What jobs or tasks need to be done by your in-house team, and which ones can be outsourced? Learning to navigate and utilise both teams will help you grow your business steadily. Watch the video!
Imagine that your business is a car. To build a car, you need several parts to work together in tandem. The oil that keeps your car running is your capital. The engine is the brain of the operation. This can be your CFO or Chief Finance Officer. So what about your employees? What about the contractors as well? They’re actually the wheels of the car. Without them, you won’t even be able to get out of the garage and start driving on the road. For optimal results, it’s important to find the best tires to fit the wheels of your car. The best wheels are going to be your employees while the ones that can work short-term during emergencies or special occasions are the contractors. So what’s the right balance between employees and contractors when it comes to your business roadmap?
The Right Balance Between Employees and Contractors
Before we ask ourselves the question, ‘what’s the right balance between employees and contractors?’ we need to first define the difference between the two. A lot of people may think they’re very similar but you’ll realize just how different the two are. By understanding their similarities and differences, you’ll be able to find the right person for the job or position that you need to fill out.
An Employee Vs. Contractor
By definition, an employee is a person who provides services for a single employer or company and gets compensation accordingly. The employer is the one who is in charge of dictating and controlling the work that one needs to perform and the logistics of the work as well. It is the employer or company that has full responsibility regarding the taxes and benefits of the employee.
On the other hand, an independent contractor is a person who comes from an independent business and is outsourced by a company or employer to work on a specific task or project. More often than not, a contractor can work for multiple clients at the same time. Their working hours are limited. The contractor also needs to provide their own resources and equipment to perform the job as this is no longer under the jurisdiction of the employer.
Basically, a contractor is self-employed while an employee is employed by an employer or company.
Long-Term Vs. Short-Term
Ask yourself again, ‘what is the right balance between employers and contractors?’ That actually depends on the job or position that one needs to fill. For example, if you’re looking to hire somebody who will be working for you in the long run and needs to have a full understanding of the tasks and resources included in the job, it’s better to hire an employee. But if there’s a short-term project that you need to finish within a few months. And if you don’t have the resources and time to onboard and train somebody from the ground up, then you can look for a contractor who already knows how to perform the job well.
Defining Tasks
The IT industry isn’t lacking when it comes to talent. You’ll find competent and efficient people out there, just waiting for companies to discover them. There are just a few things you need to consider first before hiring them off the bat. In this case, you need to define certain tasks. By defining certain tasks, you’ll be able to figure out the timeframe, the manpower, and the skillset your firm requires for the job.
The definition of these tasks will help you determine if you need to hire somebody and train them to be long-term employees or if you can outsource from a different company. So that’s how you’ll figure out if you have the right balance between employees and contractors.
Are you stuck in a tough spot? Hire a Business Strategy Consultant!
When it comes to starting and maintaining an IT business, there will come a point where you won’t know what to do next or what the right step is. This is quite common but for many business owners, it can be difficult to know how to get un-stuck from that specific spot. At times, they may make decisions that are purely emotional and end up making fatal mistakes. Here at Loading Growth, we don’t want anything like that to happen to you.
So what do you do when you find yourself stuck in a tough spot? Well, it’s easy. Don’t do anything rash. Get help. Hire a Business Strategy Consultant, just like Loading Growth! If you find yourself in a position where you’re unhappy with your numbers or your sales growth, then it’s time. Find the next best course of action.
Loading Growth is an IT consultancy business that guarantees accelerated growth with proven results! These results are based on a three-step process where you discuss the pain points of your business, find solutions or steps on how to address those pain points, and then execute the plan for your business roadmap. Overall, Loading Growth works hard so you don’t have to!
If you’re interested, you can book a call with one of our business gurus or contact us via email: info@loadinggrowth.com.
Who is more expensive?
Depending on the job, the compensation is going to be vastly different for an employee or an independent contractor. Normally, outsourcing from a different company is going to be more expensive. They already have the skills, the knowledge, and the resources to get the job done! But for many business owners, it’s worth the budget because the short-term project is finished quickly.
On the other hand, onboarding and training a person from the very beginning to become a good employee for your business will take longer. You will also be training them on certain operations and tasks which may take a while for them to fully get into. Basically, it’s going to take a lot more effort and time to nurture people into becoming the employees that you need to stick around for the company. And it’s also a high-risk gamble because they have the right to resign from the job as well.
If you compare that to a contractor, you will have a contract protecting the services you’ll be requesting and paying for. So there’s less of a risk factor in that aspect.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, you know your business best. When you ask yourself, ‘what’s the right balance between employees and contractors,’ you’ll know by defining tasks, checking if the project is long-term or short-term, and calculating the budget you have by getting another person on board. It’s important to have a healthy mix of people working in your business. It enables things to get done ASAP with more hands-on deck. But if you end up losing more revenue or missing out on sales, then you should take a look at your workforce and see if you have the right people for the right job. You can never go wrong with a little risk but make sure that the risk will be worth it in the long run!
