Sep 19, 2019
I realized early on in my freelance business that there was a limit to the amount of work I could take on. I didn’t like it. It made me feel boxed in, and like I was wasn’t in control of how much I could grow.
Trying to figure out a way to scale my business and reach beyond my personal limits was challenging. The best way I found to grow was to hire other great freelancers to help me out.
So, here are some tips about hiring the best freelancers for your business.
“Making your first hire is very important because the moment you do this, the moment you pay someone else to do something that you don’t need to be doing, you are freeing up your own time to do higher ROI tasks.”
In this episode Avani talks about:
Even if you know what the job is going to be, you need to write a job description. Not just for yourself, but for the people you’re hiring. This is the first filter in finding good people to work with. Be clear about who the company is, what it is that you do, what kind of people you’re looking for — not just the qualities in work and career that they need to have, but also the personal qualities that would make them a good fit.
Ask people in your industry for referrals. If they were good for others they might be good for you. This doubles as a pre-vetting process, and can save some figuring out if they would be right for your team.
When you start bringing someone on, make sure you give them a trial period of a couple of weeks to see if they will be a good fit before signing them to a long-term contract. Testing them is how you make sure you maintain quality control for your team and your product. The last thing you want is to terminate a long-term contract because things aren’t working out.
Negotiating is the best way to make sure that everyone gets what they’re comfortable with. Someone may care more about flexibility than pay, and that can be negotiated. It also allows you to get them to work harder for that next pay bump after they prove they’re worth it.
You need to set expectations for what this team member is going to do for you. They need to know all the details of the projects that they are going to be working on. You also need to make sure you are communicating with them in a way that works for them and gives them the opportunity to do their best work.
Checking in on your employees isn’t just for the task, it’s to find out how the employee is doing. They may have something going on in their personal life that is affecting their work. Figuring out what’s going on with them will give you a better idea of what you can expect and how it will impact the business. If you can’t make it happen on a weekly basis, try for bi-weekly.