Hiring freelancers is a critical step for ecommerce entrepreneurs to scale their businesses and avoid burnout. This episode with FreeeUp founder Nathan Hirsch outlines a strategic approach to finding and managing remote talent. Learn how to vet candidates beyond just skills, set clear expectations, and build a reliable outsourced team to support your growth.
Key takeaways
Prioritize hiring for personality and work ethic over just skills; a strong cultural fit and drive are more important for long-term success.
Establish clear expectations and an effective feedback loop with freelancers to ensure consistent performance and alignment with business goals.
Avoid “low-balling” freelancers, as extremely low rates often lead to poor quality work and unreliability, costing more in the long run.
Utilize platforms that pre-vet freelancers to save time and reduce the risk of bad hires, focusing on services that prioritize quality and reliability.
Don’t delay hiring for too long; actively seek support to avoid burnout and enable business growth, identifying your own weaknesses to hire complementary strengths.
Hiring is not the easiest thing to do in the entrepreneur world, but it's also the most important task an entrepreneur eventually must do if they want their business to grow. Nathan Hirsch knows this all too well. At first he wasn't sold on the idea of hiring someone but when his first busy season came and led him to work 10-12 hour workdays all by himself, he knew he had to find someone and help him run his business. After learning from multiple bad hiring decisions, FreeeUp was born. FreeeUp is a service that provides entrepreneurs access to vetted freelancers from around the world. They do the screening and pre-interviewing, and claims to let only the "top 1%" into the FreeeUp platform. Entrepreneurs can just submit a request and FreeeUp matches them with a vetted freelancer/VA/agency within a business day. Some conversation points: How Nathan's remote worker quit on him during his first day of vacation The importance of hiring people around your strengths and weaknesses The pitfall of interviewing based on skill and the importance of personality and work ethic Setting expectations and establishing a feedback loop The dangers low-balling freelancers The different levels of freelancers and how FreeeUp vets them Don't make the mistake of waiting too long before making your first hire. If you're looking to hire now, Nathan was kind enough to provide EcomCrew listeners with a $50 credit on the platform. Just use the code ECOMCREW when signing up. Resources mentioned: 5 Minute Pitch EcomCrew Premium <a href= "https://www.ecomcrew.com/how-to-open-an-overseas-office-in-the-philippines-with-virtual-assistants/" target="_blank" rel="noopen
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Prioritize hiring for personality and work ethic over just skills; a strong cultural fit and drive are more important for long-term success.
What does this episode say about supply chain & operations?
Establish clear expectations and an effective feedback loop with freelancers to ensure consistent performance and alignment with business goals.
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Avoid “low-balling” freelancers, as extremely low rates often lead to poor quality work and unreliability, costing more in the long run.
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Utilize platforms that pre-vet freelancers to save time and reduce the risk of bad hires, focusing on services that prioritize quality and reliability.
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Don’t delay hiring for too long; actively seek support to avoid burnout and enable business growth, identifying your own weaknesses to hire complementary strengths.
