I've seen all kinds of agencies over the years with different ratios of full-time vs. freelance workforce.

Some have made it work really well with a completely full-time salaried team, either located in one place or spread out remotely.





Others have done well going very heavy on the freelancers with little to no full-time team members.





And then there are those spread across the spectrum with varying ratios.





There is no right or wrong way. A few observations of what's been helpful across our Barrel Holdings agencies:





• Freelancers can be incredibly valuable members of the team and top contributors to the culture (standards, ways of working, collaboration, etc.). They may work their own hours and negotiate their own rates project to project, but they're still people who collaborate with other people. Treat them like they're part of the team and they'll act like they're part of the team.




  
  

• There's still a feeling that hiring for full-time can give you access to certain talent that's just not as easily obtained on a freelance basis. Many people really want a steady paycheck so they can focus on working & living their lives vs. trying to hustle and get their next project.




  
  

• If you have a mix of full-time & freelance team members working together a lot but haven't really addressed who is "on the team", you'll accidentally create a 1st class vs. 2nd class atmosphere where full-time people feel like it's their team and freelancers are just transients. I've made this mistake and why I think my first point above is key.


  
  

• If you have a thriving business that's always got more work than it can handle, a full-time team is fairly easy to maintain as long as you deliver work profitably. But if you experience peaks & valleys in revs, carrying a full-time team can lead to some scary losses during slow periods. Having a network of freelancers can give you more confidence to right-size in those situations vs. prolonging losses.




  
  

• You can have bad experiences with both full-time employees and freelancers. We try not to let those experiences become generalizations. Tweak the hiring/vetting process and keep trying.