What small businesses actually outsource
Customer support, order processing, invoicing and AR follow-up, data entry and enrichment, CRM hygiene, claims and document handling, scheduling, and reporting. Repeatable, documentable work with a clear right answer.
Keep anything requiring judgment on your side until the process is written down and stable.
Choosing a BPO partner at small scale
Check that your program won't be the smallest account on the floor. Ask who the team lead is, how QA is sampled, and what happens the week two agents quit.
Price per outcome where you can — per invoice, per record, per ticket — and per seat where volume is unpredictable.
What it costs
Indicative fully-loaded seat rates run $7–$12 per hour in India for support and $6–$10 for pure back office work, depending on complexity and shift.