Why would you want to hire freelancers if you have an online business? You may discover that workers in other countries have a better work ethic than most Americans, but you will have to pay someone in a foreign country less to do the same work.
Why You Want To Hire Freelancers With An Online Business
Hiring Freelancers And Overseas Contractors Saves You Money
The purpose of a business is to make as much profit as possible. Labor is a high cost of running any business. A major upside to having an online business is you can hire freelancers from anywhere in the world. If you live in the United States, you can hire labor in a less expensive country.
Don’t Have To Pay Benefits
You do not have to provide any benefits, contribute to a 401K, or put a small percentage toward Social Security when you hire freelancers. Those are significant expenses for most small and medium-sized businesses.
Are Not Subject To United States Taxes
Another critical way businesses can save money to reinvest into a business is by finding legal ways to pay as little taxes as possible. Foreign contractors are not subject to United States taxes. Support Adventure writes: “To avoid taxation in the US, the following criteria should be met.
• The contractor was present in the US for less than 90 days in a tax year
• The payment to the contractor is lower than $3,000
• The payment to the contractor is for services performed for an entity or office maintained in a foreign country
If all those points are met, a US company doesn’t have to withhold or report taxes in the US.”
Freelancers you hire may meet all three of those points, depending on how much of their services you pay for. Additionally, most freelancing websites will automatically create your tax form for you. This makes it easier for you to keep track of your taxes each tax year.
Social Security
Since you are hiring a freelancer who lives outside of the United States, you are not responsible for having to deal with Social Security. The contractor manages their payroll and Social Security in their home country. This will save you valuable time and money. According to the IRS, freelancers and contractors are not subject to Social Security deductions.
Medicare
You don’t contribute to medicare for a freelancer living in any country. They don’t live in the United States. The freelancer won’t use Medicare. For this reason, the IRS does not require employers to contribute Medicare contribute for a contract not residing in the United States. This is yet another way you can save money for your business by hiring freelancers in foreign countries.
Higher Probability Of Better Quality Workers
The American work ethic continues to decline. The labor force participation rate remains low at just over sixty percent in the United States. Given the drop in American work ethic and the premium cost for an American worker, online businesses can save money and often get a better quality worker for less. It’s a win-win for companies.
The countries where people work the most hours are Mexico, South Korea, Greece, and India. I have hired freelancers from India. They were some of the best freelancers I have worked with over the years, with my experience in hiring, firing, and dealing with freelancers. However, just like dealing with any employee. Your experience will vary. Each person is different.
How Can You Hire A Freelancer?
You have plenty of choices when it comes to hiring a freelancer. There are many freelance websites online. You can find a freelance website specializing in a topic like writing content for a website. Some of the most popular freelancer websites are listed below.
Top Freelancing Sites
- Fiverr
- Upwork
- Toptal
- Guru
- Freelancer.com
- People Per Hour
- Aquent
- 99designs
- Solidgigs
- FlexJobs
- Behance
- Dribbble
- Codeable
What Are Some Of The Top Reasons To Hire A Freelancer?
There are several advantages to hiring a freelancer overseas:
- Cost-effectiveness
- Fluent in English
- Access to a large talent pool
- Highly-skilled talent
- Productive and high-performing contractors
- Cultural similarities
- Time zone alignment
For example, if you were to hire a freelancer in India, an online business owner could see the following benefits:
- High native English proficiency
- Candidates will have cultural similarities
- Top quality contractors
- Productive and top-performing contractors
- Competitive hiring costs will often be less than hiring a similar worker in the United States
- Good infrastructure
- Tech-savvy
- Convenient time zone overlap
What Type Of Work Can A Freelancer Do?
If there is a skill set that you are looking for, you can find a freelancer to do it for you. For any job that can be done online or remotely, you can hire a freelancer to perform the job. Here are some popular freelance positions:
- Sales
- Customer support
- Technical support
- Software development
- App development
- Digital marketing
- Translating
- Transcribing
- Video editing
- Graphic design
- Accounting
- Writers
- Data analytics
- Coding
- Website design
Bottomline
You want to save as much money as you can as a business owner. Hiring freelancers is a great way to eliminate unnecessary costs for a business owner while potentially getting a better quality worker with lower labor costs than an American worker. You want to generate as much revenue as possible for your business. You want your business to make as much profit as possible by providing products and services that solve customers’ problems.
