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Why Compliance Doesn’t Have to Be a Headache: Affordable Outsourcing Solutions

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says small businesses spend 200 hours and $11,700 per employee on compliance each year — a massive expense for a non-core business activity. It’s one reason why compliance often gets neglected.

Companies also ignore compliance out of a lack of expertise and limited bandwidth. Others believe they can’t afford to comply, even if that means risking hefty fines. If this is all starting to feel like one giant headache, consider outsourcing. It can be a more cost-effective, easy way to meet your company’s compliance goals. Explore more below.

Why Compliance Gets Put on the Back Burner

Compliance is complicated. Just understanding what your business needs to do can take more labor hours and expertise than you have to spare. For example, you might need to follow HIPAA rules. But there are 115 pages of them with ongoing updates. 

Scenarios like this make it easy to leave compliance on the back burner — even if you recognize you probably shouldn’t. Most SMBs lack the internal resources and knowledge to address this issue efficiently.

The Consequences of Neglect

Your company can’t afford to ignore compliance, either. Fines could hit the thousands for each regulatory violation. For instance, the California Privacy Protection Act (CPPA) fines businesses $2,500 per unintentional violation and $7,500 per intentional.

That figure doesn’t account for the reputational damage that comes from ignoring compliance. If customers see you aren’t protecting their sensitive data, they may leave your business for a competitor. This can also damage the trustworthiness of your company over time, eroding the reputation you’ve worked hard to develop.

You Might Not Realize the Solution Exists

Many companies find themselves in this position with compliance: They can’t afford to ignore it but lack the internal expertise to address it effectively. If that sounds like your business, there are two ways to move forward.

One option is to develop the expertise you’ll need to keep up with compliance internally. But that would likely be many hours of work for a busy leader. Or, you’d have to hire a new employee for the task, which could be cost-prohibitive.

The second option is outsourcing compliance to a partner that specializes in it. This gives you instant access to the expertise you need. Plus, it’s more affordable than hiring a new employee.

Outsourcing is much easier for SMBs to find nowadays. Partners can also tailor solutions to your unique needs. For example, you may be comfortable handling basic compliance internally but want an expert for more complicated tasks. Outsourcing bridges the gap between your company’s compliance requirements and its internal ability to meet them. It’s a more cost-effective path to compliance for many SMBs.

5 Reasons Outsourcing Is a Game-Changer for Compliance

Let’s take a closer look at some of the specific benefits your business could enjoy by outsourcing its compliance. Here are five of the most important.

1. Save Money

Most SMBs save money by outsourcing, even if it doesn’t seem like you would initially. When you hire a third-party provider, they’ll provide immediate access to the services, technologies, and experts your business needs. You pay for that access only as long as you need it.

The alternative is to build out the capabilities you require in-house. That usually means committing to ongoing salaries and software agreements. These are less flexible than at-will compliance outsourcing.

2. Gain Immediate Access To Diverse Expertise

Businesses in some industries need to follow multiple regulations to avoid fines. These require different kinds of expertise, which adds to the cost of an internal solution. 

For instance, you might need to follow food safety and data privacy regulations. Even if you could afford to hire compliance experts in each area, they could prove hard to find on the job market. 

Outsourcing provides more immediate access to the expertise your business needs. Instead of having to recruit, train, and offer benefits, you get the compliance support you want now.

This was invaluable to Chain.io, a company Trava Security helped improve compliance processes. Leader Eric Green says, “As the business sponsor of the SOC process, all the nuances…were a new language to me. The Trava team had a great way of translating, interpreting, and creating the actions required that a business person could understand.”

3. Scale Services With Ease

Another reality of compliance is that regulatory needs can evolve over time. For example, you might be busier in winter than in summer. If so, you may need more compliance personnel in winter when you’re shipping and selling extra products.

That quickly gets complicated if you have an in-house compliance team. You need to hire seasonal compliance workers or cross-train employees, bringing them away from other areas of value.

Outsourcing makes it easier to scale up and down as business needs evolve. You can immediately add or subtract compliance services and personnel without making long-term commitments. That can be useful from season to season or year to year as your business grows.

4. Access Emerging Tools and Technologies

Outsourced compliance services also provide access to the latest tools and technologies. These can help you discover new efficiencies and manage compliance services with fewer labor hours. If you chose an in-house solution instead, you’d have to pay for all of these tools yourself. This increases the already high cost of compliance further.

5. Have More Time for Core Business Activities

Finally, an outsourced provider leaves you with more time to focus on core business activities. They take compliance off of your plate so you can spend your hours where they add the most value to the company.

Trava Security recently helped Champion, a B2B SaaS company, enjoy this benefit. We helped them pursue ISO 27001 certification to establish trust and credibility for the brand. Co-founder Courtney Crispin says, “If we didn’t have Trava, the process would’ve been a much longer haul… Having a vCISO in our back pocket when needed added invaluable reassurance.”

Get Started With Trava Security

Trava Security has helped companies like Champion and Chain.io revamp their compliance processes with outsourced services. We’d love to do the same for you. Visit our compliance as a service page to learn more about how we help. Or, get in touch directly for more personalized information.

 

Sources

https://www.fastcompany.com/91174511/compliance-inflation-is-crushing-small-businesses

Questions?

We can help! Talk to the Trava Team and see how we can assist you with your cybersecurity needs.