-By Ethel Lair 4/19/2022
Freelancers just might be the key to your business’s success. However, building and maintaining a happy, productive team of independent contractors requires you to avoid some of the most common business mistakes. You can set up your company to support a successful freelance team by avoiding these missteps. Here’s a guide about some mistakes to avoid, courtesy of HR Solutions, LLC.
Failing To Create a Business Plan
Every business needs a plan. Traditional business plans include comprehensive details about the company, including your plans for hirees. Create the blueprint and determine the structure before hiring any independent contractors. For instance, forming a limited liability company can provide your company with tax benefits while reducing paperwork and personal liability. When forming an LLC, a formation service can help you avoid lawyer fees and take the work out of the process. Given that states have different rules regarding LLCs, it is smart to check the rules in advance.
Make sure you understand the difference between freelancers and employees. According to the experts, in order to pay your workers, you have to determine how you will classify them. Once you hire independent contractors, you should already have a plan to pay them. Many freelancers accept the following forms of payment:
• Checks
• PayPal
• Transfer services
If you have workers from outside the U.S., such as from Thailand, it can be expensive to provide payment through wire transfers. Fortunately, there are several services available that provide international money transfers. Different countries may have different fee structures.
Doing Minimal Research
You will need a good understanding of what independent contractors can do. Freelancers can work as tradesmen, artists, graphic designers, consultants and marketers. Freelancers are skilled professionals, and when hiring them, you need a contract that details the relationship and your expectations of one another.
Additionally, know where to find good talent. Use online job boards to scout for workers. For example, if you need translation services, you may want to look for workers in a specific country. For example, you can search boards like Guru for contractors in Thailand.
Next, have a way to communicate with remote freelancers. Consider video calls, cloud-based documents, email and other messenger applications. Additionally, if you need to share project details with a team of web designers, marketing professionals or graphic designers, you may have multiple JPG files. While you might consider compressing the JPG file, that move can degrade your image quality. Try a JPG-to-PDF converter instead to turn images into PDFs and preserve the quality. The tool also allows you to convert multiple JPG files to reduce the number of images you have to send.
Isolating Contractors From the Team
People perform their best for a company that they feel a part of. If you want your contractors to know their work is valued, do not isolate them from the rest of your business. Include your contractors in meetings regarding projects. If you want freelancers to remain on your team, give them as many opportunities as you can. You may not be able to give them the same benefits as your employees, but you can provide them with bonuses, prompt pay and access to benefits. For instance, some companies offer access to health insurance marketplaces.
Freelancers can be a wonderful asset to your business, provided you have a plan in place. If you’ve struggled to properly plan in the past, try to use a template to generate a monthly planner. As is often the case, thorough preparation helps immensely. To ensure you have a happy team of freelancers, avoid the most common mistakes when working with independent contractors.
HR Solutions, LLC exists to help business leaders solve the critical human resource (HR) issues that their organization faces. Backed by an extensive educational and experience background in human resource management, our unique, personable, and creative approach is not only what differentiates us, but it also is what makes us a successful value-adding partner. For more information, please visit our website or contact us today!
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