Nowadays it’s a pretty common practice to work with a freelance specialist, instead of hiring a full-time employee. It makes sense from a practical point of view: you pay for getting job done without paying wages and supporting administrative needs of employees. But is it really that simple to just hire an outsider? Let’s see what are the pros and cons of hiring a freelance worker.

Pros:

1. Cost efficient

You pay for the actual work done, instead of covering the coffee-and-talk time plus additional materials your in-office employee would need (not even mentioning paid vacation and sick days). Besides, project budget is decided in advance, so, supposedly, there would be no surprises.

2. Gets more work done

Being aware of their most proficient time, freelancers set their own working hours. Not only they get more job done, they are more eager to do it in order to keep a client. Plus, they do not get paid for sitting at office – their own profit depends on how soon they complete another project.

3. Specialized

When looking for a full-time employee, you seek a man of many talents since you want invest your money reasonably. Thus, sometimes a man who can do a lot, has trouble with doing one thing perfectly. Now when you take on a freelancer, you’re given an opportunity to choose from a variety of different specialists from a particular sphere. Creative writers write for you creatively. Logo designers make logos. SMM managers manage your social medias and so on.  When on-site workers should have necessary skills to do every task simultaneously.

4. Flexible

You seek a freelancer when he or she is needed, simple as that. You don’t have to pay out compensation when your project is finished and you don’t need him/her anymore.

5. Less legal issues

Your full-time employees have more than a few rights under the state and federal law, meaning there is lots of legal claims to be brought against you. However, a freelancer works under an independent contract as a separate entity, meaning they are not applied to him/her.

P.S. That does not mean you are allowed to discriminate and judge people you hire or work with – they can still sue you.

Cons:

1. Ghostly

Usually, an average freelancer has more than one project going, so there’s a possibility he or she won’t be available during your working hours or without proper planning in advance. At the beginning everything goes smoothly, work is turned in on time and you are both satisfied with your working relationship. But eventually deadlines get missed, quality worsens and then no one answers your emails.It’s a not a general rule, but it may happen.

2. Risky

You have to be conscious of all the risks before hiring someone from outside. Someone without any  background knowledge of your company or your partners. Will their work match their claims? Will they meet your deadlines? Are they as skillful as they say?
You cannot know. So take a precaution measures: look through their portfolio, ask for recommendations, ask key questions. Make sure that paperwork is in order and all payment issues have been resolved beforehand.

3. Less Controllable

For sure, a freelance you’ve hired would have much more freedom than your in-house employee. You will not be able to supervise and control his/her each and every step. Are you okay with?

4. Owns copyrights

More often than not, freelancers own the copyrights for the project they created. And while this issue may be easily resolved in terms of contract, not everyone would agree to give them up.

Nonetheless, hiring a freelancer can be a perfect solution for your business. Nevertheless, do not let low costs deceive you, there are always dis- to every advantage.  Consider all the aspects, so you would know how to deal with them. If in your case pros outweigh the cons, there are enough online resources to post your project or look for freelancers i.e. Upwork, Freelancer, PeoplePerHour etc. Use a well-known site that thoroughly monitors freelancers for any kind of fraud to avoid being deceived. Although, such websites charge a monetary fee for hiring a suitable freelancer. Usually it’s a small percentage from the overall cost of the project, which can be paid either by the hiring side or by freelancers.

Most of the time, freelancers are well-behaving responsible workers that value your money and time.