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The framework every founder should use to hire contractors
by
Alessandro
https://growing-products.paralect.com/the-framework-every-founder-should-use-to-hire-contractors
This is good advice IF you are looking to make a contractor a permanent part of your startup, but by definition, a contractor is someone hired on a contract basis for a specific amount of time or project. Therefore, as long as the contractor can do the job then things like fitting in with the team and sharing your company vision won't matter. I say this because when I first started hiring contractors for my SaaS startup, I was far too focused on them sharing my vision. In the end, it really didn't matter as long as they were able to complete the work I contracted them for to a high standard.
This is a good checklist of points to follow. Hiring contractors for short or small projects is a great way to determine whether they'd be an asset long-term, with minimal risk to your business.
Totally agree. I think providing clear guidance on expectations, timeline and goals is super important too. There's no gray area for misinterpretation and your contractor can feel empowered to move forward with confidence. Don't leave anything up for interpretation and encourage them to ask questions.
The first contractor I hired ended up filling in the blanks on my prompts and it cost us valuable time when it wasn't what I wanted. Lesson learned: Be clear up front and you won't be surprised.
For sure. Communication is key. As a contractor, I've been blown away by how unclear clients can be and a lack of feedback can make things harder. There have been times on the other extreme where the client provides an overload of information. There's a happy medium for sure
Excellent advice! I aways start with small "trial" contracts. Some other pointers:
I like your point about time zones. A lot of founders are moving toward teams that are remote but share a timezone (or at least a country). It might be cheaper initially to work with someone outside of your time zone, but in the long run, things often take at least twice as long if not more, because of the lack of real time communication.
I've not hired anyone yet for my projects but I like this advice a lot. And it makes sense: Start small and see how they do. Cut the ones that don't perform well and move forward with those that thrive. As a contractor, I really appreciate when they are transparent about the process and the work. It helps everyone move forward with confidence and offers clarity about what the goals are.