Does this sound like your typical Monday? Your head designer takes an early maternity leave, your best spec tech breaks an arm and your biggest client needs a line of high performance activewear yesterday. Good news! There's a perfect solution, freelance professionals, and a company to manage them, Project Solvers.

Previously, a last resort for staffing emergencies, planned temporary positions have become the staffing tool of choice for building businesses, either from inception, or redesigning downsized and consolidated companies. With emphasis being placed on SG&A, many apparel executives are hiring freelance consultants to fill new and existing jobs, rather than burden payrolls with additional salaries. Just look at the benefits:

Timing
Freelance talent enables a company to employ the same systems they use in planning their business for a season. Augmenting professional staffing needs lets a business have the right personnel at the right time. Sounds interesting, but, does it work?

Absolutely! A large global manufacturer recently started a new division under a licensed brand. Recognizing the need for a dedicated team to develop a branded line, a number of positions were staffed with freelance talent. Did hiring an interim President take guts or vision? Actually more vision then guts. A temporary President provided entrée to a higher level of executive talent that an upstart budget would usually allow. Now they had a leader who not only determined the day-to-day needs of their new business but also directed the future of the new division, and hired their full time replacements.

Planned interim solutions work at every level. A fairly new company uses freelance professionals for almost 75% of their staff. Talent is brought in on an as needed basis. Sales, merchandising, design and tech positions have all been outsourced and the company has the flexibility to change this as the line progresses. Accomplishing this requires planning, communication, attention to detail, and professional staffing partners you can trust.

Flexibility
Freelance professional talent lets a business take advantage of downturns, upswings and new business opportunities. Firms can easily capitalize on new trends, or jump-start new technology. Even a large corporation can be as nimble as a small firm with just one phone call.

What if you're new dress source who returns from a client visit with a challenge that you never planned on … "We love your lace dresses, but could really use a group of lace embellished separates. Can you do it?"

Or what happens if your production samples are all delayed, then delivered at the same time and must be turned around in 48 hour, and your WebPDM pro storms out? Professional freelance talent will get you out of a jam. Seamlessly!

Savings
The savings of not incurring direct payroll expenses, taxes or benefits are easy to tally, but how do you account for the savings of being able to get a job done in crunch time? How do you put a value on being able to say, "We can do that", get it done on time, and cost, effectively?

Conversion
Think of it as a lease with an option to buy. Not very original, but it works! As businesses grow, or budgets open up, the freelance to fulltime option gives a business the opportunity to access talent, and to make sure that converting a freelancer to fulltime will be a great fit and benefit your existing team.

Partnerships
At Project Solvers, our mission is simple. We want to partner with you so we can know your business, as well as we know our own. That way you'll be hooked up with a premier source for professional freelance and fulltime talent in the field. We have designed our business to save yours time, money and angst.

Professional Temporary Solutions are today's smart price/value choice. Let us know how we can help you.

This is the first in a series of articles by Anne Maxfield and Leslie Frank founders of Project Solvers. With 14 years of business expertise in placing over 1,000,000 hours of professional freelance talent in addition to fulltime positions, they will address relevant hiring issues. Future pieces will examine both employee and employer concerns. We welcome your questions, comments and feedback @ leslie@ProjectSolvers.com.

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