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How contractors could be vital for your business in 2021

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Development Article |Contractors|How contractors could be vital for your business in 2021The Covid-19 pandemic has forced businesses to change much about the way that they operate. Certainly, a company must be willing to adapt and change with the times in order to ride out the crisis. And in this regard, it is unsurprising that independent contractors have become in-demand through the pandemic.

Contractors offer a range of benefits to your business that are especially relevant in 2021: here are some of the ways that contractors could be vital to your company.

A more flexible workforce

Perhaps the most crucial quality that contractors can bring to a business is flexibility. The situation regarding Covid-19 changes so often that it is necessary for businesses to be able to be agile, and open to changing up their ways of working.
If you are used to working entirely with a salaried base of in-house staff who come to work 9 to 5 – this may no longer be ideal for the duration of the pandemic. It can be necessary to work differently, and contractors offer you a way to do this.

Keeping salaried costs down

In 2021 it is more important than ever that businesses look for ways to minimise their outgoings. It is the case for the majority of companies that salaries actually make up a huge amount of the overall costs to the company. It is also a fact that bringing in salaried staff is expensive, especially over time. Depending on the sector, businesses can use up to 80% of their gross revenue on salaries.

Using contractors is actually a really useful way to lower your salary costs. Yes, typically contractors will demand a comparatively higher hourly or daily rate than staff – but as they are used infrequently and only on specific tasks, this can make them effectively far more cost-effective.

The exact expertise you need

“Contractors are typically brought in because they are able to offer specific expertise that a business only requires for a single project or for a short time,” says Giles Knights, General Manager at ClearHub, a specialist contractor recruitment agency “this could include everything from DevOps specialists to digital transformation consultants”.

One of the major benefits of working with contractors is that you are getting their very specific specialism for the duration of a short period or over the course of a project. Rather than hiring a member of staff with more general skills or paying for a specific expert full-time to carry out tasks outside their field, this allows you to get the exact person you need for the job.

It also means that when the next project comes along and you need a different form of expertise, you can get it easily.

Suited to a remote working environment

Contractors are perfectly suited to the environment of remote work that has been necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Many contractors actually prefer the flexibility and ease of working from home and might be very used to it.

Unlike hiring members of staff who might prefer an office environment, or simply don’t have a great deal of experience outside of it – contractors are regularly asked to work remotely.

Additionally, being able to recruit remotely means that you have access to a much broader range of talent. Now that you are more likely to have the kind of systems in place to allow for simple remote working, it is easier than ever to hire contractors who are based a long distance from you. This can make the task of finding the right person not as arduous as it may have been previously.

More talent available

There is another fact about contractors and the workforce generally that Covid-19 is having an effect on. Functionally, as there are fewer opportunities, there is a greater workforce available. This means that it is both easier and more cost-effective to get the contractor that you need for the job.

Clearly, it is important for businesses to be able to bring in the staff that they need if they are going to have a successful 2021. The fact that there are more contractors looking for work gives organisations the opportunity to carefully select not only for the right skills but also the people who come in at the right time.

Final thoughts

Contractors can be hugely beneficial to businesses of all sizes through 2021. They not only provide specialist skills in a cost-effective way, but also they are perfectly suited to the ever-changing working environment of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Four Things Your Business Should Outsource Now

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Four Things Your Business Should Outsource NowFor some employers, outsourcing is a bad word! It’s considered to be something that reduces costs because things are going wrong and savings are a must. The thing is, outsourcing is so much more than that. Outsourcing helps your business to improve productivity and bring better profits to your business over time.

You can pretty much outsource anything in your business, and if it enhanced employee safety, all the better. You can look at https://employeradvantage.com/workplace-safety/ for information about how to keep people as safe as possible. With the right outsourcing help, you can do so much more with your business and take it to the next level. With this in mind, here are four things you can outsource today.

  1. Marketing. It’s a big piece of the business puzzle, and sometimes it requires more than one person or one team in your business to work it. You need experts, and those experts don’t have to be on the payroll. You can hire people in on a project by project basis and have the experts holding your team together to get through it. You may also have a need for more specialised SEO and marketing services, and outsourcing those services is a must.
  2. Call Answering Services. How many calls does your business get in a week? Sometimes, the volume of calls that you get can disrupt your business massively, and you need to do something about that. Contacting a call answering service will make a huge difference to the way that you run your business as you will have the time to do it all! With someone else answering the calls, you won’t be bogged down with busywork. Handing important calls is a must, but you can hire someone to do it for you and be more productive in other areas of your business.
  3. Finance & Payroll. You may choose to hire an expert to pay your employees or manage your invoices, and it would be a smart choice for your business. You need to keep up with the changing and complex tax laws, and you can only do that if you have an expert in finance working with you. When you outsource your finances, you are trusting someone who knows what they are doing to look after your business properly. You will be impressed by how much an expert can save your business when your finances are managed properly.
  4. IT. The tech world is changing constantly, and you need someone who is keeping up with these changes to work with you. They can ensure that you have the right software, and that your software is updated as often as it needs to be. You can invest in Cloud IT services, too, and that will go a long way toward better workplace safety and security. Your IT strategy won’t always be the same, and so having the right individual there to help will be the best option for your business to be a success.

Building A Team Without Taking On Employees

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article | Building A Team Without Taking On Employees

Getting to the stage when your business is ready to start building a team can be a great achievement. Not only will you have already proven yourself and the concept that your company is built upon, but you will also be getting to the point that you can feel secure in your business. Of course, though, taking on employees is extremely expensive, often taking up the vast majority of a small company’s resources. This doesn’t have to be the case in the modern world, though, and this post is going to be showing you how to overcome this sort of issue with a business of your own.

Freelancers

Freelance work has been increasing in popularity over the last couple of decades. With the web enabling people to work at home and look for opportunities outside of newspapers and job adverts, it’s become easier than ever to take on a team that you don’t have to directly employ. Tools like Snupit make it incredibly easy to find freelance employees without having to spend weeks searching for them. Thousands of workers are on sites like this, making it much easier than you might expect to find freelance workers that won’t come with the cost of hiring someone.

Remote Employees

While permanent employment is an expensive game for businesses, looking at the idea of remote employees can be a good way to save some money. You will still have to pay to hire them, including things like pensions and health benefits, but you won’t have to fork out the costs of additional office space. People are getting more and more used to working at home, making it a great time to start looking for employees that can work from their own place. As time goes on, this sort of work routine is only going to get more popular, especially if companies continue to push for it.

Service Businesses

Service businesses make it possible to have the jobs that you would usually hire someone for covered by someone else. There are companies that can handle your marketing, web design, tech support, and a wealth of other services that you would usually have to hire a dedicated employee to handle. Not only does this make it cheaper to run your business, but it also gives you the chance to improve your productivity without having to hire more people to work for you. It’s always worth reading reviews before you choose to pay for something like this, with many companies offering very different levels of service.

With all of this in mind, you should be feeling ready to take on the challenge of building a team without employees. This sort of process can be tricky, with many companies finding themselves struggling when they can’t afford employees but need to take on a team. Thankfully, though, the modern world has you covered.

Essential Tools Coworking Spaces Need To Survive

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Coworking Space|Essential Tools Coworking Spaces Need To SurviveThe business world is changing. More and more professionals have chosen to embrace an independent career, whether as a freelancer or a solo entrepreneur, to reach out to their audience. Similarly, more and more businesses support remote working options and encourage their employees to manage their working hours as and where they see fit. As a result, coworking areas have become a popular alternative to the typical office space. For commercial property managers, launching a coworking space is a fantastic opportunity to tap into the changing work environment.

However, with a variety of choices for remote workers, coworking offices need to be smart about their offering. It takes a lot more than a cozy chair and good WiFi to appeal to the modern workforce.

A user-friendly booking system

You need to think of your coworking service in the same terms as an Airbnb rental property. You never know when the next remote team will need a space to meet and cooperate. That’s precisely because life can be full of unexpected surprises that you need to make it as smooth and easy as possible for your users to book out the space they need.

Taking inspiration from Airbnb, you need a booking platform that lets people manage not only the space they need but also the payments and cancellations in real-time. A smooth booking flow ensures you can make the most of last-minute bookings. Besides, it also helps canceled spaces to be remarketed to future users in a matter of a few clicks.

Customizing equipment for that last-minute client visit

Typically, remote businesses tend to book coworking spaces when they want to organize a meeting with partners and clients. As a result, they want to make sure they can receive their guests in the best possible situation and boost their reputation in the process. While providing meeting rooms is a no-brainer, you also need to consider last-minute branded stationery needs. Remote teams tend to buy their stationery, which means that when employees get together, they’re likely to have an inconsistent arrangement of pens and notebooks. You can help to create a homogeneous impression with a stationary room where they can find everything they need.

Additionally, adding a programmable laser cutter to engrave their logo on the chosen items can bring everything together. If you’re unsure about how cutters work, you can find the reviews of Boss laser here for clarification. You can even make personalized stationary part of your premium package.

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Coworking Space|Essential Tools Coworking Spaces Need To SurviveA high-quality coffee machine that everybody can use

You can’t picture an office space without a cup of coffee. If you are going to retain your clients, you need to invest in a quality coffee machine that can be set to make everybody the perfect brew. What does it matter?

Ultimately, remote teams are known to choose coffee shops as a working base, so providing high-quality brew will ensure they don’t ditch you for a local Starbucks’ or any other coffee chain with good WiFi.

Attracting remote businesses and entrepreneurs is no easy task for coworking companies. Building a working space that suits people’s needs is crucial to create a list of loyal and returning clients. More importantly, once you’ve set the basics – WiFi, furniture, decor, etc. –, you need to think outside the box to become the indispensable partner of remote workers’ success.