Part 2: Starting a new venture?

Are you in the middle of startup hustle or kicking off a new project in an established company? Here’s how freelancers help recruitment, increase flexibility and bring seniority to new ventures.

Leveraging the Freelancer Economy, a series by Finitec, provides insights for making the most out of the freelancer shift taking place in the technology sector. As a leading Nordic tech agency, Finitec shares the insider tips for making the most out of a changing expert market –?getting access to the top experts, benefiting from the added flexibility of employing freelancers, and much more.

Organisations are at their most vulnerable when they are starting something new. It’s about balancing between an uncompromising product vision, delivery and risk management?–?no matter if you’re kicking off a new company or building something new within a large organisation.

If you’re a founder in a startup, you’ve got people who depend on your judgment. You’ve possibly got investors who expect you to multiply their money.

Or you might be starting a venture in an established company. You’ve got a certain amount of time to make your team shine and ship?–?within the framework you’re given and within the budget you have.?

Whatever the new venture is, attracting the right kind and senior enough talent can be a major hurdle. Making the first decisions to hire can be risky, as mistakes can prove to be hazardous or even fatal to the business.

Beyond hiring, freelancers can be invaluable in the early stages of product or company development. As a loose rule of thumb – in-house people bring stability, freelancers bring agility and velocity.

Here are some of the benefits of freelancers when you’re building new things:

Access the skills you need to solve your problem: Freelancers with very specific skill sets can be readily found. They’re easier to sign on for a (potentially risky) early-stage project, as the work is temporary by definition.

Get purpose-fit experience: Especially with pilot projects in large companies, it’s often most beneficial to hire senior freelancers with fit-for-purpose skills. This allows you to get the benefit of experience –?in other words, get ‘Been there, done that as a service’.

Increase flexibility and scalability when you need it: Startups and growing companies often experience fluctuating workloads and evolving project requirements. Hiring freelancers allows you to adapt to these changes quickly by offering a level of flexibility that is not typically found in traditional employment models. You can hire on a project-by-project basis, scaling your team up or down as required.

Avoid financial risk: Early-stage ventures tend to be strapped for cash, and hiring full-time employees with specialized skills can be financially challenging. In contrast, freelancers provide a low-risk option.

What to consider

When you’re a busy founder or a partner, you have limited resources to reach your goals –?in terms of both personal time and actual resources. Manage both carefully:

Respect the recruitment effort: Recruitment is valuable,?that’s a given. But recruitment can eat up a surprising amount of time from high value tasks – like your product and sales work.

In addition to the time needed, you might not have the necessary skills in your team for recruiting. Especially hires for new functions or competences require speciality that, by definition, does not exist within your team. Engaging freelancers or agencies to help with these types of recruitment processes is a great idea.

Consider your runway: In early-stage ventures, every cent counts. The cost for hiring a freelancer, all risks considered, is moderate in comparison to traditional recruitment methods. Use freelancers to introduce flexibility where you need it.?

With freelancers, you don't have to bear the costs associated with employee benefits like health insurance, paid time off, or retirement plans. This expense savings can be significant, allowing you to allocate your limited resources more strategically.

Share responsibility: A freelancer agency can help take the load off your shoulders concerning staffing, in general. When you have your product vision, trust a skilled agency partner to make the objective calls in terms of staffing that let your product vision breathe.?

Get the people you need: As mentioned in our previous article, the freelancer shift is underway. More and more people, especially skilled veterans, are turning to the increased freedom of freelancing. For many positions that are typically hard to hire for, freelancers are simply the better option compared to in-house recruitment or hiring consultants.

Freelancing for agility

Considering all these advantages, it is clear that utilising freelancers in the early stage development of your product or company can be a smart strategy. We constantly help our clients succeed in new ventures.?

Consider Neles , who suddenly found them in a situation where they needed to build new IT infra from scratch, and Finitec set up and developed their data privacy and cyber solutions. According to them:

We originally asked for experts from several partners and consulting houses. However, Finitec succeeded well in the task and accurately hit the spec. The guys have been very committed even though we started from a challenging situation. Cooperation with Finitec has been smooth and flexible. The service has provided us with the expected added value.

Read the entire case study here.

However, finding the right freelancers for your project can be a challenge. The freelance economy is vast, and it may take time to find freelancers who align with your vision and work style. It is essential to thoroughly review freelancers' portfolios, ratings, and client reviews to ensure they have the necessary expertise and professionalism. This is what agencies typically help companies with.

We hope you found our tips useful!

Did you know that Finitec is the largest agency for freelancers in Finland? We offer clients the possibility to achieve more with a flexible model in software development, data projects, IoT or embedded development projects, design, as well as making the most of legacy systems and succeeding in enterprise projects.?

Next up in Leveraging the Freelancer Economy - discussing how to leverage freelance professionals in the declining market.?Subscribe to keep up to date on the latest articles!?