How hiring freelancers can turbocharge your business

Jessica Heagren, CEO and founder of That Works For Me, a platform that brings together businesses and skilled professionals on a flexible basis, explains how hiring freelancers can transform your business.

As the brains and brawn behind a start-up or growing business, you’re used to wearing many, many hats. In a single day, you can go from tackling your budget to writing website copy, trying to work out how on earth you’re meant to “do” Instagram whilst putting together pitch decks. Overwhelming doesn’t even come close to describing it!

Many people feel they have to be good at everything. Even though they know the value of delegation, there often isn’t anyone else to delegate to - you have to do it all.

But savvy business owners have a secret. They know that the path to skyrocketing sales, nurturing continuous growth and standing out from the competition isn’t doing everything themselves. Instead, they outsource tasks, projects and responsibilities to trained professionals by hiring freelancers who assist with targeted areas of their business.

Successful businesses know the value of hiring brilliant freelancers

Whether you call them freelancers, consultants or remote talent, these flexible experts can be drafted whenever and wherever your business (or you!) needs assistance.

In the last few years, the number of skilled professionals in the UK has more than doubled, so there are swathes of fantastic qualified people out there, offering an immense variety of skills and expertise, which is yours for the taking.

Freelancers are specialists, so they are incredibly efficient and know the tools, processes and techniques that will ensure your job or project runs smoothly - and brilliantly. Leaving you to focus on running your business.

That Works For Me exists to help you find the expert support you need. We make it faster and easier to find skilled professionals who can boost your business; we are deeply passionate about flexible working and bringing a true work-life balance to people’s lives.

When to hire a freelancer

We find business owners call on freelancers most in the following scenarios:

You don’t have the skills in house

If a project crops up which requires new expertise, it takes time, effort and money to train yourself or a team member. A freelancer will have all the skills you need; they’ll take the reins and deliver.

You suddenly need an extra pair of hands

For those moments when everyone is working flat out, and the work keeps on coming, using freelancers gives you the flexibility to quickly scale your team up to manage the high tide and then the freedom to rein it back in once you’ve caught your breath.

It will take you too long to do it yourself

You’d happily do everything yourself, but there are only 24 hours in a day, and there’s a LOT to do! So free up your time by drafting in expert help - as the beating heart of the business, your time is incredibly valuable, weigh up that value against very reasonable freelancer rates, and it’s a no brainer.

You’re working on a tight budget

The cost of taking on a permanent member of staff can be prohibitive and a big commitment, even if you know you really need the help. With a freelancer, you simply pay for the work that they do, as and when you need them to.

Where can a freelancer help your business?

If there’s a job you’re struggling with, you can hire a highly skilled and experienced freelancer who will know how to nail it in a flash! Small businesses and start-ups can get help with:

● Marketing

Pull in a marketing guru to ensure you excel with your upcoming launch, rebrand or sales campaign. Get someone in to develop your new marketing strategy, sort out your SEO or overhaul your PPC. You could also find graphic and web designers, PR experts, photographers and videographers, all areas of marketing, production & design.

● Social Media

Whether you need someone to help you shape your social media strategy or you’re looking for an expert to run all your channels for you, a social media expert can make light work of this time-consuming job on every businesses to-do list.

● Virtual Assistants

These superheroes will ensure you’re organised, productive and in control. They’ll take all those fiddly and demanding jobs off your hands. However you run things, virtual assistants are skilled in a huge range of tools and software - they can adapt to you.

● Legal

Need legal advice for a particular project? Find a remote specialist who can swoop in with the expert knowledge you require, safe in the knowledge that they know exactly what they're doing.

● Human Resources

Growing businesses can benefit hugely from advice or coaching from an HR expert, but this can be an expensive role to commit to in-house. Hire a remote HR adviser instead, and they can maintain your HR administration for you, help with recruitment and even support you with training and best practices - all for less than full time.

● Finance

Get the financial brainpower to sweep through your financial report, KPIs, budget or funding claims. Then, whether you need a chartered accountant or a finance administrator, you can hire one on a flexible basis, anytime!

● Project Management

Get your hands on a results-focused project manager who can motivate your team, maximise budgets and keep everyone on track - bring them in to tackle the big jobs, learn from them, and lean on them when you need to.

How much does it cost to hire a freelancer?

The cost of taking on a freelancer is more budget-friendly than you might expect. People charge by the hour, day or project, and the majority provide a fixed price up-front to help you work out what you need.

When you look at a freelancer’s profile on That Works For Me, look at their ‘My Offerings’ section. This is where you’ll find details of all the packages they offer, with clear pricing.

Bear in mind that whilst a freelancer’s hourly or daily rate may be more than you’d pay a member of staff per hour, you aren’t paying for any of the additional costs that come with a full-time recruit - Employer’s National Insurance Contributions, pension payments or office and equipment overheads, the list goes on!

On top of these cost savings, a freelancer will give you the expertise and advice you need instantly, without the long-term commitment.

How to find your perfect freelancer

Once you’ve established the type of freelancer you need, find your new expert at That Works For Me. Spend 5 minutes setting up your branded business page, then easily add as many jobs, projects and roles as you need!

If you post a one-off project, our freelance members will come to you with a quote for the work - so you can review their profile and choose the perfect person for you. You can also search through our database of members and invite people to apply if they look like an ideal fit.

Using That Works For Me means you have a bank of specialists at your fingertips. A lot of our members are parents or carers, and they excel at flexible, remote working - and they’re ready and waiting to help your business.

Find your ideal freelancer now

Visit ThatWorksForMe.co.uk to hire freelancers who can free up your time, help you blast through your to-do list and boost your business. Good luck!