As a small business owner you want to save money where you can, but you do not want to sacrifice quality work when hiring. With all the talented freelancers out there, experts in a variety of fields, you may be wondering if it is necessary to ever hire in-house. Or you might be worried that you will lose out on loyalty if you work with freelancers, rather than hiring regular employees. There are times when it makes sense to hire a freelancer and there are other times when you should hire in-house, here is a run down of the reasons for both options.
Hire a Freelancer if:
- You are just starting out and you do not have the budget for an in-house hire. Hiring on a per project basis is a great way for you to save money while your business is growing by mitigating the cost and risks in hiring investment.
- You have a one-off need on a short term project for a specialized skill. When you only need a job done once, for example: when you need an expert to build your website for you, hiring a freelance web designer makes sense.
- The job is infrequent. If you only need someone once a year, say to do your taxes, why would you hire a full time employee?
- Business is growing but you’re not sure if it will continue to do so and at what rate. If business is booming, it is tempting to hire a new employee, but you might be worried that you are just experiencing the boom part of the boom and bust cycle. Hiring freelancers during growth periods can help you meet demands without the cost of and investment in hiring a regular employee.
- You need someone to get started on a project now and do not have time to go through a rigorous recruiting and training process. With the multitude of websites such as Sagegroupy, Upwork and Fiverr out there, it is a cinch to find the right freelancer for the job. The time from recruiting to getting a freelancer to work on a project is much shorter than the time it takes to find and train a new employee.
- The company budget does not have room paying benefits. Full time hires not only require a regular salary, they also need things like insurance, pension and other benefits; freelancers do not.
- The office space is too small for an in-house employee. When the work does not need to be done onsite, hiring remote workers on a per project basis erases the need for a big office to house all your employees in.
- You need an expert but cannot afford to pay an expert’s full-time wage. Experts demand big salaries that are out of reach for most small business. Luckily, there are many experts available on a temporary basis as freelancers so you can get quality work on an important project without having to pay a huge salary.
- You are running a small business without the time (or an HR department) to deal with sorting out payroll, taxation, benefits etc. that hiring regular workers requires. Employing freelancers is a hassle-free way to get the workers you need.
- There is a need to reach beyond city boundaries to find the talent you need. Sometimes there are no experts available in your location, so you need to tap into the global talent pool of freelancers to have your needs met.
Hire In-house if:
- You need a regular employee on staff and have the budget for one. Spend time recruiting and training someone to work with for the long haul if you want the commitment and stability that comes from having someone in-house.
- You need someone wholly focused on your business. If you want to make sure your worker is always available on your schedule and/or during regular business hours, then hiring in-house makes more sense than hiring a freelancer who has other clients and their own business to focus on.
- They will be working with customers. When you need someone who can be the regular face of your business to your customers, then you should hire a regular employee.
- There is a need for someone who will develop an intimate knowledge of your business. If you need someone to know your business inside and out in order to be effective at doing the job, then you’d better hire in-house.
- The work requires oversight or onsite collaboration. When work requires everyone to be in the same space at the same time, you will need in-house employees on site at regular hours.
- You need someone working on a core aspect of your company, such as developing a product, that will take a long time. If the work is going to take a long time, then it makes more sense to pay salary than pay hourly.
Hopefully after reading these requirements you know which type of employee best fits your needs. Freelancers offer budget-friendly flexibility, regular employees offer stability and commitment. Imagine an ideal scenario as follows: a person starts off as a solopreneur and then becomes a small business owner. That small business owner then hires freelancers to help as their business grows, once the business is big enough they can hire in-house when their budget allows and there is a need for regular employees. If you are looking for someone to work on one of your projects, browse our pool of talented freelancers here on Sagegoupy today.
Authour: S.Suzuyama
