

All tasks can be covered by outsourcing to external service providers (businesses already doing such work), and so everybody (and that includes me) will be contracted-in, either as firms or individuals.

This is yet another example of what technology and changing culture has made possible, amid increasing realization of 'that stuff just isn't necessary anymore'.

Digressing slightly… what a hell of a contrast this 'extreme outsourcing' is with Hank Ford growing trees for the rubber in his autos.

Done well, it should improve flexibility and effectiveness… providing beneficial over-capacity, reducing unexpected downtime and enabling sudden peaks to be handled better.

Overall, although the financial cost is of course higher than conventional (internally-resourced operations)… it needn't be that much more and is tolerably expensive.

Although a decision based purely on my personal preferences (I like the self-reliant mindset of independent contractors), there are distinct advantages which make this sensible commercial strategy.

Ethos… »