Outsourcing has changed the landscape of business all over the world. Through the Internet, it is now easier to get a freelancer or an affiliate company to fulfill the different needs of your company - from writing marketing copies, creating company logos, the actual website of the company or for any call center services. You just need to make a choice between a freelancer and an affiliate company to do the jobs you need. Affiliate companies are usually located overseas and tend to be composed of at least five employees. You do not blindly choose between the two. There are several considerations you have to think through before awarding the project to a freelancer or an affiliate company.
You need to determine how much budget you have as this may make an impact on whether it is best for you to contact a freelancer, before contacting freelancers or affiliate companies who can work on your project. The benefit of hiring a freelancer is that he usually works by himself and because of this the price may be negotiated through the interview and the negotiation phase. Affiliate companies, on the other hand, have more costs to think about as compared with freelancers. They will have to pay their staff as well as the other fixed costs they will entail. The drawback in hiring a freelancer, however, is the possibility of delays and late submissions. If this happens, then the schedule of the project will be severely affected. Affiliate companies, however, offer stability and may assign more than one contractor to work on your project.
Another important consideration is the resources that may be needed for your project. Will your contractors for call center service be telecommuting or will they need to work on site? For onsite kinds of job, an affiliate company would be more reliable because of their capability to assign more than one personnel to work on your project. A freelancer on the other hand may be more flexible in terms of visiting the site, especially, if the project becomes his priority.
In determining the nature of the project, the list of skills also needs to be listed down so that the contractor will be able to fulfill every requirements of the project. If an affiliate company will be contacted, they will be able to offer a wider range of skills and expertise while a freelancer may only offer a limited range of skills. This is one of the limitations of a freelancer. Furthermore, if the freelancer that you will contact is highly skilled and is capable to deal with a greater degree of complexity and problems, chances are his rates will also be more expensive.
Technical skills, however, are only half of the picture. Another thing needed is the sensitivity and flexibility of your chosen contractor in completing your requirements. Without such flexibility, it might be more difficult for you to maximize the skills of the freelancer. Also, an affiliate company can be more easily traced and made accountable. Just ensure that the freelancer or the affiliate company that you will contact has good track record.
