3 Alternatives to Hiring Employees in Your Small Business 

1 – Hire Contractors or Consultants

There are valuable experts that you can engage to outsource key functions or projects. For example, I know several entrepreneurs that use web designers or social media consultants to manage their online presence. The key with using this alternative is being clear on what results you want to achieve, so that you can maximize the cost of hiring this type of contractor or consultant. Some of the recommended resources you can use include:

• Virtual Staff Finder: www.virtualstafffinder.com
• Freelancer: www.freelancer.com
• Fiverr: www.fiverr.com
• Upwork: www.upwork.com

2 – Hire a temporary worker from a temp agency

There are different agencies that have or will find different candidates with the expertise you need. This is a great solution, because the agency takes the risk and exposure for any employee challenges that arise. For example, when I was VP of Operations, we used temp workers. 

The great thing was that we could give day-to-day direction as needed and when one of our temps ended up with carpal tunnel, the temp agency dealt with the workman’s compensation and disability issues. They just sent us another person to help backfill the position. Whew! 

Although there is a markup on the cost of the hire, you can decrease that rate by payrolling. Payrolling just means that you found the candidate and want to have the person sing up with the agency and still have them work for you. Again, here you save yourself the potential burden, lawsuits and employment claims AND reduces the cost of the markup from the agency. 

• Employment and Temporary Agencies such as: Randstad, Spherion Staffing Services, Great Bay Staffing Group (Do a search on employment agencies in your local area)
• Recruiters or Headhunters: a good resource to find or get referrals for contractors or consultants

3 – Another strategy is to utilize a service provider or vendor

You can find several companies that offer the service and support to complete tasks, projects or a business you need.  

For example, the 1shoppingcart vendor (an email and online payment service) will setup all of the payment pages for all of the products and services a company provides. For a couple hundred bucks, you can have their expert setup everything within about 48 hours.

So, evaluate products and services that you are already using and see if they offer consulting services. 

Some examples might include:

• Best Buy - where you might purchase office equipment and computers. Have their Geek Squad do the installations and software upgrades for your home office or business.
• Constant Contact - has experts that will setup your email marketing campaigns
• An HR Training Company - Might also provide HR Consultant to setup HR policies and procedures
• Quickbooks Software - Might refer certified Quickbook experts or accountants you can use for your business

Re-evaluate how you leverage resources within your business to increase productivity and still keep you operating costs low

No matter what options you choose to get work done in your business, be sure to think about all of the different ways you have outside of hiring a part-time or full-time employee. Doing business differently can help you increase service, support and overall profitability of your company or within the organization.

I look forward to connecting with you on the inside!  

My Best,  

Toni