Why I gave up on Outsourcing / Offshoring business

When you say you’re from the Philippines, corporate people usually think Outsourcing or Offshoring. When you do ask a Filipino (working in the I.T. sector), they’ll tell you that they’ve done so many websites such as (name dropping).COM’s etc. Yet none of them own any of the website that they’ve mentioned and to ask how they were rewarded they looked at me (with big eyebags) with a blank face and said, it’s just the salary plus the benefits…

… I started my company Gang Ventures initially as a outsourcing / offshoring company and recently I’ve stopped all outsourcing / offshoring jobs. The reason? Simple, “I want to make my own websites” and this is why I wanted to do so (These are my own point of views Feel free to criticize ..nicely..):

Saturated Market

– Saturated Outsourcing industry –

One of the main reasons why it’s not attractive is that the market is very saturated, Price wars happen all the time so profit margins are not that great (unless you hire all contractual staff).

Interest in Web 2.0

– Hobby and Interest –

My interest really lies in computers particularly the web, I was always a big fan of the web 2.0 movement and has always wanted to make my own web 2.0 websites. However, making them isn’t easy or fast, it needs time and money. But my time and money are all tied up with outsourcing / offshoring, therefore I’ve decided to free up my time and money and focus on my own websites.

People

– Filipinos are Skillful –

I was able to work with really skillful and talented people, that made me really think that doing my online website ventures would be possible. They’re skilled with learning new technologies at a very fast pace and could potentially compete with other worldwide websites.

Window of Opportunity

– Better opportunity in Web 2.0 –

As I was studying in the UK for my Bachelors and Masters Degree, I was able to explore the web 2.0 sector there. I was able to go to TangoZebra’s (acquired by DoubleClick) Office, meet Loic Le Meur in person and attend web 2.0 seminars and exhibitions. I find that there’s a huge opportunity, everyday there are lots of openings for websites to enter and compete on the same level with other larger websites. Barriers to entry are low on specific topics and all that is needed is to be visible in search engines (SEO). I want to be able to enter the global market with websites that I and my team could build, for me, it is a huge risk yet the passion and money comes together.

PH Domain names

– Love Domain names –

I’m also a domainer, I love acquiring great domain names that I find. During my search for a great domain name for my web 2.0 projects, I realized the power of domain names and saw its true potential value. In the Philippines, PH Domain Names still have a lot of free premium domain names that anyone could just register. Developing PH websites, will not only help promote Philippines as a country but to raise value to our own domain names. It’s about time, that us, Filipinos move away from the background and move towards the front where everyone in the world can see that we can do our own websites instead of just outsourcing.