Hiring and Managing International Freelancers

A recent report cited by FinancesOnline indicates that more than a third of the workforce in the United States is made up of freelance workers. This is a substantial pool of employees to draw from. However, because most jobs can now be done remotely, you don't have to limit yourself to only hiring workers from your own country. These tips from Brookfield Aviation can help you grow your small business by hiring and managing a team of international freelancers.

1. Tie Up Administrative Loose Ends First

Hiring workers can be a time-consuming process, so before you immerse yourself in it, you may want to tie up any administrative loose ends you have. For instance, if you haven't settled on a business structure yet, you may be considering forming an S Corp or LLC. An LLC requires less paperwork and has tax advantages over a corporation. An S Corp and its owners can experience double taxation.

An LLC also protects your personal assets in a way that sole proprietorship does not. LLCs are not complex to form, but the rules and regulations do vary by state. If you don't want to worry about getting all the paperwork right, consider using a formation service. The formation service can do all the legwork for you at a cheaper price than most business attorneys.

2. Decide Which Jobs You Want Freelancers To Do

If you are planning on hiring a team of only freelancers, then your only decision is which jobs you are going to do yourself and which you are delegating. If you don't plan to have freelancers working on site, then you also need to take into account which jobs can be done remotely. Identify the jobs that can't be done off-site and decide whether you can do those yourself or you need to hire a local freelancer to help do them.

For example, if you record a regular podcast, it can be both challenging and time consuming to also take on editing responsibilities. Hiring out the editing tasks to a freelancer saves you time to conduct other business, and you won’t have to relive a conversation you just had in the edit.

3. Determine Where the Freelancers You Want To Hire Are

Many general job boards cater to international freelancers. However, if you know you want to hire some employees from a particular country, it may be worthwhile to investigate country-specific job boards. TalentLyft has an excellent list of job boards that host international listings.

4. Figure Out How To Communicate With Your Team

When you are working with an international team, differing time zones can make communication a challenge. Remoters notes that asynchronous communication tools may make it easier for workers on different schedules to communicate about projects. If you need to exchange files to be edited with your marketing team, sending all of your files as PDFs isn't an ideal solution. Instead, consider using an online tool to convert a PDF to Word document. This will make each document easier to edit for your freelancers.

5. Make Sure Your Team Gets Paid

Your team probably won't stick around long if they aren't getting paid regularly, which is where invoicing comes in. Sending and tracking invoices not only ensures freelancers are paid in a timely and accurate manner, but it gives you the proper documentation for payroll and taxes as well. This doesn’t have to be a tedious process — you can use free invoice templates online to quickly generate invoices as you need them. Plus, such a template allows you to customize the document with your company info and graphics including your logo.

The payment service you use to pay your U.S.-based freelancers may not be available in their country, and sending an international wire transfer can cost you a lot of money. Look into international remittance apps that make paying your team both timely and inexpensive.

When the whole world is your workforce, it should be easy to find the talent you need to grow your business. Managing that talent may be a bit harder, but these tips will help you seamlessly integrate your international team.

Established in 1993, Brookfield Aviation provides short notice turnaround on a variety of qualified and experienced aviation professionals. For more information, please visit our website or contact us today!