With the world economy continuing on it’s perceived down slide, business costs are increasing rapidly. Maintaining an in-house graphic design team is a costly expenditure. One of the best ways to save your business some money, and increase your profits is to hire freelancers to undertake work for you.
Whether you choose to sub-contract just some of your business activities (design work, website coding etc) or entire projects (like organizing an event) you’ll often be pleasantly surprised at the level of quality you can achieve, whilst still saving money.
Expert freelancers are available in all areas of the advertising and marketing industry and are able to work for you in ways that will often save you money. The most obvious is of course that if they aren’t working for you on a project, they DON’T COST YOU A PENNY!
You don’t have to pay for their coffee/smoke breaks, days off, holiday or sick pay. In fact many freelancers working on projects will be working on a number of projects at a time, so won’t be expecting or require a full time wage. This added flexibility means that you can use them when you need them, and not pay them when you don’t.
Another benefit of a freelancer is that because you don’t employ them you aren’t tied into a long term contract. This means that should your company not need them any more – just don’t hire them for the next project. As belts are tightened, your businesses ability to grow and contract quickly will mean that you are less likely to be affected long term. The savings of an full-time employer not having to pay health and 401K benefits is considerable; as is the savings of avoiding to costs associated with federal and state taxes and unemployment and insurance required when employees work full-time on-site.
The best bit is that if you work your pricing right, a freelancer will cost you less than you are billing your end client – either on an hourly or daily basis – meaning that often you will make more money than they will each hour they work – money for nothing! Be prepared that freelancers do typically charge quite a bit more per hour than you would ever think to pay a full-timer. Keep in mind that freelancers absorb all the costs of running a small business including purchasing of equipment and supplies, maintaining their own health care, tax liabilities, and other costs that you, as a would-be employer avoid by outsourcing to them. However, since you are only paying them for the time they spend on your project, the savings always outweighs the cost of a full-timer.
When it comes to projects that require a certain creative aesthetic, it’s nice to be able to pick from many different creative styles. And sometimes it’s tremendously advantageous to employ many different creative aesthetics, rather than being locked in to the same ones, as you would be if you housed a full-time team of creatives.
So, if you are thinking about a new hire, consider whether their work load would be better and more cost effectively served by hiring a freelancer, rather than a permanent staff member.
