Freelancer Payments? There has to be a better way.
You are a founder.
You’re about to hire your first .Net Developer.
You go to Upwork, read job descriptions but only the word ‘developer’ is highlighted.
I can hear you thinking.
“Where did the .Net part go?”
The results require you to have technical skills (and time!) to sort the ones that ‘may’ code in .Net
Even so, how do you know if they are any good?
You give up. Decide to ask around your network.
Bingo! You got a referral.
You contact Vin, a .Net developer in Spain. He is a freelancer and bills you directly – once a week upon deliverables.
A month later, your co-founders announce.
“Vin is going to need help; this project is taking far too long.”
Back to recruiting. You ask Vin, he suggests Pete in Canada. Now Pete uses Upwork. So you start paying Vin on Paypal, Pete on Upwork…
Next hire: Alice – a graphic designer you found in a Facebook group. She is a project based freelancer and uses Payneer.
Friday. End of week. Vin worked on your company report all week. Sends his invoice.
Monday morning. You receive a text from Vin.
Oh sheeitt! Forgot to pay him – not the first time 🙁
“Hey, all good man. But can you set a reminder or something??”, he says in a funny voice.
Embarrassed, you suggest.
“How about you move to Upwork? Pete is there and gets paid automatically.”
You’d love having all your freelancers in one single platform. Plus (although you keep this to yourself), Upwork will back you up in case of a dispute.
You get a shock when Vin replies.
“Ok. But my fee will go up by 20% to cover the Upwork fees.”
Ouch. Vin is already more expensive than Pete. You start questioning the existing solutions.
“Since most of my freelancers are coming from word of mouth, I don’t technically need Upwork to recruit talent.“
Then, why paying their fees? You much rather see that money go towards your freelancers.
And you wonder.
“I need all my freelancers in one single payment platform. Like Upwork but just to manage their payments.”