Why Sites like Freelancer & Fiverr have played an important role in our start-up journey!
Starting a new business is no easy feat. There is so much to think about and so many different aspects to work through– be it business planning, product development, branding, social media, general marketing and finances! The unfortunate thing is as business owners we try to do everything ourselves, knowing too well it isn’t possible. Bootstrapping is real and so having platforms available like Freelancer and Fiverr to affordably get projects completed during that very initial startup phase, we believe is essential. As much as we would love to work with local Australian suppliers, we know that’s not always possible. For many of us, if we didn’t have the opportunity to connect with freelancers who could build websites for us, create our logos or create video content at an affordable rate; we may not even have a business to start with!
Yes, for our first launch of proUp we worked with the most incredible freelancer in Pakistan. We actually questioned whether we should share this— mainly due to fear of judgement and shame for not using a local supplier. Absolutely we would have loved to use a local developer, however being a brand-new venture, we just did not have the funds to support that approach. The amount of hate that is aimed towards sites like Freelancer stuns us. We get it; people have bad experiences. You paid for a service and someone did not deliver. Do we experience that in Australia as well? Absolutely! It happens everywhere. But the amount of negativity and advice we read on many Facebook groups not to use Freelancer come up far too often.
So, having successfully completed many projects on Freelancer, Fiverr and Upwork, we thought it may be fit to share some of our top tips to ensure a successful project. We figured there may be other business owners out there needing the support of such a service and hope this may help:
1. Do your research – take the time to review all profiles carefully, this includes looking at their portfolio or asking for specific examples based on the work you need done. Look at 10-20 of their last reviews, there should be no negative comments in the past 3-6 months. And then look at their overall % rating, project completion % and completed on time %. Anyone under 90% for any of those metrics, we wouldn’t push further with.
2. Be clear – you need to ensure you clearly understand the work that you need to get done. If you do not have a thorough understanding of the work you want done and what your deliverable is to look like, do not expect them to just know for you.
3. Don’t make assumptions – this goes for all aspects of the project. For example—don’t assume you will not need to go into detail as they will ‘just’ understand; don’t assume they will correct your spelling errors or grammar if you are giving them copy to go on your site; and don’t assume they will just add or share things to your project because that is their area of expertise. Ask lots of questions and get clarity when unsure.
4. Be mindful of your communication too – obviously one of the key battles is managing the language and communication barriers. Be mindful of how you communicate with your freelancer too. Be clear and precise in the way you create notes and the information you are sharing.
5. Have patience – be prepared for the project to take time and not happen exactly as per your timeline. You need to have patience and understand that your freelancers way of operating and running their work may be very different to you and you need to be okay with that.
We definitely feel keeping these few key tips front of mind will go a long way in ensuring the outcomes of our relationship with your freelancer are successful and prosperous! If you do have any questions or need any help in evaluating or reaching out to a freelancer, feel free to get in touch with us. We are more than happy to help!