It doesn’t matter if you’re starting an entrepreneurship, or if you want to scale your small business, or even if you’re just looking to migrate to a friendlier workplace within your business.

Regardless of the many proven advantages of hiring freelancers, some entrepreneurs and well-established business people still don’t trust remote work.

In other cases, the decision to hire one or more independent professionals is taken without acknowledging the good practices that should be carried out and the frequent errors that should be avoided.

This article focuses on an Oxford University study explores eight ways businesses from the Fortune 500 group successfully adopted the use of freelancing platforms.

1. Identify the best platform

It’s not easy to find remote professionals with good references and with the exact abilities that you need. You need to find a specialised platform that allows you to look for them by category, browse their record with other clients and protect the investment you make in each hiring process.

2. Start from less to more

Surely, there are hundreds of tasks and projects in your company that you could delegate to a freelancer or to a remote team. Identify them and select a small project with a moderate reach.

Once it has been completed successfully, use the knowledge that the experience gave you to continue escalating step by step, but in a progressive way, towards more ambitious projects.

The most important thing is that you take the first step as soon as possible, even if it’s a small step.

You can give more impact to your logo’s design, add a function to your website, or hire a virtual assistant to help you with that extra work load, among many more possibilities.

3. Let everyone involved know

Make sure that your team understands the importance and the operational and administrative consequences of working with freelancers.

For instance, it is necessary to inform the financial and human resources departments that you will integrate remote workers and that they have to adjust the organisation chart or the corresponding payments.

4. Write clear and complete proposals

The most important aspect of a project is for it to have a very clear and specific goal so that the freelancer understands exactly what you need.

If you can, always include details regarding what it is, what it’s for, how you need it and when you need it for.

For example: “I need to redesign my logo (what it is) because I want it to reflect more vitality and freshness (what for). I would give you a PDF file with our current logo as a reference, but I need to receive an editable file in Photoshop (how you need it). The required deadline is three days (when you need it for).”

5. Set criteria and filters beforehand

Hiring a freelancer is also a recruiting process, and, just as in any other process of this kind, setting filters and appropriate criteria will help you save time and select the best profile.

For example, you can include specific forms in your proposal, or notes to see if the freelancer is paying attention, to see if they follow instructions or if they have provable experience in similar projects.

6. Offer a fair pay

Remember that when you are paying an independent employee you are making an investment, and this should be congruent with the service you expect to receive.

Offering a fair salary means you are conscious of the value that the freelancer’s work will have for your business, and that you can adjust the budget range in consequence.

7. Look for long-term relationships and experts with added value

When you hire a freelancer, do it with a long-term vision. You may have a small project at the moment, but it will grow throughout time, just as your business will.

It is always best to build a trusted remote employee team with the ability to adapt and grow along with you.

So, when you are selecting the freelancer you want to work with, take into account the rest of their abilities, even if you don’t need them now.

8. Stay open to change and feedback

Very often, the freelancer’s experience allows them to make very useful suggestions to improve your projects or even to propose creative new strategies to keep growing. Take advantage of all that knowledge and seize it as much as you can.

Click here to find out more about Workana to start hiring or enlisting as a freelancer.