Something that just about all of the 33.2 million American SMBs have in common is that their needs outstrip their budgets. For example, every business in the US would ideally maintain a fully staffed IT department. Yet, that’s not practical for most small businesses.

Instead, many small businesses make do with solutions they cobble together. Of course, that’s not the only way. Rather than try to make your own solutions, you can hire a freelancer to generate solutions for you.

Not sure hiring a freelance worker is right for you? Keep reading for five reasons you should work with freelancers.

1. You Don’t Need a Full Timer

Many of the tasks that small businesses need completed don’t require someone who works full time. For example, most businesses need blog posts on a regular basis.

Hiring a full-time, in-house writer is probably counterproductive. Even a well-researched blog post will probably only require a handful of hours from a good writer each week.

Hiring someone to do that kind of job as contract work lets you avoid hiring workers you don’t really need.

2. It’s Cheaper

Since you don’t usually need people full-time, even for things like IT projects, setting them up as freelance projects usually saves you money. Depending on the work you need done, you can set it up as:

• Pay by the hour
• Pay by the project
• Pay by the piece

For basic IT maintenance tasks, you’d probably pay by the hour. For a marketing campaign, you’ll probably lean toward paying for it as a project. For things like graphic design or writing, you can usually pay by the piece.

All of these typically prove cheaper than hiring a staff member.

3. Access Expertise

Freelancers often bring some kind of important expertise to the table. For example, an IT freelancer might specialize in networking or cybersecurity. Finding the right freelancer can give you access to important expertise.

4. Outsider Perspective

People working in a business can develop a kind of tunnel vision. After a while, everyone starts echoing the same ideas. Bringing in a freelancer can inject new ideas into the conversation. A fresh perspective can often lead to better results.

5. Saves You Time

Cobbling together your own solutions or doing the work yourself is often very time intensive. Working with freelancers gives you back that time to work on your business or just have a life.

Not sure where to find freelancers? Visit FreeUp.

Hire a Freelancer for Your Projects

You should evaluate the decision to hire a freelancer for your projects. For example, you should make sure that it does make more sense to hire a freelancer than hire a new staff member. You should look at the relative costs involved.

Will the freelancer bring expertise or a truly fresh perspective? Most of all, will it really save you time? If you must manage a freelancer through all of their work, it’s not really a win for you.

Looking for more tips to improve your business? Check out our Business section for more posts.