As your agency grows, you’ll face the inevitable question all agency owners battle with:
“When is the right time to hire more staff?”
Quickly followed by:
“Should I hire an employee or a freelancer?”
To help you answer these challenging questions, we’ve put together an evaluation checklist. Plus, we’ve also included tips on how to find and hire the best freelancer for your business.
Let’s dive in:
Most agencies start small, perhaps even as a solo venture. It’s hard graft. It’s exciting. It’s challenging. And then, slowly but surely, you start to grow.
But as you attract, win, and retain more clients, you start to realize that something has to give if your agency is going to flourish.
Here are the tell-tale signs that it’s time to hire more help so your business can meet demands:
Having decided you need some additional help, the next question to tackle is whether you hire an employee or a freelancer.
There are pros and cons to both, but ultimately it comes down to you and your business requirements.
Here are a few questions to consider:
Do I need someone on a long-term or short-term basis?
Running an agency, you might decide it’s better to employ a new member of the marketing team to work across all projects. You can invest time to train them in your company processes so that they’ll be an asset working for all your clients. This applies to both full-time and part-time employees.
Alternatively, you might have a new client who’s agreed to trial your services for six months. In that case, hiring an experienced freelancer or contractor who can work autonomously for the short term is likely preferable.
Do I need to supervise the work, or can I delegate?
Some tasks can be delegated to freelancers without requiring constant supervision.
For example, as an agency owner, you might want to outsource your admin tasks to a virtual assistant (VA) who works a set number of hours per day or week. Or you might want to hire freelance copywriters, graphic designers or web developers to work on set projects following guidelines in the “brief”.
Is this work essential to the business, or is it a supporting function?
As a digital agency, you rely on computers and software to get your work done. But does that mean you need an in-house employee to manage all your IT needs? Not necessarily. You could just as easily outsource your IT support requirements to a freelancer or contractor for 24x7 support, routine maintenance or ad-hoc requests.
On the other hand, a business development manager or account executive role might be better suited to a full-time employee who is an intrinsic part of the team.
Do I need someone on-site or remote?
Location is an essential factor to consider. If your work has to be done on-site, then you may have to hire an employee. That’s because most freelancers work remotely. Of course, there are exceptions, but that’s the general rule. Contractors, on the other hand, often work on-site.
Confused?
Here’s what you need to know.
Freelancers and contractors (sometimes referred to as independent contractors) are essentially small business owners who work for clients on a self-employed basis.
Some are registered as sole traders, while others work through their own limited companies. The names are often interchangeable, although there are some characteristic differences:
Okay, so you’ve decided you need to hire a freelancer. But how do you go about hiring one, and where do you find them?
Freelancing platforms like Hubstaff Talent, Upwork, Freelancer, and Fiverr cover a wide range of roles, including marketing, sales, developers, writers, designers, and more.
You have the option to post your job requirements, let freelancers apply, and then interview potential candidates:
Or you can check freelancer profiles, like marketing consultant Diana Marinova, review previous project feedback, and invite them to apply for your role:
On Fiverr Pro, you can source “top quality, hand-picked professionals, trusted by the world’s biggest brands”:
Portfolio platforms like Behance, Stackoverflow, Dribble, Carbonmade, and Contently are useful when you need to find creative talent, e.g. freelance designers, developers, and copywriters.
You can search portfolios:
Or post jobs:
Why not take advantage of social media platforms to post your requirements? Freelancers often search for opportunities on LinkedIn and Twitter, and in Facebook Groups, so a carefully worded post can attract suitable candidates.
Alternatively, you can search social platforms using keywords to find appropriate freelancers, and then approach them directly:
Try listing your requirements on generic job boards and ad sites, like Indeed and Craigslist, or select niche-specific job boards like ProBlogger and BloggingPro for bloggers and writers.
Word-of-mouth referrals from colleagues or friends can often cut out the leg-work in finding a freelancer. If a freelancer’s work is good enough to get recommended, then it’s worth checking out.
Or, you might come across some creative work you like – a graphic design, a piece of content, a web page – where you can reach out to the owner and see if they’re willing to recommend their talent source.
You could use a recruitment agency that specializes in placing contractors or freelancers for fixed-term projects. For example, Major Players specializes in digital, creative, and tech recruitment of permanent or freelance staff:
If you’ve posted a job on any of the sites above, you’ll most likely be flooded with replies. The next stage is to evaluate the applicants.
Don’t be lured into hiring the cheapest talent you can find. Focus on selecting a freelancer who will produce quality work, first-time, without supervision.
RESOURCE
We’ve put together a couple of handy interview question resources which you may find useful. Although marketing-related, you can adapt some of these questions to other disciplines:
When you’re ready to hire a freelancer, then you should prepare a contract or agreement that specifies the scope and deliverables of the project. A contract protects the interests of both parties and prevents any misunderstandings.
Freelance contracts can be as formal or as informal as you like, but make sure they are agreed and signed before work commences.
If you want your agency to keep growing, then you’re going to need more help. Adding more clients and increasing profits is admirable, but there comes a point when you have to expand your team.
Use the checklist above to see if you’ve reached your hiring point. And then, follow the guidelines to hire the best freelancers for your business.