Business Owners Can Use These Tips to Find Outside Workers

Preparing to hire

When you’re ready to hire, it’s important to have a good idea of the types of skills your business needs. Take a look at your goals first; do you want to expand your customer base? A social media manager can help with putting together ideas. Is your business website all it could be? A graphic designer can be beneficial in helping you build the perfect site and integrating things like e-commerce (however, keep in mind that this will create more work as you navigate online orders, which might require more employees). These are specialists who can be hired outside of your company, usually on a temporary basis, which will save you money and time. 

Once you’ve figured out which types of professionals you want to work with, you’ll need to begin the recruiting process. You can post job openings through online job boards, attend a job fair, or ask for referrals from people you trust. You can also post jobs on social media channels. If you’re going this route, create a captivating banner on your social media pages advertising that you’re looking to hire. Use an online banner maker and choose from professionally designed templates and customize your banner. 

Creating a plan for your team

When bringing together a team of workers--no matter the size--it’s essential to have a plan for how you’ll manage them. Freelancers are generally used to working on their own while providing updates and checking in often, so make communication easy by utilizing an app that keeps everyone on the same page. If you’ll be hiring workers to help with things like customer service or online order fulfillment, they’ll obviously need to be able to work together harmoniously with real-time communication and access to the same documents. Create a plan for yourself, as well, since you’ll need to keep track of payroll and tax details for each person you hire.

Looking for off-the-shelf services, too

While there are many freelancers who can give you specialized services, you can also look for off-the-shelf services and products that don’t require a specific skill to use. Ready-to-use software and social media advertising tools are perfect examples, as anyone can utilize them at any time. These are generally more cost-effective than specialized services, giving you the freedom to make changes down the line. Making the choice between hiring an experienced freelancer and going with off-the-shelf typically comes down to your budget and how important the service is to your business model.

Running a business comes with a million little details to think about, so staying organized is crucial. With the right resources, you can find the best people for the jobs at hand and grow your business exponentially.

- Chelsea Lamb has spent the last eight years honing her tech skills and is the resident tech specialist at Business Pop. Her goal is to demystify some of the technical aspects of business ownership.