How Freelancers Contribute to Lower Operating Expenses

Businesses are ready to pay for the required skills to stay competitive and productive in the market. Also, they are also caught in the web of mitigating overhead costs to avoid bankruptcy. Businesses need the best hand on deck, but sometimes the best hands also lack in some aspects.

All businesses need a helping hand to use their expertise, but not all businesses can pay for the services if they are in-house employees. That is why they opt for freelancers rather than expanding their team.

How Freelancers Contribute To Lower Expenses

The goal of every business owner is to maximize profit by cutting office expenses. The need to hire an expert may not arise as they can easily hire freelancers and pay per project. Of course, they can hire them full time, but the effects on their cash flow won’t be pleasing at the end of the year. Freelancers contribute largely to lower operating expenses in organizations, and here are the reasons;

No Physical Space Needed

Hiring freelancers means you hire employees working from home; you don’t hire a freelancer and expect him to resume physically. Freelancers work in their comfort zone, and thus they do not require a space in your workplace. Since they do not require an office space, then they do not need access to the equipment in your office, nor do they need to use your computer for analysis. They choose their own method of working, whether it is through their laptop or their smartphones. They are independent to choose their phone plan and which SIM-only deal offer they like to go with. 

This reduces your cost as you don’t need to allocate space for them or pay extra charges on office space, water and electricity bills. 

Freelancers Charge Less

An average American charges around $11/hr, whereas a freelancer might not charge up to that to do a task. The average annual salary an American receives is around $51,480, which shows freelancers earn less; according to a blog post by Upwork, an average freelancer earns around $42,000, including the 20 percent fee Upwork for using its platform.

Also, when a business hires in-house employees, they spend more on training and courses to sharpen the employees’ skills, but when you hire a freelancer, you are exempted from the extra charges of training as they have the experience already.

Due to competition on freelancing platforms, most freelancers tend to lower their rates to stay competitive and get hired. Hence, they are affordable for tasks.

Freelancers Are More Productive

In-house employees have job security, so they tend to get carried away easily with distractions in the office hence decreasing their productivity. Freelancers, on the other hand, have no job security; a little slip-off can cost them their jobs, so they tend to remain focused and deliver on time.

Additionally, since freelancers work from their place of comfort, they tend to be more productive than an average in-house employee. Working from home or a co-working space has been said to increase productivity.

Payment Per Project

There is nothing more crippling to cash flow than an employee that can’t justify his presence or his role in the workplace. A CCTV engineer, for example, will be on a monthly payroll, whereas the CCTV only needs servicing once or twice a month. Such employees who are not at fault as they are only doing the job they are employed for can cripple cash flow.

Freelancers, on the other hand, are hired per project because of their expertise, and after the task has been completed successfully, they get paid, and that is it, no extra charge or monthly pay. Although, a good turn deserves another; if after a task has been completed and there is a need to hire such a freelancer again, you can rehire and pay after the project.

Conclusion

Freelancers contribute a lot to lowering business operating expenses due to the fierce competition on freelancing platforms. Most will have to submit a proposal to be interviewed, and to have a high chance of getting interviewed; they need to lower their rate even though they could have charged more because of their expertise.

Hiring freelancers appeals to the business’s cash flow, unlike the effects of in-house employees on the cash flow. Lastly, freelancers are more productive and give a quick turnaround for each task assigned to them.