If you’re a small business owner, you might be wondering which is better hiring a freelancer or keeping an in-house employee. Working with a freelancer has its pros and cons. Similarly, working with an in-house employee has its benefits and drawbacks. The right decision depends on your resources and goals. In this guide, we’ll draw a comparison between both. By the end, you’ll have a clear picture of which hiring strategy is a better fit for your business or company. Let’s get started.
Freelance vs. In-House: What’s the Best Way to Hire? (All You Need to Know)
The Rise of Freelancing
In recent years, more and more people are turning to online freelancing instead of a 9 – 5 in-house job. The trend is growing rapidly. Let’s quickly look at why people are preferring freelancing over traditional roles:
Flexibility: A freelancer can choose to work on their own time. They can also pick their own physical location.
Variety of Work: Freelancers can work on a variety of projects simultaneously. They can choose their projects and clients.
Potential for Higher Earnings: Freelancing involves selling time and expertise for money. So, the more you work, the higher you tend to make.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about why you, as a business owner, should hire a freelancer.
For business owners, this growing pool of freelancers offers an exciting opportunity to use the world’s top talent cost-effectively. But, like most things in business, hiring the right freelance talent is a challenge. Plus, the hiring strategy has some drawbacks you need to know before moving forward. Let’s first talk about why you should hire a freelancer instead of a full-time hire.
The Case for Hiring a Freelancer
Here are the benefits of hiring freelancers as a business owner.
Cost-Effective
When you hire a full-time employee, you pay them a fixed salary. You’ll have to keep paying that salary even if they underperform. Freelancers are performance-based workers. You get what you pay for. This means you can negotiate the price for every project and invest just the right amount of resources. Plus, since it offers so many benefits to freelancers, there’s a lot of competition in the industry, which can help you hire good resources at low costs.
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Access to Specialized Skills
When you hire an in-house specialist, you’re stuck with them for a specific period of time, which mostly depends on your initial contract. On the other hand, you can hire multiple freelancers for a range of marketing tasks. This also helps you generate better outcomes for these tasks. For instance, a seasoned freelance copywriter will know how to turn words into sales, whereas an all-in-one, in-house marketer may not be good at copywriting.
Flexibility
While working on big projects, you may need to hire someone for a specific time. An in-house marketing team doesn’t give you that flexibility. Most often, you’ll be stuck with an employee for the long term.
Global Talent Pool
Let’s face it, you can only hire an in-house employee within a specific physical boundary. On the other hand, you can work with freelancers anywhere in the world. This helps you grow your business by working with the most talented people around the world.
The In-House Perspective
Although you might think hiring freelancers is a much better option, there are benefits attached to in-house hires. Let’s explore them.
Team Building and Culture
Remote workers can help you achieve specific tasks cost-effectively, but they can’t participate in your company’s activities. When you’re working in-house, it’s easier for you to work in teams and become a part of the culture.
Easier Collaboration
Globalization has eliminated communication barriers, but it can’t eliminate physical ones. Being present face-to-face helps with relationship building and collaboration on team projects.
Loyalty and Long-term Investment
Full-time employees often feel more committed to growing a company and tend to work with you for longer periods than freelancers. Hiring an in-house employee helps you build a long-term resource you can fall back on in challenging times.
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Drawbacks of In-House Hires
The biggest drawback of hiring an in-house resource is added costs. According to Investopedia, the average cost of hiring an in-house employee is close to $1500. As previously mentioned, you have to pay them a fixed salary every month no matter how they perform. Plus, there’s an ongoing cost associated with the training and development of in-house employees. And since it’s a long-term investment, you’ll have to make more effort to hire the right resource.
Freelance vs. In-House: Making the Right Choice
There are a few important questions you need to ask yourself before picking a hiring strategy:
- What’s your budget?
- How consistent is your workload?
- What skills do you need? (Freelancers are better for one-off projects requiring specific skills)
- How important is company culture for you?
- How quickly do you want to scale? (For quick progress, freelancers are a better option)
Freelance vs In-House: Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Difference Between In-House and Freelancer?
Full-time employees work with a single company, typically for a fixed salary. Whereas, freelancers are self-employed and can work with multiple clients. They have more work and location flexibility.
Is It Cheaper to Hire a Freelancer or an In-House Employee?
It’s generally cheaper to hire a freelancer than an in-house employee because you can hire them for specific tasks and projects.
Should I Hire a Freelancer or an In-House Employee?
It depends on your resources and goals. If you want to grow quickly and cost-effectively, hire a freelancer. If you want to build a team and are looking for a long-term resource, hire an in-house employee.
Conclusion
The benefits freelancing offers are too good to ignore as a skilled professional. It lets you choose your projects and clients and offers time and location independence. From a business’s perspective, hiring a freelancer means they can invest in specific skills, making this route more cost-effective. You also get to work with talented individuals without any physical boundaries. However, an in-house employee can also prove to be a good long-term resource. The right decision depends on some factors, including your budget, the consistency of work, the skills you need, the nature of projects, and more. Keep in mind your business’s uniqueness and your marketing goals while making a decision.
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