10 Reasons Why You Should Prefer Hiring an Agency over a Freelancer

So you have finally decided to establish your business. Congratulations!

Being an entrepreneur, starting your own business seems exciting. More so, in the initial years, your ultimate goal would be keeping your operational expenses minimal and earning more profits. And in the hustle of squirreling money, many entrepreneurs end up making the worst mistake of hiring freelancers for their firm.

According to freelancersunion.org, around 35% of the US workforce is freelancers; however, they are a great asset to companies but are quite risky.

And being an investor, you should always look at the story from both sides, so we are presenting 10 cons of hiring a freelancer over an agency:

1. Technical expertise –

This is the hidden fact that no one is aware of. Yes! A freelancer is not a pro when it comes to technical skills. How? Technology keeps on changing and keeping yourself updated is one the critical factors, and the in case of a freelancer, they are always overwhelmed with heavy workload so staying up-to-date is a bit difficult. More so, by hiring a freelancer, you are entirely relying on a single person knowledge, which ultimately takes your functions nowhere.

However, if you outsource your functions to an agency, you won’t face these difficulties. They have a good talent pool in-house with access to the latest technology. The professionals have years of experience in the various domain that enable outsourcing firms to deliver reliable services.

2. Fail to meet deadlines –

No matter how much you trust your freelancer, all of a sudden they will simply tell you, “I am not working as a freelance more, or I am leaving the country,” at a very responsible moment. And you ask about advance payment? Forget that! Some freelancers are enjoying parties and telling you that they don’t have time to finish the projects as they are quite occupied.

Whereas, outsourcing agencies are known for their commitments and deliverables. You will legally sign a contract with the firm, and they have to deliver services within the agreed timeframe.

3. No guarantee of delivering quality services-

Don’t fool yourself just by looking at the ratings of the freelance on sites like Upwork or freelancer.com. 5 stars don’t mean anything as none of the freelancers is ready to deliver you a test of their services. And believing that they are superstars will lead you to darkness and poor quality services, for which you will spend more to make it better from the worse. Freelancers usually write positive feedback on their own to get more projects and trusting that you are actually playing with your project and client that will impact your reputation in the market.

But hiring an outsourcing agency will let you down in any situation. They ensure to deliver quality services in a comprehensive manner.

4. More chatting, no work-

Have you ever noticed how much you chat with your freelancer in a day? In case, if you hire a freelancer developer, you might have witnessed the amount of screenshot they send you each day. And you keep chatting for the changes, and at last, you end up chatting so much that you didn’t accomplish your own set targets.

And if you opt for an outsourcing agency, you would have focused more on core aspects as they have great expertise and experienced professionals who have different domain knowledge. Instead of checking screenshots, they will deliver you the product within the timeframe as per your requirement.

5. Forged portfolios-

Ok, so you think by looking at their work portfolio you did a great job? Just clear one thing, is there any proof that your freelancer developer has coded this website? See, countless freelancers showcase their false information to get the project. Thus, blindly trusting at their can create havoc in your business. However, in some cases, you can easily spot this freelancer is lying but some are professional scammers and identifying them is tough. Will, you trust a random guy on the web and give all your business details?

And we all know that outsourcing firms are registered agencies that pay taxes to their countries and have tax number as well. So you don’t have to worry about fraud as you can talk to their previous client and know their experience.

6. Zero control over business processes-

You are completely unaware of how freelancer works. You might have convinced yourself, but the fact is, you have no control over freelancers and the project you have given to them. They can deliver the project on time, or don’t give a damn. They will assure you that they can perform the function but suddenly say no without giving a reason.

And in the case of an outsourcing agency, you will full control over your business processes because agencies usually offer customizable services that make you feel that the experts are just next to you.

7. Pleading for more time-

If you under the misconception that your freelancer is solely working for you and your project, then my dear, you are in darkness! Freelancers are often overwhelmed with immense work, and it’s only they, which knows how much clients they are handling at one go. All this ultimately leads to poor time management, and they plead for more time in front of you. What happens? Your project eventually suffers due to poor time management of freelancers.

You will never ever hear these kinds of reasons from your outsourcing service provider. They will ensure that your work is completed a day before the deadline.

8. Fickleness-

The sad part of hiring a freelancer is- they don’t feel any connection towards the project. For them, it’s not only you and things will come and go. So they don’t give a damn about what your requirements are, and they deliver the project as per their wish. Sorry to say, but, their only goal is to earn additional money, nothing else!
Outsourcing agencies are working only to provide you with quality services, save you time, money and efforts in every aspect. And their ultimate goal is customer satisfaction rather than earning additional money as they are doing business like you.

9. Integration with the in-house team is difficult-

If you are planning to hire a freelancer to accomplish the day-to-day task, then you are creating an enormous mess for yourself. See, for managing daily tasks you need to integrate the freelancer with your in-house team, which can be problematic for the team as well as for you. You might conduct meetings; you might change strategies, maybe your freelance is in a different time zone and conveying all these can be a hassle that may create conflict between the team and freelancer.

On the other hand, if you prefer an agency for your functions, you will never face integration issues as their experts are adaptive, efficient and quick that easily understands your goals and will work hand in hand with the in-house team.

10. IRS violations-

Freelancers in the US are categorized under 1099 employment. However, according to the IRS Factor Test, many 1099 workers don’t classify them accurately. And if IRS finds that 1099 employee is a W-2 employee working remotely, they will catch hold you and handover large tax bills as a penalty for making a fool of the federal tax system.

You won’t face any kind of violations issues from your outsourcing agency. They have their business tax numbers. Thus, the federal tax system has different tax slab for these agencies.

All in all, freelancer help you get rid of the stress of non-core activities and save you time and cost. But in the detour of saving of money, you are actually a risking your business. Therefore, hiring an agency over a freelance is an ideal solution!

What are the benefits of hiring an agency over a freelancer?

• Save time, money and efforts
• Ensure data security
• Access to experienced professionals
• Available 24*7
• Deliver project within the agreed timeframe
• High-quality services
• Allow you to focus on core aspects
• Keep you stress-fre
• Make you a family person
• Quickly responses to all the queries
• Help you enhance your overall productivity
• Boost business bottom line

You might be surprised with outsourcing factor and why I am saying so much wrong about freelancers. Well, many businesses have a misconception that outsourcing and freelancing is the same thing, but in reality, they are two different aspects.

A freelancer is a single-minded person handling innumerable clients at the same time always under tremendous pressure to meet the deadlines, whereas an outsourcing company is a registered firm with an in-house team of experienced professionals. Thus, before making any decision make sure you look both sides of the coin or story!