You have a project, but you don’t have people. Dig into agency waters or hire a freelancer? Both have their pros and cons – in this article, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of both options so that you can choose the best one for your project.
Before we get into a deeper analysis, we would like to mention that freelancers and agency employees are only human. So even if you have a bad experience working with a freelancer or agency in the past, it doesn’t mean that the problem will necessarily recur. It’s always about individuals. In this article, we will summarize the general pros and cons of each type of cooperation, the final choice is up to you.
Freelancer vs. Agency
A freelancer is a person who works independently, often for multiple clients at the same time. It focuses on one field in which (ideally) it acts as an expert. In contrast, the agency employs a team of experts across disciplines and provides a wide range of services in its industry. As a result, they usually have a wider range of resources and skills than individual freelancers.
So you can count on one person being cheaper than a team, but we don’t recommend making a decision based on price alone, because the wrong choice can be pretty expensive. Also, make your decision based on how you are able to prepare the assignment and whether you know what you actually need – if you are in the dark, the agency will help you much better, if you have a clearer idea and have an idea of how the whole process works, a freelancer will probably be a more suitable choice.
What are the (dis)advantages of working with a freelancer?
Do you have a smaller project that you can manage yourself? Hiring a freelancer is the ideal solution. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this type of cooperation?
Benefits of Hiring a Freelancer
- Flexibility: Freedians tend to be more flexible when it comes to their work schedules – this allows them to better adapt to your specific needs.
- Narrow specialization: Freelancers often offer specialization in a particular area. This way, you can choose a freelancer with exactly the skills you need for your specific project.
- Easier communication: When working with a freelancer, you communicate directly and don’t have to deal with forwarding information through other people. This makes it easier and quicker to make arrangements.
- Speed: The more people, the more complicated the approval process. Thanks to the fact that you communicate directly with the freelancer, the completion of the work depends mainly on their capacities and mutual agreement. But in general, expect faster delivery than with a large agency.
- Lower costs: Freelancers don’t have the costs associated with running a large agency, which can be positively reflected in the overall cost of the project.
- A more personal approach: While with an agency you deal with operational matters with an account manager (who can still take turns), with a freelancer the agreement is always between you, making it easier to build a common relationship and trust.
- Transparency: If you find a specific freelancer based on references, you know that they are working directly on your project. Moreover, when you solve any problem, you know who to go to. Freelancers are also more willing to address the issue immediately because no one wants to risk their reputation.
Disadvantages of Hiring a Freelancer
- Limited capacity: The fact that there is only one freelancer is both an advantage and a disadvantage in one. So even if you save money by hiring them, the work can take a long time, because like any other person, a freelancer has limited time.
- Worse substitutability: While in an agency, when one expert drops out, another specialist takes his place, in the case of a freelancer, you risk dragging out your work, for example, during vacation or illness. It is therefore worthwhile to contractually stipulate the deadlines for the submission of the various phases of the project.
- Narrow specialization: This point belongs to the advantages as well as to the disadvantages. If you don’t know exactly what each profession does, you may find out after a while that one freelancer won’t help you with everything. They can recommend colleagues from other fields, but coordinating several people is more challenging.
What are the (dis)advantages of working with an agency?
Working with an agency is especially worthwhile for large companies that have a larger budget and less time to coordinate individual freelancers on their own. Not only does the agency have a team of experts of various profiles, but it can also manage the project effectively. What are the other advantages and disadvantages of this type of cooperation?
Benefits of Hiring an Agency
- Comprehensive services: When hiring an agency, you have everything under one roof. You don’t have to deal with the coordination of multiple independent experts, the agency will take care of that internally. If your project requires the collaboration of experts across multiple disciplines, this is the easiest way.
- Larger capacities: Agencies typically have more resources and capacities than individual freelancers. This makes it easier for them to deal with even larger projects.
- Easy substitutability: For larger projects, you’ll appreciate it when more people can work on it at the same time to ensure continuity of work. When one team member is unable to work, the agency arranges for a replacement and the project proceeds smoothly.
Disadvantages of Hiring an Agency
- Higher costs: Agencies typically have higher rates compared to individual freelancers because they have to cover the costs of operations, team management, and other expenses. This, of course, is reflected in the overall price.
- Less flexibility: The more people, the more bureaucracy. In the event of changes in the course of work, be prepared for a lengthier transfer of information and a round of approvals that must be passed by many people.
- More complex communication: Working with an agency can be trickier in terms of communication. You do not communicate directly with the expert who works on the given part of the project, but everything is mediated and communication noise and slowing down the flow of information can occur.
- Lack of transparency: An agency may have a lot of big clients and successful projects behind it, but that doesn’t mean the same people will work for you. With a smaller budget, juniors are most likely to take care of the work.
Finally
If you want more transparent cooperation and you are at least superficially familiar with what working on a specific project looks like, it will be more appropriate for you to ask a freelancer. In case you know what you want, but not how you want it, and you don’t feel like delving into the details, an agency will be a better choice. You don’t necessarily have to choose a large agency where you sign a long-term contract, you can also choose a smaller agency with several experts, which tends to be cheaper and also more flexible. It always depends on the budget and the size of the project.
But whichever option you’ve opted for, always make the effort to find references. Be sure to also arrange a non-binding introductory meeting, where you will find out whether you will find common ground or not. Mutual sympathy and trust are more important than it might seem at first glance.
