Tapping into freelance talent as a small business owner can save you and your small business money.
Not sure how? Or even if hiring a freelancer is the way to go for your small business?
Welcome back to GinAdmin. I am Gina Koran and I will be your host today. As always, I am grateful that you have a taken a few minutes of your valuable time to read my coffee-induced “wisdom”, as it were.
So today we are going to look at how tapping into the freelance talent out there can help save your small business money this year.
Go grab your favorite drink and let’s dive in…
Did you know…
70% of employers plan to use freelancers this year!
This is according to the 2022 Freelancing Trend in the USA survey conducted early this year.
Companies in many sectors are facing fast-moving challenges in this digital world, and they have to scale quickly in a way they may have not done before. That’s where hiring freelance talent comes in.
https://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/70-of-employers-plan-to-welcome-freelancers-in-2022
This number is amazing, and a great opportunity for small businesses.
Why?
Think about this…WHY are so many companies using freelancers?
Because there are so many freelancers out there!
About 70 million people in the U.S. freelance. With such a staggering statistic, it’s important for business leaders to start thinking about how to harness the immense talent available to them in the gig economy.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/04/05/the-new-freelancers-tapping-talent-in-the-2022-gig-economy/?sh=547856b164cd
So how does this save you and your small business money?
Right now you are wondering what the benefits are to your small business in hiring a freelancer.
There are loads of reasons.
Today, I am going to outline a few of what I think are the top reason working with a freelancer can save your small business money.
Overhead
When I talk about overhead, I’m thinking about providing office space, desk space, any technology needed, office supplies…
All of the things a typical employee would require in order to do the job you have hired them for.
With freelancers, we provide our own, so no ordering all those supplies!
Including the all-important coffee!
Training expenses
Businesses spend millions every year training its employees.
In 2015, large companies spent an average $12.9 million on training. Small companies spent about $350,300, and midsize companies spent about $1.4 million.
http://moneyqanda.com/hiring-a-freelancer/
Freelancers tend to be a constantly evolving breed.
We are always on the lookout for new technology, new training, new anything that we can use to add value to the small businesses we work with.
And because we may be working with several different small businesses, the training topics vary.
So, the training I do for one client may not be relevant to yours. Obviously, you wouldn’t want to or have to pay for that training!
But because I may have done training on a topic for another client, that may benefit you for a task you need accomplished for your business!
I simply write so much every year into my budget for training. And if I need to adjust that, I am perfectly fine with doing so.
My goal is to make sure that I have the skills I need to support my clients!
Remember, we are, ourselves, small business owners…so freelancers find and pay for our own training.
Employee benefits or company benefits
One of the biggest expenses for employers can be benefits.
And there are so many.
You’re looking at health insurance, paid vacation time, retirement plans…the list seems endless.
Especially for small business owners. Not to mention, you need those benefits for yourself!
When you hire a freelancer, we are responsible for providing these benefits for ourselves.
Because, again…we are also small business owners!
40-hour work week
This can be where some small business owners get caught up.
You think if you are hiring someone to do a job, do they not need to be there 40 hours per week?
And you absolutely can do that.
When you hire an employee, you get that 8-hour a day person.
You also take on all of the things we’re talking about here today.
I have talked about this before, but rarely do you have an employee who is working a full 8-hour day.
You’ve got breaks, lunch and just some lag time between tasks.
Not to mention checking their social media.
When you hire a freelancer, you are only paying them for time they actually work.
Overtime pay
If you decide to go the employee route, and you have extra work that needs completed, what now?
Now you have a choice to make.
Either pay that person for the overtime.
Or
Don’t. But that is going to lead to an unhappy employee, right?
Everyone wants to be paid for the time they put in.
By hiring a freelancer to work with you, you can establish with them the schedule and pay structure that is going to work best for you AND them!
Example
I currently work with a couple clients that we structured our contract for so many hours per month.
When I get close to those hours, I let them know where we stand.
At that point, it is up to them whether I simply finish the tasks they have given me or we go over the allotted hours.
And we have it built into the contract what all of that entails.
Freelancers are a pretty flexible lot
We tend to work with our clients, making adjustments where needed, with the goal of making everybody happy.
And making your job easier.
All right. There you have my coffee-induced thoughts on how tapping into freelance talent can save your small business money.
Now I would love to hear your thoughts.
Do you have some other ideas or ways you can tap into the freelance talent out there?
Pop a comment below!
Or head over to my contact page and we can chat about how working with a freelancer may be right for your small business!
Until next time, stay safe my friends!
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