I’ve helped 50+ companies hire tech freelancers. These are the 4 key principles

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Working with freelancers has gone from a choice to a necessity in the world of tech. Its advantages are plenty, but many companies are still extremely cautious about going down that path. I have heard CXOs complain about the unsuccessful engagements they have had, and they mostly attribute the failure to the “nature of freelancing.”

But having built Flexiple in this space for the past couple of years, I have realized that certain basic structures aren’t being implemented in the right manner or are missed altogether.

Having worked with over 50 clients, below are the key principles to success.

1. Don’t compromise on quality

At the core of all problems is not checking for quality. Would you hire a permanent employee based on a couple of reviews and a star rating on a platform? However, many are comfortable doing that when hiring a freelancer.

Create a proper hiring process to ensure that you find the best person for a role. Evaluate both technical skills and cultural fit—the latter is largely ignored but pivotal in freelance engagements. Communication and the ability to work independently, among others, are important factors.

And if you’re hiring for a software developer, the process is even less straightforward. Simple keyword matching doesn’t help. Instead, it requires a techie to be involved in the hiring process, not HR personnel with no tech background. You’ll also need deeper insights into the individual’s past projects and the role he/she played.

In a nutshell, hiring a top quality person solves most problems in any engagement.

2. Curbing intellectual property concerns

When it comes to freelancers, intellectual property and confidentiality are conversations I often have with my clients. But companies can have IP issues with employees too, can’t they? The only difference is that there are contracts in place.

So, the solution is simple: execute a similar contract with freelancers.

Honestly, none of the parties involved want to be in a position that requires a legal recourse—the contract is only a fail-safe.

Companies are comfortable around IP with employees because of trust—derived from the hiring process they went through as well as their past employers. Therefore, you can also request for references from the freelancer’s past clients.

If you vet the person well, there is no risk on IP (or, at least, there’s just as much risk as you would face with an employee).

3. Work on time-based compensation (not fixed-project)

When thinking about freelancing, the immediate thought is of a fixed-cost project divided into milestones. When a freelancer completes a milestone, a certain portion of the payment is released.

4. Include freelancers into the team and set periodic goals