Why Startups & Agencies are a perfect match for Freelancers

Let me start by asking one question: What drives employees to become freelancers? The most popular answer we have received is freedom, but what kind of freedom? There are usually four ways freedom can be experimented:

• Freedom of location
• Freedom of hours
• Freedom of choosing your own client
• The feeling of ownership you get once you become independent

I have myself been lucky enough to be on each side of the marketplace, both as a freelancer and as a client, and I cannot understate the efficiency and value add of working as/with a cost-efficient, quick and qualified independent professional.

It is no wonder why the number of freelancers in the global workforce has seen explosive growth for the past few years and is not looking to stop anytime soon. The shift to remote and independent work has been re-shaping organizational structures and operations. Companies have had to change their point of view on the matter and are nowadays open to independent and remote workers. As a matter of fact, some companies now “force” employees to take one remote day a week.

Anyways, I’m not here to tell you what you already know. Let’s get into it. As the title of this blog implies, I’m here to tell you why agencies and startups are a perfect match for independent professionals. There are two main factors that will back my arguments: scalability & cost.

Agencies need freelancers to scale up & down

First of all, what is scalability? You most likely already know it, but it is the capacity for a business to efficiently adapt to changes, which are always most likely related to growth and demand for its product/business.

Let’s assume you’re the owner or in charge of finding talent at a marketing agency. Your typical relationship with a client ranges from 3 to 6 months and demand has been surging for the past few weeks. That’s great, you could ask yourself “When is a surge in demand a problem?”. Well, when the value you create comes from the human resources you have at disposal, you can easily find yourself in a tough spot. As this rise in demand has been unexpected, you haven’t had time to optimize your pool of talent and accommodate all of your future client’s needs. You could easily go on a hiring spree to bring more talent on your team, but what if in three months from now, half of your new clients are gone? You’d be stuck with too much talent and not enough demand. At this point you’ve probably figured it out, but that’s where freelancers come in! Instead of hiring a full-time professional, an agency could go on the look out for independent professionals.

As I was running my blockchain consulting/marketing agency about a year ago, I was amazed by the time and money saved while leveraging this type of profile. As a client came in unexpectedly, we were able to tap into the pool of talent we built throughout time and find someone available on the spot, only for the duration of the project. It solved many issues we would have had with hiring a full-time employee.

Startup founders are looking for cost efficient ways to grow, and that implies their talent

Following the need for agencies to find freelancers to scale, there is a need for cash sensitive startups to find ways to build and grow in the leanest way possible.

The world wide web has allowed people to connect at a scale never seen before. Following these connections, people started working together while being in different countries and timezones. The explosion and globalization of supply when it comes to digital works has led to prices and rates to decline at a significant speed. Freelancers need to adjust prices to match the competition and once they do, they’re in for business.

There are hundreds if not thousands of startups ready to hire independent professionals. They’re low on cash and therefore cannot hire full time employees, but are ready to go all in with independent contractors. It gives them the flexibility to spend their cash to satisfy their immediate and short term needs as they are starting up.

Find your match on Rise

To all digital marketing independent professionals looking to expand their network and client base entering 2020: We’re looking to grow our community of independent professionals ahead of our beta launch and establish meaningful connections with clients.

Rise is a marketplace for freelancers and clients to connect and better interact through the use of smart contracts (computer programs deployed on the Blockchain). What that means for you is significantly lower fees than existing marketplaces and instant payments among other features which will enhance your work environment.

You can also apply to become an ambassador. You’ll get 0% lifetime fees on projects you complete on our platform.

Let’s rise!