Planning to hire a freelancer or a virtual employee? But confused about who’d best fit your job profile? Well, this is not new. There’s a constant debate around comparing these two employee types and finding which one will benefit the business. This article will guide you on the difference between a freelancer vs. virtual employee. We’ll also understand how one is somewhere better than the rest. 

Read on to understand and make a choice between the two.

Difference Between a Freelancer Vs. Virtual Employee

A freelancer or a project-based assistant is a person who works for multiple clients or organizations rather than committing to a particular organization. They are independent workers who are hired to perform a specific task and work for a predetermined fee based on the time and effort required to complete the given assignment.

On the other hand, a virtual employee is somebody who works remotely for your business using virtual means to communicate and perform different tasks. They play roles similar to that of an in-house employee in a company.

Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Employee

You get the following benefits upon hiring a virtual employee. 

Easy Integration into the Company 

Virtual employees are easy to integrate into your business operations. Since they’re just like regular employees of your company, you can call them for conferences and training programs or invite them to company events. Also, besides performing designated tasks, they can also help promote your business in their community or locale by word of mouth, social media posts, etc.

Better Communication and Work Management 

In the business world, you’d often get to deal with challenging situations and unforeseen events. During these times, you may need to make quick adjustments, delve into mindful decision-making, and look for ideas to get through the matter. A Virtual employee works the same as per your office hours, hence are mostly available during peak hours. This makes it easy for you to communicate about any urgent requirements or shifts and manage the workload more efficiently.

Contribute to a More Controlled Workflow

Unlike a freelancer, a dedicated virtual employee remains committed to only working on your project and is always available for real-time communication. Moreover, they work from a supervised office equipped with all the required resources, such as a PC, high-speed internet, printer, scanner, etc., which contribute to a smooth workflow. This should clarify the difference between a freelancer vs. virtual employee.

Benefits of Hiring a Freelancer 

Hiring a freelancer comes with the following advantages. 

Ambitious and Focused

Freelancers are no less than small businesses (usually with only 1 employee) that are driven toward providing the best services. They’re more focused on building a great portfolio that comes up with their day-to-day work results. Hence, most professionals are wary of making any mistake that can cost them their well-established reputation. This, for an employer, comes with an assurance of only being provided with top-quality work.

No Regular Payments 

Freelancers usually charge per hour/word/completed task, which means you only pay for the hours or amount of work that has been done. This can be a one-time payment upon project completion or fixed instalments. And the best part is, you don’t need to pay the freelancers regularly, which is often a reasonable and feasible employment option. 

Expertise in Different Niches

Every freelancing specialist comes with their own traits and expertise in certain niches. They can help you work in areas you’re not very knowledgeable about. Be it for anything like generating legal copies, social media marketing, content and copywriting, and so much more. 

Takeaway 

Although both freelancers and virtual are fundamentally different, they are suitable for most business types. Where hiring a freelancer can be cost-efficient, a dedicated virtual employee comes with great benefits in terms of security and accessibility. Be it freelancer vs. virtual employee — it’s all who you choose as the right one for your business.