Bid Low Or Bid High - Is It A Question?
India is one of those fortunate nations that can take immense pride in its computer savvy section of the population. Software development, web designing, graphic design, and freelance writing are just a few of the disciplines the Indian expertise covers in the outsourced field. Why is India suddenly the playground of the world in terms of BPO and Outsourcing? The answer not only lies in its grasp of the graphical interface within the Internet but also the proficiency in the English language. It is fine that the language aspect can be a driving factor in outsourcing and India probably has the largest number of English speaking professionals. The historical experience of using English as one of the official languages of India is the main advantage though many nations still consider this country under the “English as a second language” category — a fallacy that must be corrected however academically true it may be on paper!
The economic situation, standard of living, growth rates, inflation rates in comparison with the developed nations of the world, unemployment or better termed as employment density, job opportunities and related parameters did make India a very attractive outsourcing ’source’. A dollar yields nearly 39 Indian Rupees (the equation is rapidly changing!) and a “fistful of dollars” could still be a fortune in India. Therefore in context of outsourcing many are today asking the question as to how a freelancer should bid for projects opened on a multitude of web sites that specialize in job portals.
This article is just a beginning of a “world debate” that could open up newer avenues of BPO or outsourcing growth in the very near future. We have only touched the tip of the iceberg and the comments of the reader are solicited to bring the true viable perspective in front of governments, freelancers, outsourcer, and economists.
Demand and Supply — Can I bag that project?
This is the proverbial title that drives the freelancer from developing countries to the brink of exasperation or the brim of the filled cup of wealth and opportunity! For most individuals who make up the majority of the free lancer’s community it can be sometimes a nightmare of uncertainty and they constantly dread that polite email by the administration of a “bidding” portal that their bid was unfortunately not accepted by the outsourcer. After all and like in most business environments there is a cut throat competition within freelancers and outsourced projects. Bid low and bag that project — bid high and lose it could be the order of the day. As is normal the demand and supply situation between projects and freelancers remains something of a concern to the management of bidding portals. It can also cause a lot of flutter amongst the outsourcer since so many bids are received that it becomes difficult to take a wise decision. In fact several operators only bid low to get the project and then go about re-outsourcing the work to other freelancers — at sometimes throw away ridiculous prices — that can be truly a blot on the professional free lancer’s ego.
How then can one find the perfect solution to outsourcing while still enjoying the viable economics of using a community that can deliver world class goods at lower than domestic costs?
A 64 million dollar question — no doubt!
What is required - a Union of Freelancers — or an Association?
None is the answer! There are several portals that allow you to place a sensible bid. It is however seen that freelancers (or even some large companies) indulge in the unsavory art of under cutting the offers and winning projects. It is all very democratic to do that but do remember that if one downgrades the gift
Just downgrading the freelancing cost per hour will probably give short term gains but it will surely blot the profession and it is not a long term durable practice. The demand and supply market for projects and freelancers is not such a desperate “black hole” that one cannot successfully cross that “low bid - throw away price” frontier. Asian countries are preferred in this field since their cost of production is quite low — but one must realize that it is not so low to warrant a ‘near free’ quotation! Art, proficiency, ethics and capabilities have to be weighed correctly in dollars or what ever currency (even a pot of gold!) one is comparing with.
Freelance Well, Be Happy, Live Happily ever after!
Freelancing is for the purpose of helping those who cannot help themselves. This is the heavenly feeling every freelancer must have and not the aspiration to extract what one can by exploiting the market. Do bid realistically - explain your bids - respect the urgency of the project owner - and last but not the least enjoy the job of a freelancer — you are one in that ocean of freelancers around the world — striving to make a good living.
Hemant Mehta is a professional copywriter who takes up freelance copy writing, writing, editing, and articles writing assignments on the Internet.
Tags: bidding, copywriting, freelance, freelancer, freelancing, India, jobs, software, web designing, writing