Small businesses often tend to be one-person operations as entrepreneurs try to take on all the responsibilities in order to save as much money as possible. Employees are often limited to family and close friends or just an extra hand or two to help out.
However, small businesses can benefit greatly from hiring on employees, who can help their operations grow more quickly. For small businesses on a budget — which is most of them — freelancers can fill this role for less cost. Here are just a few of the reasons why you should consider hiring freelancers for your small business:
Image by Dita Margarita
Experience for Less
With a freelancer, you pay by the hour or by the project, allowing you to spend far less for the same experience you would get in a much more expensive employee. You would have to pay a high salary to get the same level of experience in an employee. By hiring a freelancer, you can get the skill and experience your company needs for less.
Not Responsible for Benefits
Salary is only one part of the expense of employees. Typically, you would also need to pay for benefits such as a portion of health insurance premiums, a contribution towards a 401(k) or other retirement account, and paid time off. You would also be responsible for paying a portion of the employee’s taxes. When you hire a freelancer, you don’t have to pay for any of these items — which can nearly double the cost of an employee’s pay package in some cases.
Pay Only for Results
When you hire a full-time employee, you may end up paying for a certain amount of clock watching. With a freelancer, you only pay for results. Even if a freelancer charges you by the hour, you pay by the job, so you can more easily calculate whether the hours reported for the job seem reasonable. However, most often, you will pay a flat fee for the project, so you won’t have to worry about how many hours were put into the job.
Little Risk
Freelancers work on a contract basis. That means that you aren’t bound by a contract and you don’t have any obligation to the freelancer, other than to pay for the job. That means that there is less risk. If you have a problem with an employee, you may have to go through a drawn-out process of filing reports and attempting mediation before you can finally fire the person. In the process, you will lose money and productivity. You don’t face that risk with a freelancer. If you are dissatisfied with a freelancer’s work, you just don’t hire that person again.
Freelance workers offer small businesses all the benefits of full-time employees without the same risk and without costing as much in salary and benefits. If your small business is not already using freelancers, it’s time you look into hiring them to help your business grow.
Do you work with freelancers for your small business? Share your tips for success in the comments!
About the Author: Sarah Clare is a writer and oversees the site projectmanagementsoftware.com, where she has recently been researching project manager software. In her spare time, Sarah enjoys cooking and scrapbooking.