2025 is the year of the freelancer.
It’s a bold statement, perhaps, but definitely one that is true.
I predict that this will be the year that SMEs in the UK will discover how valuable freelance support can be.
This week, I’ve had three separate conversations with SME’s in Ipswich about the value that the freelance community can bring to your business. These followed conversations at last week’s networking event in Colchester, where firms expressed their concern about the upcoming national insurance hikes.
Now is the time to re-evaluate how you get the right people in place to do the work that needs to be done.
Freelance support for SMEs balances cost with experience
With the right freelance support, you can minimise your costs while simultaneously benefiting from significantly higher levels of expertise!
It’s not a trick, I promise!
Let’s look at some basic calculations.
As a small or medium sized business, are you tempted to save money on your PR or copywriting by recruiting internally for apprentices or junior staff members?
This will save you money, but will be a false economy.
Comparing the costs of apprentice vs senior staff vs freelance staff
The average annual salary of an apprentice is £20,000.
In comparison, the average wage of a PR director is circa £70,000 per year.
Of course, those costs do not include employer costs such as national insurance, sick pay, holiday pay, the costs of paying for a new computer/phone number and all of the other incremental factors that come in when recruiting internally.
At immediate glance, the cost ratio is largely in favour of the apprentice.
But – how much time do you have to spend on training and development? Will that person be given time and mentoring to help develop them and enhance their learning or will be left to their own devices, unsure what they need to do or why?
There’s no doubt that apprenticeships are a fabulous way of helping younger generations start their careers, but they do need your time and effort to train and support them. Your time has its own cost value that needs to be factored into the equation.
This is where freelance support for SMEs starts to come in as a valuable alternative.
Here at Gatekeeper Communications, we have three levels of PR packages.
Let’s take our silver copywriting, PR and thought leadership package as an example.
For £1,700 per month, (or £20,400 per year – comparable with the apprentice salary), you can visually see how you’re benefiting from much more strategic output from a PR director level of expertise.
Your business would benefit from PR Director levels of experience, at apprenticeship pricing.
How else can freelance support benefit SMEs?
Of course, it’s not just the cost ratio that makes freelance support for SMEs a valuable addition.
It’s about the other attributes that need help and support across your business.
Here are a few scenarios where finding a freelance contractor could be the solution you’re looking for.
✔️ If a staff member leaves, is on long-term sick leave, or takes maternity/paternity or even an extended holiday, how are you covering their work in the interim? Are you managing the workload for them or simply leaving it for them to deal with on their return? A freelance person can cover all of those scenarios and make sure that your workloads are kept ticking over.
✔️ What about those tasks that always fall to the bottom of your to-do list? How often have you updated your website or checked that all of your communications have consistent branding and look as good as possible? Finding the right person means that you’re not having to deal with those tasks that you don’t like doing or don’t know how to get started.
✔️ What about those little ideas rumbling around in your mind, where you think, “If only I had the time or knew someone who could just get this stuff done for me?” A freelancer will manage that for you.
✔️ You may have spotted a knowledge gap in your staff, but you haven’t got the time or budget to invest in training and development – you need someone with the skills you’re looking for straight away. With swift onboarding processes, you can benefit from their expertise almost immediately.
SMEs deserve effective freelance support – get started today
If you’re here, you already know what I specialise in freelance PR, copywriting and report writing, but I also know hundreds of hugely talented people across the freelance community who can manage exactly what you’re looking for.
I know that budget will your be your biggest concern, and that’s why I have a range of fixed-price packages designed to suit your needs. From as little as £300 a month (Bronze copywriting), you could benefit from exceptional, high-quality marketing and PR support that boosts your business.
If you’re still not convinced in why SMEs need freelance support, why not check out our other articles?
- Your business will benefit from freelance digital marketing support
- Did you know a professional report writer could help you to make the most of your annual reports?
- Five reasons why you should hire a white paper writer
- What does a freelance copywriter do?
Book a discovery call to find out how we can work together. Or alternatively, why not drop a connection request on LinkedIn?