5 Tips to Build A Remote Freelance Team for Your Business In order to separate your company from the pack, hiring online workers can be the exact strategy you need to create this success.
By Wade Harman Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
If you are joining the industry of online business and you have found yourself growing, there comes a time when you need to allow other professionals to help you meet this goal. In order to separate your company from the pack, hiring online workers can be the exact strategy you need to create this success.
I spoke with Nathan Hirsch and Connor Gillivan, co-founders of FreeeUp, one of the country's top ecommerce freelance marketplaces. These guys have an understanding for your need to break out and succeed, but you may be skittish to take the next step. Here are their personal suggestions for building a remote team and growing your business successfully.
1. Make your interview process solid.
One of the regrets Gillivan spoke about with his company is how he wished he had created a better interview process to vet for the best remote workers. The interview process will be your solid foundation as your business grows and is the gatekeeper to ward off any unwanted worker who will eventually destroy your business from the inside.
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"The interview process guarantees that all freelancers and remote workers are prepared to work at a high level. After the initial application and resume review, applicants should be put through two levels of interviews to make sure they have the right skills and attitude. The final step should be to read and pass a communication guideline (which you should create) outlining exactly how you expect your workers to communicate with you. Only when they can pass this test should they be allowed to work for your business."
The interview process is the front door to your company. It will be how you determine the best remote workers for the positions you need filled. Before you start thinking about all the work you can give a person, you must first send them through a rigorous process.
2. Keep communication consistent.
As you may have guessed, if you want to run a successful business with freelancers at your side, you need to drive the point of communication home to your workers. Hirsch explains how business owners should always expect a report or an update, and it's important to make sure that your workers know that you need to be kept apprised of all of the important information.
On that note, Hirsch says, "Communication is the cornerstone to a great remote working relationship." This not only proves to be effective for the client-worker relationship but also the freelancer and your position as boss. While you may not be performing day-to-day tasks anymore, you should still be in the loop as to how your workers are performing with their tasks.
Related: 5 Ways to Instill a Company Culture Even When Your Workforce Is Virtual
3. Keep tasks relevant to your freelancer.
After you have gone through the hiring process, made your decision, and the worker is now on your team, make sure she always has tasks which fit her experience criteria. For example, you shouldn't have an Amazon listings expert writing code on the backend of your website.
Keep your freelancer on the right track by always sending jobs she is comfortable with and enjoys. This brings more productivity within your company and helps the machine run smoothly on all fronts.
4. Know how many freelancers you need.
One of the first mistakes new growing business owners make is hiring too many workers at one time. You create the opportunity and so many great people come forward you want them all on your team. I can understand your position of not wanting to lose anyone, but Gillivan suggests you could be derailing your mission before you even start if you do this.
Related: The Key Management Skill for the 21st Centure: Managing Remote Teams
The first thing you need to do before hiring anyone is to understand what tasks you want to pass off to a freelancer and what tasks you feel you can still do in-house. Write down a list of every task needed to complete your responsibilities for the day or week from most important to least important.
Take this list and begin formatting it to understand where you need the help. After you have done this, hire only the people you need to complete these specific tasks and no more.
5. Share your vision.
A company is only as great as its last hire. If a freelancer doesn't work out completely like you would want them to, it's usually because he can't grasp why he is there in the first place. That's why the onboarding process is so important to make remote works feel comfortable when they first arrive. It's always important to share your vision for the company.
Not only does this offer ownership and value in their mind, but it also creates motivation for workers because now they can see where you want to go with the company and will help you get it there. Share daily, weekly and big picture goals with your remote workers and encourage each worker to create his own goals so everyone can be held accountable.
Creating a business idea out of thin air can be easy. Adding remote workers and freelancers who can help grow your company is the hard part. Surround yourself with competent individuals who can complete the tasks at hand so you can stay focused on the growth of your company. These five tips can help your business get to where you want it to go.
