As the owner of a small startup or entrepreneur, you probably have two main concerns on your mind. Economizing on the non-essentials of the business and getting all the talent you need to get the company off the ground. The one resource that can help you manage both these concerns is hiring freelancers.
As the Freelancers’ Union in partnership with Upwork reports, an amazing one-third of the American workforce or 53 million people work as freelancers, full-time or part-time to supplement their income from regular jobs. Not only do these workers contribute up to $715 billion to the economy each year, but experts predict that by the year 2020, 40% of the workforce in America is likely to be working as independent contractors or remote workers.
With such an immense talent pool available to you with just the click of the button on an affordable refurbished laptop, it makes perfect business sense to hire freelancers in place of full-time workers while your company is still in its infant stages. Read ahead to understand the complete benefits of tapping into this resource.
1. You Save on Labor Costs
Working with freelancers allows you to make significant savings in more ways than one.
- You save on maintaining office space and equipment needed for employees to work on the company premises.
- You save on the costs of hiring a full-time workforce. While freelancers do command a higher rate per hour, you avoid having to pay Social Security, Medicare, dental and health insurance, retirement benefits, and various other perks that onsite workers are entitled to.
- You need not allow paid vacations and time off in case of childbirth and health issues for employees and immediate family members.
- You save on office overheads like utilities and internet charges.
- You can limit the number of workers in your organization to 15 or below so that the business remains compliant with the regulations of The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
- You save on administrative costs such as making payroll, withholding tax and paying it in your company tax returns.
2. You can Hire the Best of Talent You Need
By signing up with online portals like Upwork, TaskRabbit, Freelancer, Behance, and any others, you can hire the most qualified of talent to help you with the setting up of your company. You need not restrict your choices because of geographical constraints. That’s because independent contractors can deliver the tasks you need from any corner of the country or globe. Further, you can conduct trials by assigning small projects to each candidate until you find the one who has the optimum qualifications and capabilities for your company operations.
Choose and hire freelancers that can help you with an extensive range of tasks such as accounting, designing, legal assistance, business consultants, customer service pros, marketing analysts, and virtual assistance. You can ensure that candidates possess the skills you need by checking for feedback scores that other clients have left for each freelancer.
3. You can Minimize the Risk Factor
Business owners are constantly aware of the range of risks associated with maintaining a large workforce. Here are some of them.
- You may have to deal with providing unemployment insurance, severance payouts, and other workers’ compensation benefits.
- The need for managing office politics and possibility of lawsuits arising from discrimination and harassment issues is eliminated.
- Given the rising number of cases of data breaches where employees inadvertently leaked sensitive information is another risk you won’t need to worry about. When you work with remote workers, you can restrict the kind and extent of customer information that they have access to.
4. You can Hire Freelancers to Suit the Evolving Needs of Your Business
Considering that companies are constantly growing and evolving entities, you’ll find that finding and hiring new talent and removing redundant workers from your virtual payroll is a seamless task. Here’s how:
- You need not go through the time-consuming formal processes of conducting onsite, personal interviews and issuing appointment letters. Or, even organizing orientation programs for newcomers.
- All tasks of firing and hiring can be done via online portals.
- Large corporates often have to set up training programs for existing workers so they can further develop their skills to suit the growing needs of the business. You need not invest in such programs.
5. You can Have Flexible Working Hours and Schedules
When you’re working round the clock on getting your company off the ground, you’ll appreciate workers who are available to assist you at all hours of the day. You can assign additional tasks as and when you need them and avail of the benefit of hiring from across the globe according to the hours when your business operates. Further, since independent contractors have flexible working hours, you may be able to get tasks done out of regular work days like on holidays and weekends.
Be Aware of the Possible Challenges of Hiring Freelancers
While hiring freelancers and remote workers is a smart business choice, you should be ready to take on the challenges that come with the facility. Before you finally make your decision to hire, study the regulations 20-point checklist laid down by the IRS. The document has a list of detailed criteria that clearly define which workers can and cannot be classified as remote employees. Once you have the legal ramifications sorted, you can go right ahead and hire all the freelance talent you need for the growth of your new enterprise.