Nearshoring: A successful model with challenges

Nearshoring is a business model that more and more companies are discovering for themselves. The benefits are manifold and go hand in hand with great opportunities. As a company with five foreign locations by now, we can speak from extensive experience.

A look at our three locations in Kosovo confirms that we have also successfully proven ourselves on the market abroad. A good example of this is our first foreign location in Kosovo, which we opened in 2017: The upcoming move will triple the space in Prishtina. Only in March of this year, we also successfully launched here in the outbound/sales area in the existing customer segment. And the other locations are also showing great results, of which we are very proud. Nearshoring has paid off for us.

One obvious benefit of outsourcing abroad is the growth potential. In countries with lower wages and operating costs, services and production can be provided at lower costs. The employees nevertheless enjoy attractive wages and salaries that correspond to their high qualifications. This already reflects the second benefit of nearshoring: the quality of the services provided is increased by highly qualified specialists. In Kosovo, we also benefit from these two points. The outstanding qualifications and multilingual skills of our employees are particularly noteworthy. They enable us to offer customer service in eight different Western European languages. The commitment and high sense of belonging of our employees are also remarkable and are reflected in a low fluctuation rate.

However, there are challenges to overcome. The competition never sleeps and we have to constantly reposition ourselves as an attractive employer on the labour market with monetary and non-monetary arguments. Nearshoring to a non-EU country such as Kosovo also entails special obligations with regard to data protection. Due to the lack of a basic data protection regulation, we have to prove that we comply with the European standard. At KiKxxl, we ensure a level of data protection that is at least as high through strict audits, certifications and additional contractual agreements. There are also intellectual challenges in nearshoring. Since a different approach is required than in Germany, empathy and sensitivity for the country-specific peculiarities are necessary to ensure smooth cooperation.

The success story of the now almost seven years since the establishment of the joint venture in Kosovo gives us the tailwind for further growth.

Despite the challenges, nearshoring has thus proven successful for us. The advantages we enjoy not only in Kosovo, but also at our locations in Greece and Turkey, have put us in a growth market. We are ready for further challenges and look forward to remaining part of this emerging market in the future.