People who work for small and medium-sized businesses often hire people to do things that they can’t do. This is because it might not make sense to hire an employee just to do web design, bookkeeping, or even marketing for your business. But where can you find this kind of skill? You have two main choices: a freelancer or a digital agency. You can choose between them.

It’s not clear which of these is the best choice. To figure out what would be best for your business, you need to think about the differences between hiring a freelancer and hiring a digital agency.

What Is a Freelancer?

A freelancer is an independent professional. When you hire a freelancer, you work directly with the person, so you’ll set the terms and figure out how to pay them.

In the past, freelancers were much less common than agencies, but that has changed over time. There were only 4 million people in the U.S. who worked full time as freelancers in 2014.

By 2019, the number had increased to 57 million — 35 percent of the workforce.

You can find freelancers in various places, including job sites, forums, and freelance platforms. This last option will give you access to a wide pool of candidates. Plus, it’s easy to compare skills, experience, and qualifications and read reviews from previous clients.

How Does a Digital Agency Work?

Digital agencies are made up of a lot of people who work on projects either alone or together. Each agency is a little different, but they all have set prices for their services, so there is no way to negotiate fees with the people working on your project.

Unlike traditional agencies, the employees at digital agencies work from home. This lets you get help from people all over the world.

Pros and Cons: Freelancer vs Digital Agency

Working with a freelancer has its advantages and disadvantages, just like working with a company. With all the pros and cons, you need to figure out what is most important to you.

It’s your job to be the person in charge of everything when you hire a freelancer. It’s not that big of a deal if you only need one or two people to work for you. When you have a lot of people working on a project, though, you’ll have to help them work together, give them advice, and let them move on to the next step.

It’s not very hard to run a project with an agency. You can expect the agency to handle strategy and figure out what tasks need to be done based on your goals and end goal. Plus, you can be as involved in the project as you want to be.

Cost: When you work with a freelancer, you can expect to pay less in the beginning. As a rule, most freelancers set their rate based on the task. This could be a fixed rate for the project or an hourly rate, which is more common for ongoing work. Find a freelancer for any job at almost any price you want, but you’ll get better work if you pay more.

They are more expensive than freelancers, but digital agencies cost more because there is no need for an office space. As a long-term option, it can be cheaper to hire an agency than to hire a freelancer at first. Why? You won’t have to spend as much time on the project and the risk that you’ll have to pay for changes is less.

A lot of people who work as freelancers specialize in just a few skills. Freelancers who have been in the business for a long time tend to specialize in a certain type of work. In most cases, a freelancer can help you find someone who has the skills you need for a project or task.

The downside, of course, is that it can be hard to find someone who can do a lot of different things at a high level. Instead, you’ll need to hire two or more freelancers to do the job. People who apply for jobs, get hired, and stay in touch with their coworkers take more time than they used to. A digital agency, on the other hand, will be the best choice if you want a wide range of skills. All you have to do is ask for a certain service, and the agency will find you someone with the right skills. A project that has a lot of moving parts is great for this.

The ability to grow is the fourth thing.

Both hiring a freelancer and working with an agency can be done in different ways. With freelancers, on the other hand, you have to start looking for and interviewing new people all over again. When you work with an agency, all you have to do is ask for more work hours.
People who work for themselves have subscriptions to a lot of the tools and apps they use the most. They expect you to pay for everything else. In this case, you already have accounts set up for bookkeeping, CRM, and project management. This isn’t a big deal, though. But if you want to get access to these tools without having to spend more money, an agency is a better choice.

How to say it:  You have a choice. There are many people who work for free. You pick the one that fits your needs best when you hire someone to do the job. Many small business owners enjoy being able to choose their own employees. It could be almost as important to have good personality traits as good skills if the job requires a lot of communication.
As a rule, when you work with a digital agency, you usually don’t get to choose the people who work on your project. Instead, the agency gives you a team that fits your needs. Many companies let you ask for a new job if you don’t like the work they did.

The seventh thing to think about when it comes to communication

Freelancers know that if they want to keep working with you or at least get a good review, they need to give you a good service all around. Because of this, they tend to be good at communicating and making sure the project meets your needs. If they work in a technical field or in marketing, they are likely good at explaining things to make sure you understand them.

In the end, communication with a digital agency isn’t better or worse, but it’s just different. You’ll mostly talk to the owner of the company or a project manager to get the work you need done. You may also meet with the project manager and some other members of your team to talk about how things are going. Some business owners like this method, but others would rather have more direct contact with the person who is working on the project.

As we said before, freelancers make money if they do a good job. There have been times when a freelancer has just vanished from small businesses.

There are scam artists out there who will take your money and run. This is very easy to avoid if you hire through a freelance platform, because there is built-in payment protection for both you and the person you hire. Still, a freelancer could go away in the middle of a project. Finding someone who has a lot of positive reviews from other people will help cut down on this risk.

A digital agency will always be able to give you a good service if you choose a legitimate business. If one of the people working on your project leaves for any reason, the agency will find someone else who can start right away.

Whether you hire a freelancer or work with a digital agency, both can provide you with high-quality services if you make the right choice and are willing to pay for them. When you hire a freelancer, make sure you don’t choose someone who is charging a lot less than the average rate or who has a lot of other clients. Some people even work on the side while they have a full-time job.

As for agencies, if the agency thinks your project isn’t worth their time, the quality might not be as good as you thought it would be. An agency that specializes in working with small businesses or entrepreneurs can help you avoid this risk, so look for one.

As a digital agency can always find someone to work on your project, there is often more room for change. It’s likely that someone at the company will be available to finish a project quickly if one comes up.

People who work for themselves aren’t as easy to work with. They have other things to do, which means they can only work with you at certain times of the day and for a certain number of hours each week. If you’re in a different time zone, this might not even be possible. A freelancer may not be as good at their work if you ask them to do it quickly.

How to Make the Right Decision for Your Business

There’s no clear answer to what is better: freelancer vs digital agency. Typically, if you have a small project that just involves a couple of specialist tasks, a freelancer is going to be your best bet. However, if you need support with complex projects and you’d rather dedicate your time to core business activities than managing a team, a digital agency could be a better choice.

Something else to bear in mind is that, as time goes on, your needs may change. For instance, startups can often find all the expertise they need in a couple individuals, whereas growing businesses may prefer to gain a wider variety of skills from a digital agency.

If you decide the best option for you is a digital agency, choose VA FLIX . You’ll receive a dedicated freelancer at an affordable price, a team lead to monitor your projects, and access to our extended team for specific requirements. Schedule a consultation to discuss your needs and to receive 10 percent off our services.