Should you Hire an Employee, Intern, or Contractor?

As your business begins to grow, you may be considering hiring additional staff to receive some additional help. Perhaps you are unable to complete certain projects on your own, or that running your business is taking up too much of your time. Whatever the reason may be, you should consider three types of individuals you can hire: employees, interns, or contractors. In this article, we will compare these three types and explain which may be the best fit for your business.

Should You Hire An Employee?

An employee is an individual who works for you full-time or part-time that is paid a salary or hourly wage. Employees may be eligible for insurance and retirement plans. Depending on your budget, you may be unsure whether the investment in a full-time or part-time employee is worth it. Consider whether hiring this individual would save you a significant amount of time and whether the investment would yield enough returns.

Another important consideration is whether you should hire an entry-level, mid-level, or senior-level employee. It is better to hire an entry-level employee if you need assistance with tasks that are not very difficult. However, if you are looking for help with more challenging tasks, it may be more beneficial to hire a mid or senior level employee. You should consult with your local state laws to determine the implications of hiring an employee.

Benefits of Hiring an Intern

An intern is an individual who often works for you for a temporary period of time, but may not be eligible for employee benefits. Because they are seeking to gain experience for education and training purposes, interns are often unpaid. Since interns are often working for academic credit, they may not have the level of expertise as a full-time employee you may consider. However, since you are not required to pay them in some states, you can hire an intern to assist you with simpler tasks that may free up some time to manage other areas of your business. This is a great option if you need the extra help, but may not yet have the budget to hire a full-time or part-time employee. If you’re running through email and other messaging systems, things can become easily lost, clients can become confused, and you’ll end up spending more time tracking down all of your documents and messages than you will working directly with your team or clients. Do yourself a favor and centralize your business. You’ll thank us later.

What Is a Contractor?

A contractor is an individual who works for you on a project basis or for a work period of time, but is not entitled to any employee benefits. Hiring a contractor to work on one or more short-term projects can be beneficial in terms of cost, quality and efficiency: plus no long-term commitment needed! This is a great option for individuals who only need help with a single or a few projects, but who do not feel the need to hire an employee or intern permanently.

When looking for a contractor, there are a few factors you should take into consideration. The first step is to find a trustworthy contractor who can provide the extra help you need. Sites like LinkedIn, Fiverr, and Upwork are great places to search for contractors. Make sure to read their reviews, contact others who have hired them in the past, and request samples of previous work. The next step is to conduct a phone or in-person interview to determine if they have the capacity to take on projects of your size, how many projects they have going on at the same time, and if they can provide a list of previous clients or financial references. When selecting a contractor, it is important to establish a payment schedule and put it in writing.

A typical payment schedule for any project usually involves initial payment at contract signing, additional payments over the course of the project, and a final payment upon project completion. It is also important to create a contract that accounts for every step of the project, including: a payment schedule, proof of liability insurance, confidentiality agreement, duration of the contract, specific materials and products to be used, and a requirement that protects you if the contractor doesn't pay the full amount.

You can’t do everything by yourself if you want to grow fast. Check out our free training on How to Grow & Scale a Team here. We want to help you every step of the way in growing your business. Let us know if this helped you scale up your team.

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