5 Reasons Freelancers Are Your Startup’s Greatest Asset

The gig economy is here, and it’s great news for your company

In most workplaces, freelancers have typically been seen as a temporary solution to understaffing or skill deficits. They’re a great way to bridge a gap between full-time hires, but when it comes down to it, most companies would still rather keep their creative in-house.

That’s all about to change.

As it turns out, freelancers can actually be your startup’s greatest asset if you approach working with them correctly. We’ve seen it firsthand time and time again, both at our own company and at the companies we’ve supplied with freelancers.

Believe us when we say that when it comes to bootstrapping a business, freelancers are solid gold.

If you’re still skeptical, we’ve outlined 5 ways that freelancers are your startup’s greatest asset below. Read on …

1. They help your bottom line

The most talked-about way that freelancers are an asset to your startup is that they help your bottom line, especially in the savings they bring to the table. The trick is to not let the sticker price scare you away.

The typical freelance hourly rate is significantly higher than the salary you would pay a traditional employee. However, you won’t need to pay for a freelancer’s health or retirement benefits, their Medicare or Social Security taxes, or their office space or work equipment.

All of those eat up valuable capital in a hurry when you start hiring actual employees. But with freelancers, you can expect to spend about 20–30% less than you would on a traditional staff.

2. They share your entrepreneurial mindset

What many startup founders tend to forget when hiring is that freelancers are self-employed … and being self-employed takes grit. That’s a personality trait you definitely need on your team when getting your company off the ground.

Keep in mind, too, that because they run a business, they’re more likely to get where you’re coming from than a traditional employee. They may even be able to connect with your company’s mission or products on a deeper level because they understand how much work and time you’ve invested to reach the point where you are.

That connection is what causes them to invest emotionally in your company, which means they’ll work even harder to bring you great results.

3. They scale easily

For your startup to make it very far, your business must be able to scale. That’s much easier to do with freelancers on staff.

For instance, if you just need a bit of design help before launching a new service, you’re better off hiring a freelance designer for the project than bringing on a whole new employee for a role that will last a week or two.

And if you hit a goldmine of new customers and have to double your entire staff to keep up with demand, freelancers are often more readily available than employees, who may need to give their 2 weeks’ notice before joining your team full-time.

4. They’re specialists in their fields

As freelancing has risen in popularity over the past few years, one thing has become clear: If a freelancer wants to differentiate themselves from the competition, they have to become experts in their field.

Consequently, the top freelancers on the market have invested a lot of time and money into building their portfolios, refining their skills, and learning new strategies to do their job even better.

And because freelancers typically stay with clients for less time than the average employee stays at a full-time job, they’re able to build up that expertise much more quickly than an employee can. That means someone who has spent 5 years freelancing in a given field may have just as much or even more experience than someone who’s been employed in that field for longer.

So if you want to hire someone with expert-level skills, you’re better off moving your search to the freelance sector.

5. They’re a safer option

One of the problems many hiring managers face is that there’s no easy way to tell whether a candidate will be a smart hire or not. After all, references only give you part of the picture, and you can never be entirely sure you’re speaking to the person who managed your candidate directly.

That’s not the case with freelancers. Because freelancing is such a widely accessible career path, many of the top places to find freelancers have built-in methods for sifting out the under-performers.

For example, Upwork uses a 1–5-star rating system, while we at Collabos put applicants through a rigorous, multi-phase screening process that only about 5% of freelancers pass.

So not only do freelancers come at a lower cost and bring with them a greater level of expertise, but they also come at a lower risk than traditional employees — and when you’re getting your startup off the ground, you need to minimize as much risk as possible.

Put freelancers to work for your startup

Are you ready to start hiring staff for your fledgling company but aren’t sure where to start? We can help. Just tell us what work you’d like to have done for you. Our team of experts here at Collabos will take care of everything else, from recruiting and vetting freelancers to assigning and managing tasks. All you have to do is pay for completed work.

Want to learn how we can help your startup take off? Request your free quote below to get started.