Hire Home-Based Freelancers to Save Space and Money

Hiring home-based freelancers can be both a blessing and a curse, mostly depending on who you decide to hire. With today’s businesses in constant need forof hardworking professions while hoping to maintain a strict budget, outsourcing certain projects is becoming a lucrative investment. The benefits of hiring freelancers that work remotely come from the fact that they are always available while saving money on everything from office space to parking spaces. Anyone with a stable internet connection can work from home and contribute to an ongoing project or a short-term one.

Everyone is different

Every worker is different. Each one keeps a different calendar, spaces out their time differently, works at a different pace, etc. The majority of home-based freelancers can be found in the IT industry, chiefly due to the fact that the majority of the tools that they need can be used from home. Some people simply do not function well in an office enclosure – it can be too distracting, and the unfamiliar surroundings can get to them when they first start out. A home office would combine the best of both worlds and allow them to ease into tasks more comfortably, giving you 100% from the get-go.

When speaking of giving a 100%, everyone’s output is different. The main reason for this is their time management. Some people simply do not fit into the nine to five mold They produce better results by working around the clock in small increments, giving them time to think things through (thereby improving productivity) and getting the same or even more work done than they would have in an eight-hour marathon. A home solution gives them just what they need while providing you with a quality workforce that would not be possible in a classic office situation.

While talking about time, another important aspect of every worker is their pace. Simply put, people hired to work from home are usually given broader deadlines and demands than they would have in a standard office. This gives them more freedom to work and rethink their steps so they can provide their best as opposed to constantly being interrupted or corrected by a supervisor while still at the beginning stages. The isolation helps boost their productivity and helps keep their mind on track instead of zipping from one problem to another.

Hidden benefits

With the development of the internet, hiring skilled freelancers has never been easier. Gone are the days of filtering through dozens of applications, only to narrow down the selection to two candidates, neither of which really fit your criteria. Online, potential freelancers can submit resumes as well as examples of their work, showing off their skills in exactly the areas you are looking for. This allows freelancers to tap into unused resources across the globe and not limit themselves to local talent, or settle because there is a lack of it.

This bigger worker pool can also come with an unforeseen benefit: time. By hiring people outside of our time zone, we get the unique opportunity of coming in to work the next day and having the completed assignment waiting for us in our inbox. This can boost your company’s productivity by effectively boosting your output and giving you the equivalent of a 24-hour workday if you so choose. This is a huge boost with minimal investment and is simply too good to pass up.

Another money saver is the reduced costs of onboarding newcomers. Through the screening process online, business owners can be much stricter in their requirements for applicants. There is no need to invest company funds into onboarding programs when there are already experienced home-based freelancers to be found around the world. An experienced worker will not only cut down costs on onboarding but can also provide insight into the area they work in, potentially offering in-depth knowledge that can help other freelancers increase productivity as well.

Improved health benefits

Short and simple – a happy worker is a healthy worker. Improved mental state is the first thing an owner might notice. Working from home is essentially working from a safe environment. There is no one to talk to face to face, no office clowns, and the chances of having uncomfortable interactions at work significantly decrease. This helps them keep a positive attitude and motivates them to continue giving it their best, sometimes even working extra hours – all that with a smile on their faces.

Something generally overlooked, but germs are everywhere. Come flu season, every office eventually comes into contact with it and this can kill a company’s productivity for the duration of the spread. The benefit of having people outside the office is that they are much less likely to get sick. If home-based freelancers do gets sick, they have no one to spread it to because they are essentially quarantined from the rest of the workforce. This interrupts the domino effect seen in most offices and helps maintain most of your output at maximum.

When they do get sick, people have a tendency to skip work. By eliminating the need to get all dressed up and commute to the office, they are much more likely to be able to do the work they were assigned, regardless of their condition. They have their work waiting for them behind a simple click of a button. If, for example, one of them caught a cold and was stuck at home until they got better, what else are they going to do? Interestingly enough, most people tend to soldier through it, figuring that they could at least do something useful while they’re bound to the apartment.

Ah, no more neck pain – well, reduced instances, anyway. A common problem in offices is the neck problems that come along with sitting in a chair for prolonged periods of time. With most offices simply looking to provide people with enough to get by, many office workers suffer from pain in the neck, and even down to the shoulders and back. Some companies eventually find themselves investing in side areas or ergonomic chairs to prevent workers from damaging their backs. This costs a lot, and so does health coverage for those who need treatment for work-related pain and injuries. Work from home offers a unique benefit – taking a break when needed. Home-based freelancers can simply have a stretch, a quick walk, or lie down and give their backs some much-needed rest when sitting becomes uncomfortable.

Less office space and equipment

With less and less workers actually working from inside the office itself, a dramatic drop in costs can be noticed across the board. Office space is very expensive and just a few extra square feet can put a substantial dent in any company’s budget. By outsourcing most work that doesn’t require people to be physically present in the office, business owners can opt for more compact solutions for local staff or even give them more space to incentivize better moods and productivity.

With the reduced expense of actually renting out space for home-based freelancers comes an associated reduction in costs for office equipment and supplies. The equipment, especially when doing specialized IT work, can cost anything from several hundred to a thousand or more dollars. And this is just the workstation itself. Do not forget about the software licenses that go along with the desktop. When outsourcing, the home-based freelancers that you hire will already possess most everything needed to carry out their tasks.

With all of these benefits slowly racking up, companies might find themselves in the unique situation of having excess office equipment and supplies. These can be sold as used equipment to earn a few extra bucks, or can be simply stored away for when they might need them again. The company will eventually grow and need to hire more people in-house. With companies now offering supercheap storage at ridiculous prices, you do stand to gain more in the long-run by having pricy office equipment on standby for when you do need it.

Tracking

Before finishing off, it is imperative to mention that today’s advancements in technology have given owner’s unprecedented insight into the productivity of their workers. This kind of software lets people monitor their worker’s workstations remotely by showing them how much time was spent in what application. This only monitors the time actively spent in a program, and does not breach anyone’s privacy by showing any information other than that. Assurance that these people we’ve trusted with our livelihood are holding up their end offers some much needed piece of mind and can root out problematic people before they can do serious damage.

The gist

Hiring is always going to be a gamble and its always going to be costly. The main difference between now and a few years back is the rising popularity of outsource work. Companies are no longer geographically bound to a specific selection pool or even stuck to operating within the bounds of their local work days. The flexibility that accompanies work from home provides so many benefits for both the business owner and the worker. It essentially makes work feel less like work, thereby reducing tension while incentivizing higher performance across the board without burning a substantial hole in the business owner’s wallet.

Chloe Smith is a cycling enthusiast, business consultant, and a part-time writer always willing to share tidbits of advice. She believes that passion, courage and, above all, knowledge, breed success.