We all need them for some purpose or others but is hiring them good? Or should we hire them at all?

 Lets look at some of the reasons why not to hire freelancer. 

Though after reading you may wonder why companies hire freelancers

Listed below are some  “Cons of hiring freelancers”

 

• No Quality Control –  
      I remember we had outsourced a part of our Design development to a freelancer after looking at his previous work. But 20 days into the project when he delivered us the said designs it was way beyond the quality we had anticipated and required. We learned an important lesson that in order to control quality we need to have control over the resource and in case of freelancer having complete control is not possible.
• Lack of accountability by freelancer
      This is one aspect I would like to bring forth, not all but most freelancers have little accountability for the projects you outsourced, cause client is yours and they do not feel the same obligation as you do and expecting same commitment and professionalism from them would be expecting too much. You will often find yourself rubbing with freelancer wrong way for timelines. Remember for them you are just another client. This is another key reason as to why not to hire  freelancer.

• Scaling Cost (Why not to hire freelancer)

•    What may look at first instance cost saver may end up getting scaled more then expected. Remember time is directly proportional to time. Expect delays from freelancers, delay in projects can cost you time delaying your launch date. Further unlike teams and small firms they do not have the flexibility required to absorb changes and may end up asking you money for small changes. 
• Lack of communication
      Freelancers are freelancers for a reason, they love to work independently and this can effect the way you can communicate with them. The team you have communicates face to face and is better understood however a freelancer is away and this can lead to communication gap. The lack of a communication structure is a frequent problem working with freelancers since talking ‘face-to-face’ is not always possible, and the lack of closeness and personal relationship can ruin your projects. When outsourcing services to freelancers, contact may not be as regular as needed and communication errors may happen. For example, the app developer might not understand the exact requirements of the company and may make errors that will end up delaying the app project. According to research the worst offender is communication! According to the 2013 Pulse of the Profession™ In-Depth Report “Ineffective communications is the primary contributor to project failure one third of the time, and had a negative impact on project success more than half of the time.” This is one great reason of I should not hire freelancer.

 

• Not available when you need them
      Projects related to design and development are long drawn and often continue even after completion and handing over. They require continuous support, updates, bug removals and new additions. However in case of a company or a team you can revert back and catch them, but freelancer model operates on transactional model where they do the task and vanish. But they are unavailable when required which can make your web, app or any other design in trouble and customers are very finicky. As freelance software developers do not work according to the standard 9-to-5 workday and also handle multiple projects simultaneously, scheduling a time when you and the freelance developer are online is a huge problem. You may feel that you can be more productive when you both work together even if remotely.
• Online payment security
     There is always a risk of payment gone into a well. Irrespective of how well you know a freelancer, there have plenty of cases where you paid them advance and they vanished with your money. Some freelancers are fudgy about payments and they demand up front payments. Further most times you are not satisfied with their deliverables, but as you do not have a legal impunity you are taken for ride ending up you loosing money and time. This has been a big concern. 
• Your ideas at risk
       Till now you have been able to keep your idea under wraps but hiring a freelancer can expose this idea to them, with risk of them able to leak, sell or create their own product for same. With NDA’s and agreements doing little to safeguard your idea and business model. As a founder or start up enthusiast you would end up sharing a lot of details with your freelancer developer.
• On time Delivery Challenge
     There are plenty of reports which say how freelancers delay project. They are quick to begin the project but delivery on time is big challenge. Where by rubbing you wrongly. Time is directly proportional to money, wasted time is wasted money and delay in project means you loosing precious tim.
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  Conclusion 
  The wisest option is to work with more organized rented tech teams. You can choose small teams or software development companies for your tech work rather than a freelancer. Freelancers also would not be able to provide complete tech stack you would require for a project. For Example a freelancer may be good at backend development and not at UI/UX development. So a small team would be an ideal solution which is under your cost constraints and required tech stack.