Freelance work is on the rise—many full-time employees have started to leave their corporate jobs to pursue freelance projects instead. And it’s not just corporate workers, it’s people with diverse backgrounds specializing in different fields who have started to offer their services on a project-by-project basis. 
 
With talented people ditching their traditional nine-to-five jobs, it’s clear that freelancers are enjoying the perks that come along with flexible work. As an entrepreneur and the owner of a small business, you can get in on the benefits of hiring freelancers as well. 

Why should a small business hire freelancers? 

1. Work on the business, not in the business

Sometimes, as an entrepreneur, it’s all too easy to get caught up working in the business rather than on the business. You probably catch yourself getting bogged down by all the small things like administrative tasks, social media management and bookkeeping. And while these things are vital to the business, it doesn’t mean you need to be doing them all yourself.

It’s at this point when you think you’re ready to hire an additional employee that you may want to consider hiring a freelancer instead. This is especially true for projects that can regularly be outsourced to agencies. Hiring a freelancer to complete certain projects will free up some time for you to focus on strategy and client relationships rather than small, but necessary, tasks.

2. Cut costs without cutting quality

Why not just hire an employee or turn to an agency to run your social media?
The answer to this question really boils down to cost and the needs of your business. For example, if you hire an employee to maintain your social media presence, there’s a slim chance your employee will actually need to spend an entire shift each day posting content or responding to comments on your business’ Instagram and Facebook pages. Depending on your business, there’s probably not enough engagement from customers to sustain that level of activity. By hiring an employee to solely focus on social media, you may end up paying for many hours of idle downtime as well as benefits and additional taxes that can be avoided by hiring a freelancer.

And as for agencies, you always have the option to outsource work to them; however, they won’t be cheap. Also it's much easier to scale up and scale down on freelancers, versus getting into a longer and more expensive agreement with an agency when you may not be as certain about your cash flow.

3. Access to specialists

Working with freelancers will give you access to a global network of top-tier talent. These self-driven, specialized individuals have diverse backgrounds as a result of working with companies from various industries on a regular basis.
Because they represent themselves, freelance workers are 100% personally and fiercely accountable for the work they do. Freelancers will meet and exceed your standards every time in order to acquire the referrals and repeat business that sustains the flexible lifestyle they enjoy.

4. Get work done while you sleep  

Because freelancers have the freedom to create their own schedules, they often work irregular hours. When a regular employee clocks out at 5PM, for example, a freelancer could be starting a project to have it on your desk by tomorrow at 9AM. In this sense, when you hire a freelancer, you are accessing the ability to get work done while you sleep.

Having people to work outside of the traditional work schedule is especially important when it comes to interacting with the customer. One example of this is social media engagement. If a consumer comments on your post or sends a direct message over social media requesting something from your business, you will want to respond as quickly as possible in order to engage with and satisfy each customer’s needs—something a freelancer can do during evenings and weekends.

5. Hire with ease

With the number of freelance workers constantly on the rise, you will find that there is no shortage of help available to you. All of these workers in the freelance space are eager to take on more projects in order to remain self-employed—meaning they are constantly trying to make themselves more accessible to your business. This makes the hiring process much easier for you.

The process of hiring a freelancer is almost identical to the process of hiring an employee, with most businesses resorting to the online space to do so. You will find that there is an abundance of websites you can use to find freelance workers—the real challenge lies in finding the one that works best for you. But once you do, the process becomes very similar to traditional hiring and you’ll find yourself delegating projects in no time.

Hiring freelancers is only one of the many considerations you will need to plan for when expanding your business. Don’t hesitate to consult the ATB Entrepreneur’s Guide to Growing and Scaling a Business for Human Resources to learn more about implementing HR best practices in your growth-ready business.