Should you hire a freelancer or use an agency? Let's examine the differences and summarize some criteria.
Structured agency or experienced freelancer?
A common question to which it will not be possible to give a comprehensive and clear answer because there are so many factors to consider.
Based on some experience and my network, I decided to start a small survey, explain the results and offer some food for thought.
The following lines let others speak and summarize statements from entrepreneurs, partners and other decision-makers.
Business owner, HE from South Tyrol
"In a small or medium-sized enterprise, the annual marketing plan includes various projects from diverse sectors with different objectives. Over our many years in business, we've had both positive and negative experiences with agencies and freelancers. We see advantages in collaborating with agencies in the print sector and traditional communication solutions. A larger agency with a well-organized structure and advanced tools is able to meet deadlines and deliver the necessary advertising materials on time, regardless of the size of the project. If these tasks were assigned to multiple freelancers, communication would be cumbersome, and most projects would be impossible to complete within the given timeframe. However, we've had very positive experiences with freelancers regarding online marketing, web design, consulting, SEO, and other applications. Not all agencies have experienced staff on their teams or utilize their best people. From this perspective, relying on a freelancer with expertise and experience is often the best option. Another aspect we consider internally is that some agencies tend to want to handle everything for the client, even things we, as the client, don't need." needed. Since we were frequently persuaded during consultations to book services as a package, we assume that this only increased costs in order to finance the agency structure and personnel expenses with these additional funds. Freelancers, who don't have structural costs or personnel to finance, only propose services when they are truly necessary. Of course, we differentiate between freelancers and agencies based on a multitude of criteria when selecting them, but these wouldn't add any value here.
Shareholder, AS Südtirol
"I have no preference regarding agency or freelancer. The only thing that matters to me is the result. Any agency or freelancer that offers me good work, clear and targeted advice, and, above all, timely implementation will welcome me as a client. Otherwise, I would choose whoever convinces me and considers my project important. I will clearly prefer agencies or freelancers who don't just think about profit, but directly contribute their work as if they were part of the project. It's the details that make the difference."
Entrepreneur, FT South Tyrol
"Working with a freelancer can have its pros and cons, but I generally prefer collaborating with experienced freelancers. A freelancer's success depends entirely on their own work, and they work independently for their own business, thus building their own reputation. I consider this aspect crucial: Freelancers demonstrate the same level of commitment in every project, ensuring that work is implemented optimally with all parties involved. In my experience, an agency employee tends to be content with small successes, both because that's what the agency expects and because the employee receives the same pay even if they don't put in extra effort on a project. A freelancer, on the other hand, is interested in continuous development and the success of each individual project in order to remain competitive and guarantee high customer satisfaction. Only that will propel a freelancer forward."
Freelancer, GW South Tyrol
"The advantage of being a freelancer lies in their nature: They don't have rigid schedules, they organize everything themselves, and this flexibility can guarantee lower costs compared to an agency structure. I know many freelance experts who work very profitably and achieve optimal results, both in collaboration with companies and with other freelancers."
Entrepreneur, KU South Tyrol
"In our business, we've found that a project is best discussed and planned in person. We had this exact problem with a freelancer: no face-to-face discussions or meetings were possible. This meant that all the information wasn't coming together. I prefer to rely on a local agency where I can go anytime and a conversation provides clarity, even though it certainly involves more costs."
Employee, HB South Tyrol
"I've never had to make such a decision before because I'm at the beginning of my career in this field and in the company. But as far as I can imagine, I would prefer a freelance employee, as I think the collaboration would be more relaxed and creative."
Based on these statements, my own experiences, and numerous other conversations, I will try to provide a little more clarity.
Strengths and weaknesses
Agency strengths
- Failure protection (If an employee is sick, another employee steps in)
- Full-service services (usually in packages that the agency prepares and plans)
- Large orders are usually completed on schedule without any problems (since more than one employee can contribute to the implementation)
- The customer can come by at any time (clarifying discussions always help in case of doubt)
Freelancer strengths
- Personalized, creative service (since the freelancer does not have to adhere to agency specifications)
- Lower costs (no structural costs or personnel costs)
- Freelancers work on their own account and must therefore constantly convince
- Direct contact without detours possible (not for all freelancers)
- Flexible implementation schedule (no fixed working hours)
- A freelancer has other experts in his network (for targeted measures)
Agency weaknesses
- An agency has defined processes (works in large teams according to defined, commercial rules)
- Generally higher prices (not every service sold is important for the customer, but for the agency)
- The employees or teams assigned to the task can sometimes work better and sometimes worse
- Agencies have to bear more personnel and structural costs (the customer also pays for this)
- Competing companies are usually offered the same services (differentiation succeeds in this way, but often not as desired)
Freelancer weaknesses
- For large orders, the freelancer has fewer resources available (since usually only one person or a few people work on a job at the same time)
- In case of illness, the freelancer ensures that the project is not available (depending on the severity of the illness, a project can be significantly delayed)
- Project planning can get disrupted for freelancers (unforeseen incidents disrupt project management)
Conclusion
In a sense, one could say that the same difference exists between the performance of a freelancer and the performance of an agency as there is between a craft product (freelancer) and an industrial product (agency).
