Benefits of Outsourcing to a Freelancer
The Benefits of Hiring a Freelancer
As competition in todays markets increases companies of all sizes are realizing that in order to be successful and remain competitive they need to stay lean. Staying lean in todays economy means trimming away excess expenses without compromising the essential needs of your business. One way to achieve this is by outsourcing certain projects to qualified consultants or freelancers.
Hiring an outside freelancer provides many benefits for businesses that cant afford to bring in a full-time employee for things like web design graphic design marketing consultation copywriting and more. Here are some of the benefits youll receive by outsourcing your content development to freelancers:
1. Freelancers are available when your company has an immediate need. Instead of bringing a full-time employee onto your payroll hire a freelancer only when the situation calls for one. This will reduce the amount of compensation you have to pay increase your profit margin and allow your company to remain lean.
2. Freelancers have a small overhead and can charge cheaper rates. Because many freelancers work from a home office or otherwise have lower operating costs they can afford to offer you cheaper rates on your projects. This will obviously save you money on both long and short-term assignments.
3. Freelancers acquire a wide range of knowledge by working with many different industries. Because freelancers usually dont cater to only one industry (although some do specialize) they are exposed to a wide range of information as they complete projects for their clients. This means fresh creative ideas that may not have been used yet in your industry.
4. Freelancers can provide fast turnaround for most projects. For many freelancers it is important that they complete their projects on time and in accordance with any deadlines that have been agreed upon. This allows them to assist your company and then move on to their next client. Youll reap the benefits of fast turnaround and wont have to wait long for high-quality work.
5. Freelancers can save you time for your main issues. Freelancers are used to working on their own so you wont have to hold their hands throughout the assignment. Many professional freelancers know what questions to ask and what information to gather at the start of an assignment. This means they wont bother you with a million questions every day and wont need in-depth clarification at every step of the process. This will save you time and energy that could be spent working on other projects.
Archive for May, 2007
Benefits of Outsourcing to a Freelancer
Are You Ready to Outsource Your Bookkeeping?
Are You Ready to Outsource Your Bookkeeping?
Do you run your own small business and try to do it all yourself? Why? Shouldnt you spend your time doing what you do best- whether it is selling and marketing customer service or making decisions on how to grow your business?
An entrepreneur tries to juggle many balls each day but sooner or later one of them is going to be dropped. A smart business owner will realize that he/she cant do everything because there are only 24 hours in a day. Unless you are extremely organized and enjoy working with numbers then maybe you need to outsource this job. Too many business owners spend their time doing what they are not very good at simply because they dont know how to go about finding someone to do that job for them.
Where do you start? Ask your accountant for referrals. Obviously you dont need a full-time person to do your books so your best bet is to look for someone who wants to moonlight at a part-time job. There are also bookkeepers with their own small business who are looking for clients. If you dont have any other employees this situation will work best for you because you can pay them as a subcontractor instead of an employee on payroll. However you will need to give them a Form 1099 at year end for tax purposes. But since they are accounting experts they can help you with that task too.
You should interview your prospective bookkeeper just as you would if you were hiring him/her as an employee. Ask for a resume and references and check them out. Since this person will be handling your confidential records you want someone who is trustworthy.
Depending on your location you should expect to pay between $15 and $50 an hour for a bookkeeper. Dont necessarily hire the one who offers the lowest rate- remember you get what you pay for. The more experienced person will cost you more but will provide valuable input and suggestions to streamline your business that will wind up saving you money in the long run.
Since this person will be working closely with you in your business you should feel comfortable with him or her. If you have any reservations about this person go on to the next candidate.
While the selection process may take a while it will be worth it later. Take your time to find the perfect bookkeeper and in a few months youll wonder how you ever managed to run your business before you hired one.
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