how small business can use freelancers and contractors

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How Small Businesses Can Make Use of Freelancers and Contractors


• With rising Internet speeds and a truly global marketplace, more and more workers are choosing to operate on a freelance, self-employed basis

• This means that there’s a deep well of expertise and talent waiting to be tapped into whenever you need help with your business or start up

• Freelancers and contractors can prove to be of great benefit for your company

• But there are some important considerations to take into account before you take the plunge


• Make sure you work with freelancers and contractors that you can trust (of which more later), and get a contractual agreement in place so that both parties know what’s expected

• You have the option of choosing from local or international freelancers, depending on your needs

• It can bring some much-needed expertise to your operation without the time and expense usually associated with hiring staff.


• For a bootstrapping business or start up, employing freelancers and contractors is a perfect solution

• it enables you to keep costs down and maintain the flexibility that a small, self-funded company needs

• Once you’ve found your place in the market, you can take on extra freelancers as and when required, or choose to pull back from employing extra staff when you need a leaner, more focused period of growth


• Do your research

• There’s a vast marketplace of freelancers and contractors out there, and a cursory glance at Twitter, LinkedIn or an online job board is enough to get an idea of how many people are actively looking for work of one description or another

• This is good news for business owners as it means you have many different skills and rates to choose from

• But it’s essential that you put in the necessary research beforehand to avoid problems later on


• Personal recommendations are one of the best ways of finding freelancers, so reach out to friends in your industry to see if there are particular people you should be working with

• When weighing up potential candidates, look at the quality of their previous work and their portfolio

• Check with previous clients for testimonials — if you can’t get hold of any, your freelancer may not be as good as he or she says she is


• Depending on the situation, a formal interview can be a good idea. It gives both you and the freelancer or contractor a way of getting a feel for each other, and offers the opportunity for your potential hires to ask any questions they may have

• Remember that the cheapest option isn’t always the best one, and if you cut corners trying to get low rates then you might find these rates are matched by low-quality work

• Once you’ve found the right people for the task, don’t get rid of your shortlist. Should illness or emergency strike, you make need extra cover, and it’s handy to have some additional names to call on if the need arises


• Getting a professional Web designer to take care of your online presence, for example, will give you a much more impressive, bespoke website when compared with something you’ve knocked together yourself

• Building smartphone apps, putting together a business plan and producing content (whether visual or written) are all jobs that you can assign to freelancers

• A virtual assistant to help you deal with your paperwork and schedule on the occasions when everything starts to get on top of you

• In fact almost any kind of job role can be filled on a freelance basis, giving you the flexibility to adapt your workforce as situations change


• No matter what the size or goals of your business, the freelance option is a great one to have

• It’s inexpensive, it’s flexible, and it gives you the ability to retool the capabilities of your company as it grows and as different scenarios emerge

• Provided you put in the right fail-safe procedures, it can be a very effective strategy

• Further down the line, you might even consider asking some of the best and most ambitious freelancers to join you full-time — they will already know the various systems and company culture, and will need much less time to get up to speed


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