Running a successful business means knowing when to hire help. As tempting as it is to do everything yourself, no single person has the time—or expertise—to tackle all of their essential business tasks on their own! Hiring freelance workers is a fantastic way to acquire the talent your business needs without paying the costs associated with full-time employees. Here are some tips from One Brick Tech to help you find and hire the best freelancers and take your business to the top.

Streamline Your Business Tasks

Hiring and managing freelancers will demand some of your time. Find ways to streamline your important business tasks, so you have extra room in your schedule to dedicate to hiring the right talent and keeping your new workers as happy as possible. For example, Inc recommends several time-saving tools, such as PandaDoc, MailChimp, and Calendly, to streamline your daily business operations.

It will also pay to simplify your invoicing process. While invoicing can be a tedious, time-consuming task, it is also prone to costly mistakes. Forgetting to send invoices, sending them to the wrong people, leaving out critical information, or including incorrect details could seriously threaten your income stream as well as your time. Take advantage of invoicing solutions so you can avoid those common invoicing errors and spend more of your time focusing on the business tasks that will help you drive growth—like hiring the best freelancers for your team.

Develop an Effective Communication Plan

Teams made up of skilled freelancers can be a powerhouse for efficient productive work—that is, if they have the right tools for communication and collaboration. As HR Drive reports, communication failures can lead to massive project delays, lost profits, preventable mistakes, and unhappy workers. Before you start welcoming freelancers onto your team, set up a good communication system. Check out communication tools like Slack, Teamweek, and Trello to keep your freelancers on the same page.

If you like to hop on a call whenever you need to connect with someone, try to get comfortable with written communication. Phone calls and video chats will take up a lot of time when you start managing a larger team of freelancers—especially if your workers are in different time zones. On the other hand, written communication minimizes problems with misunderstandings.

Build a Solid Team, and Take Care of Them

When it’s time to hunt down freelancers, try to expand your search to several different platforms so you can flesh out the very best talent for your team. Freelancing platforms are a great place to start, but don’t forget to look at portfolio sites, professional networking sites, and even social media platforms like Twitter and Reddit as well. You can also try asking around in your personal and business networks to track down candidates for the freelance roles you’re hoping to fill—this is a great way to discover talented workers who are not actively searching for a job!

While looking for freelancers, consider expanding your search outside the US. Outsourcing business projects is quite simple these days due to being cost-effective, plus you have a wealth of online tools at your fingertips to help you pay overseas workers, streamline tasks and manage communications efficiently. In addition to the online time-saving and communication tools mentioned above, utilize a platform that allows you to transfer money to your freelancers on time and with tracking features to keep you up-to-date on the status of the transfer. For example, if you’re paying freelancers in the Philippines, a service like Remitly gives you the option to select from two different payment methods: paying with your bank account ($0 fees and funds arrive within 3-5 business days) and paying with your debit card ($3.99 fee and funds arrive within minutes).

Evaluate Your Candidates

Just because someone sounds perfect on paper, doesn’t mean they are perfect for your business. Avoid hiring a freelancer without first evaluating their skills. If you find a candidate on a popular freelancing platform, you should be able to look at their past projects and read reviews from previous clients. If you discover your freelancers somewhere else, ask to see a few portfolio items and have them complete a small, paid test project to discover what it’s like to work with them. You can also ask your freelancers questions about everything from their competing priorities to the technical tools they use in their work. Most importantly, make sure their expertise and communication style meet your expectations! Try not to settle for a freelancer until you’re sure they are a perfect fit for you and your company.

These tips will help you bring unbeatable talent to your team and ensure your business continues to run as efficiently as possible. Put time into the hiring process so you can find a really good fit. A freelancer who meshes well with you and your business will bring immeasurable value to your growing company.

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