If you’re like most small businesses these days, then you’re holding onto all of your available cash reserves. But the reality is that businesses can’t run without labor, and hiring employees costs money. After all, a new employee will have to be added to the company health plan, trained, paid a salary, given sick days and vacation time and perhaps given a company car. It can all add up—in fact, according to Entrepreneur Magazine, the average cost of hiring a new employee is $4,000.

But the fact is that a business must march on if it expects to survive. The good thing is that it’s possible to hire an employee without all of the related costs. How? You can manage it with a freelancer that is ideal for the job. By using this valuable tool, you won’t have to pay any of the traditional expenses associated with a regular employee, but you will reap all of the benefits—quite possibly more than with full-time employees. Let’s start by taking a look at those benefits.

Cost.

By hiring someone as an independent contractor, you will likely be able to save thousands in costs. And with the global market, you can hire a qualified person from another country for much less. For instance, if you need a graphic designer, you can hire an excellent one for as little as $11 per hour. You can find these valuable contractors on job sites, such as freelancer.com.

Focus. An independent contractor is typically hired for one aspect of a project. Their goal is focused, and you’ll be able to measure the results in real-time. For example, if you hire a writer to create an e-book for you, you’ll know in advance how much you’re paying and what you’ll get in return.

Qualifications.

When you hire a traditional employee, you’ll have to train them to do the job. But an independent contractor is already an expert in their field. Whether it’s a project manager, an SEO specialist or a website builder, they already have the skills needed to do the job and are ready to go to work for you.

Options.

With an independent contractor, you get to decide which projects they work on when they’re finished, and whether or not to continue to use their services. With a traditional employee, you have to be careful about hiring and firing because of the laws that govern employers, but those laws don’t apply to an independent contractor. If you’re unhappy with his work, simply don’t renew the project.

This way of doing business certainly seems to be the trend in the global marketplace. If you’re a business owner and think you might benefit from hiring outside help, there are some things you should be prepared to ask before assigning a contract.

For starters, you should ask to see samples of their work. For example, if they’re a web site designer, ask them to point you to websites that they’ve designed. The same goes for other types of contractors as well. Writers, graphic experts, and video experts should have portfolios of their work, while project managers, social media campaign managers, and administrative helpers should be able to tell you which projects they’ve worked on, and be able to give you referrals. If you use a system like freelancers.com, you will have access to a rating system. On it, employers post valuable information about the contractor's job performance and skill level.

Next, you’ll need to determine whether or not the contractor’s schedule will allow them to complete your project on time. Ask them to commit to a pre-determined date, and offer to pay their fee once you’ve received the project. This way, you’ll be able to keep control of the project, and the contractor working studiously toward the end goal.

Hiring an independent contractor just may be the wisest thing you can do in this economic climate. You’ll pay a fraction of the cost of a traditional employee, they will be an expert in the field that you require and you will be able to maintain control over the process. If this sounds like something that’s right for your business, why not start looking for an independent contractor today by logging onto freelancer.com?