Table of Contents
● Who is a Freelance Professional?
● Top 10 Benefits of Hiring Freelance Professional Services
● Where to Find Freelance Professionals
Many businesses are slowly, but steadily shifting to working with professional freelancers for many reasons. It is now almost a norm to have a blended workforce of full-time employees, freelance professionals, and other part-time resources.
These companies enjoy some clear advantages that have increased the demand for freelance professional services. This has also led to many firms and agencies acting as aggregators of professional freelancers and liaising with clients to secure projects and assignments. So, what are these benefits driving more and more organizations to hire freelancers? Let’s see ahead.
Who is a Freelance Professional?
A professional freelancer works independently, directly with clients, on a project basis. These projects could be long-term or short-term. A freelancer is not an employee, which means that a company doesn’t pay a “salary” to the freelance professional who is not on the company’s payroll. Instead, they are paid a fixed rate, agreed upon at the start of the project through a written contract or agreement.
A freelancer could work full-time or part-time, depending on time availability and commitment to specific tasks.
Most freelancers sign a contract with their clients that clearly lays down the following:
● Payment terms
● Fees
● Timelines
● Scope of work
● Reporting details
You can become a professional freelancer in any domain. Some popular freelance professional services include,
● PR and media
● Marketing
● Social media
● Video editing and production
● Computer programming
● Design
● Leadership and strategy
10 Benefits of Hiring Freelance Professional Services
A professional freelancer can be engaged in many ways. And in doing this, you can enjoy multiple benefits as a business or hiring agency.
1. Save costs
Employing someone full-time is always more expensive than engaging someone on a project basis. For example, if you are in the business of training, you can hire a full-time trainer who delivers the training only during specific periods of the year.
Or you can hire a freelance trainer, who comes on board for a few months when the training is to be delivered. Additionally, your overhead costs also come down because most freelance professionals prefer to work remotely.
2. Hire experts
Experts typically offer freelance professional services in a niche domain. They come with a specific skill set that matches the task at hand. This way, businesses do not need to invest time and money in grooming an individual. And can get the work done in the quickest possible time by an experienced individual.
3. Quality of work
Given their experience and expertise, most freelancers are expected to deliver a very high quality of work. Before hiring a professional freelancer, you can always check out their previous projects and outcomes and make your evaluation. Only when you are satisfied can you go ahead with offering a contract.
4. Timely deliverables
In contrast to full-time employees, who are involved with multiple projects simultaneously, a professional freelancer comes on board to deliver a specific set of tasks. This translates to adhering to strict timelines, which are bound by the contract that is agreed upon. Businesses can rely on shorter turnaround times and get more work done with high quality.
5. A vast pool of freelance experts
When working with freelancers, you have access to a broader talent pool. You can hire experts from around the world! This is a considerable advantage compared to full-time employees, which, in a way, restricts your talent pool.
6. Reduce risks to the company
When you hire full-time employees, you also need to invest in their learning and development to ensure that they keep delivering high-quality work. It also helps in retaining employees long-term. But there is also an element of risk involved because the probability of the employees leaving the organization remains throughout their lifecycle. With professional freelancers, you can eliminate this risk altogether.
7. Smooth recruitment
When you want to employ full-time individuals, you have to invest time, money, and talent optimization efforts to find the right fit for the role and the company. And then, there is an entire onboarding process that you have to plan and execute, which may not even be enough for the individual to stay on. With freelancers, you don’t need to struggle with recruitment or onboarding. You can offer them contracts with clear deliverables and timelines and move on to the next project.
8. Imbibe fresh perspectives
Working with freelancers allows you to welcome new ideas consistently. This can be a boon for your business by bringing innovation and creativity. This is important to break the monotony of work for your company and your stakeholders.
9. Short deadlines
When you have to meet quick deadlines, the best option is to hire a professional freelancer. These individuals are highly skilled at delivering quality work with a short turnaround time.
10. Flexible work hours
Due to the nature of their engagement, freelance professionals tend to have a flexible working schedule. Without worrying about backlash, you can reach out to them beyond your stipulated work hours. With full-time employees, this is a considerable disadvantage.
Where to Find Freelance Professionals
With the increasing demand for professional freelancers, many new ventures have come up to support their sourcing. The different places to source vetted and specialized freelancers are,
● Online marketplace: There are dedicated websites that have been designed to offer an online marketplace for recruiters and freelancers. Here, you can easily search for domain-specific freelancers or the specific freelance professional service you are looking for. Pepper Content is India’s biggest marketplace for freelance professionals.
● Mobile applications: Just like a website, you can also download mobile applications like Blue Tie or Freelancer that allow you to chat with shortlisted freelancers directly. You can negotiate rates and timelines, offer contracts on the platform, and even track work progress through the app.
● Word of mouth: This is an age-old method of hiring qualified professionals for specific tasks. It works well for freelance hiring as well. You can always dip into your existing pool of freelancers or reach out to new ones.
The Final Word
As is evident from these benefits, hiring a professional freelancer can be an excellent strategic move for a business, especially if you are in the growth phase and looking to hire experts on a tight budget. So, go right ahead and start exploring the world of freelancing today!
FAQs
Freelance employment refers to a mode of working by individuals, independently with clients, at pre-decided rates and timelines.
Freelancers can get paid on an hourly or project basis.
Professional freelancers can be sourced through online marketplaces or word of mouth.
Since most freelancers are bound by a contract that lays down their deliverables and scope of work, along with the rates, their location becomes immaterial. In some cases, however, you may need the professional to be located in a particular geography to complete the task.
More and more companies are switching to hiring professional freelancers to save money and get more work done in the short run. It is difficult to say whether it will replace full-time employment completely. But it is a growing sector when it comes to efficient hiring.
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