Assembling a team of freelancers vs permanent staff

For some, using a freelancer is as everyday as chucking on your shorts and jandals. For others, it’s as uncomfortable as walking down the main street in ya speedos - tog, togs, togs, undies, undies, undies - great ad by the way. Anyway we digress, basically with an abundance of experienced and extremely awesome freelancers out there patiently waiting for you to fill their days with more work, there’s loads of reasons why staffing gig to gig as opposed to permanent hires could be the way forward, especially for start-ups. Here’s just a few.

Get top quality work.

Regardless of the size of your company you might not have the need to hire a full on copywriter, creative designer, videographer, developer etc etc. But in saying that, there will be the odd time that you do need one, and a blimen good one probably. Here’s where a freelancer comes in. You can hire some of the best talent around, meaning the outcomes on your work will be top notch, but you don’t have to invest in the hefty salary to match, and you don’t have to find 40 hours of work for them a week. It’s a casual thing.

Save money.

Without launching into too much corporate spiel, it’s all about the ROI, or return on investment for those less fond of the ol acronym. By getting on board with a freelancer, you don’t have to front up with loads of cash for an annual salary, you only have to pay them per project or per hour.

As well, with a freelancer you don’t have to pay for all those niggly costs associated with hiring someone - the likes of buying them some sweet gadgets and the latest software. They have it all themselves, so they are good to go whenever you need. Even the cost of recruitment and ongoing employee costs, like having to pay Kiwisaver, can be minimised.

There’s no commitment.

The old saying goes “try before you buy” - well with a freelancer you can. No longer do you have to rely on awkward interviews with irrelevant questions that lead to you locking in someone for life (well not life but you know what we mean). Instead, give them a small task to start with and if you like their work you can use them again. If you don’t, simple - move on and try someone else. Eventually you’ll find the perfect fit and you can go back to them time and time again knowing you’ve bagged yourself a winner.

They’re reliable.

One of the beauties of working with freelancers is that they are eager to please. I mean, their livelihoods do depend on the work they deliver and the desire for repeat business. With that in mind, if you get a good freelancer you can always guarantee that they will stick to your timelines and deadlines, your budgets and your brief. Not delivering what you want is a surefire way to get fired after all.