Freelance and Fractional Website and Software Development

Who do you need in-house to succeed?

Companies don't always need to hire a full-time employee to meet their business needs. As technology dominates almost every industry in some capacity, companies are facing new logistical and financial challenges in order to ensure that their infrastructure is properly supported. To meet these demands, sometimes a full-time employee is too much, and other times not quite enough. Who do businesses turn to when they only need a portion of a full-time employee?

Contractor, Freelancer, Full-Time Equivalent, Retained, Fractional, Part-Time

There are many terms and titles for the same basic concept of partial employment. It's certainly not a strange concept. Let's take traditional information technology, or IT, as an example. As businesses streamline their information technology needs, many small-to-medium organizations have identified that full-staff in IT is simply an unnecessary overhead. Once their environment has been setup, they need on-demand support and maintenance as opposed to full-time dedicated labor. Therefore, they contract managed service providers, or MSPs, to provide remote support to replace their in-house IT personnel. This same paradigm can be applied to other technological needs as well, like website, platform, and software development and maintenance.

Applying the Concept to Senior Development

Almost every company who relies on the Web as a key part of their business needs the services of a senior website architect or developer from time-to-time. They need the expertise that only comes from decades of experience. However, with such an expansive knowledgebase and skillset comes a heavy price tag. What do companies do when they need that insight, but they certainly can't afford to bring someone on full-time? Enter the retainer.

What is a Retainer?

Retainers are a way for companies to commit to purchasing a dedicated amount of labor based on a set period of time. If you find that your organization needs just 10 hours per week or 20 hours per month, you can arrange a contract with a freelancer to meet exactly those needs. Your organization gets the benefit of highly skilled labor, but at a more affordable cost. This type of relationship with a qualified freelancer can turn a large six-figure expense into something much smaller and manageable.

At PxO Ink LLC, we have found that many of our clients need consistent expertise, but they don't have the capability to keep someone on staff every day of the week to meet those needs. Retainers become a way to satisfy business needs without the burden and overhead.

Calculating Needs

Companies can calculate how much labor they need from a contractor by identifying (sometimes through a consultancy) FTE, or full-time equivalent, units. If they identify that they need a fractional portion of labor, they can then contract that out to a qualified individual or company on retainer to fill the remainder.

Benefits Outside of Fractional Needs

Even companies who have their FTE needs completely fulfilled can benefit from a consultancy on retainer. Senior software specialists who work freelance are often exposed to a wider variety of challenges and technology options across an expansive set of industries. Access to this knowledge can be invaluable to businesses; especially those who need their in-house staff fully dedicated to the active development of their products.

Hire on Retainer

Even if you only need a website architect or software developer part-time, hiring someone steeped in their passion full-time is a great way to fill that need. If you're looking for fractional development, or a software MSP, PxO Ink LLC can help: on retainer!