For many small businesses and organizations, it can be hard to find the money for full-time staff. Creative, financial, or administrative tasks might be combined into one position, which doesn’t always serve a company well. These multi-role positions might seem financially beneficial, but they often mean that one area or another will be sacrificed in terms of quality. For example, the financial whiz you hired might not be the best person to handle marketing and graphic design. On the flip side, the creative genius making all of your documents look amazing might not have a great grasp on numbers. It can be tough to decide what matters most, but a good solution could be contracting work out to those who do it best. You can find freelance artists, graphic designers, writers, editors, business consultants, HR professionals, accountants/bookkeepers, and administrative assistants (the list certainly doesn’t stop there) who can provide their specialized services to your company or organization, either in-house or remotely, whenever you need them. Freelancing has become easier and more prevalent with the ability to work from pretty much anywhere, at any time. There are a number of benefits to using the services of freelancers, and I’ve included five below that I think are perhaps the most important. 1. You pay them for the work they do, not for just showing up to the office. Full-time employees are paid for being in the office, but let’s be honest, not ALL of the time spent in the office is directly work-related. There might be 30-minute chitchat sessions, longer-than-necessary walks from meetings, snack runs outside of designated break times, or zone-out periods at their desks. Freelancers bill you for the time they actually spend working on the project you’ve assigned to them. The costs are laid out for you to review in an invoice so that you know you’re paying someone to work, not just show up. A sub-benefit is that you don’t have to pay them for vacation time or sick leave, and you don’t have to provide them with benefits. 2. They (normally) supply the materials or equipment needed to complete the job, and they (probably) don’t require office space. Freelancers working from home (or a coffee shop, or wherever they feel comfortable) will have their own computer and their own software. You won’t have to find them a spot in your office or a computer to work on, and you won’t have to worry about providing them with software licences, a printer, a phone, office supplies, or IT help. If you hire a freelancer to work from your office, they probably won’t require a permanent work space, due to the as-needed basis of the arrangement, and again, they will likely bring some (if not all) of their own equipment. 3. Their schedules are more flexible, so urgent projects or those with timelines requiring evening or weekend work are usually no problem. Need something completed right away, but it’s 8 p.m. and your regular team is off the clock? Depending on the contract you have with your freelancer, they might be willing to take on the project and have it completed for you that same night. Freelancers are normally more willing than full-time or part-time employees are to work odd hours (although some might charge an additional fee for urgent projects). 4. Depending on the contractual agreement, you have no obligation to continue using their services. Hiring freelancers allows you to shop around for the best fit for your team and the project/work in question. It also means that if a particular freelancer isn’t working out so well for you, you can end your working relationship with them and move on to someone who is a better fit. Because you probably haven’t spent as much time and energy on training/orientation for the freelancer compared to what would be provided for regular employees, there is less risk of wasted time. Understandably, a big concern that companies and organizations have about using freelancers is that the freelancer won’t know enough about the company culture or the work the company does to be able to complete the project properly. However, a good freelancer will be able to pick up enough information for the project(s) by visiting the office, meeting the team (in person or via phone, Skype, etc.), and reviewing documents like company handbooks or training materials (though you will likely have to pay for the time they spend completing these initial tasks). As with regular employees, freelancers will become more familiar with the work environment and expectations as they complete multiple projects for you over a longer period. 5. Freelancers are often experts in their field. One of the biggest advantages of hiring freelancers is that you have someone working on your project who specializes in that particular field. Hiring a freelance graphic designer means that the completed graphic design project should be of higher quality than if you had your receptionist put a little something together in Microsoft Word. Freelancers are also often more familiar with innovations, new techniques, and current acceptable standards when it comes to their field of expertise. This ensures your project is up-to-date and falls within current industry standards. Because freelancers aren’t as immersed in the day-to-day company goings-on, they can also bring a fresh perspective and important insights or advice to a project or a company’s internal methods. Not everything I’ve mentioned above will pertain to every contract or every freelancer, but the general benefits that come with the flexibility of using freelance talent certainly help to make this option an attractive one for small businesses and organizations that can’t afford full-time staff. What do you think the benefits are of hiring freelancers? Do you agree with the five I outlined above? Would you or your employer ever consider hiring a freelancer? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. Helpful hints and more information about hiring freelancers: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/242406
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/hiring-freelance-contractors/ https://www.allbusiness.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-hiring-a-freelancer-16432-1.html http://learn.infusionsoft.com/business-management/human-resources/hiring-freelancers-the-basics-every-business-owner-should-know/ |
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