Hiring a Freelancer Packaging Designer Means Poison for Brand

Last Updated on June 25, 2022 by DesignerPeople

“Cheaper Makes You Handicapped & Reputation Can’t Run on Wheelchair.”

Today we have a significant and severe topic that many business owners often compromise on while developing a product or brand. It’s a long-term dream and hard work of every entrepreneur to build a brand and does everything perfectly from scratch, but if you fail to showcase it in front of your target audience, the entire effort will be of no use.

It’s the reality that being a startup, you have a specific budget only, and after the initial process, you will get a feeling of what to do with branding or packaging and get it done at a minimal price. But in the current scenario, customers are educated and concerned about what they are purchasing. So, pitch your brand firmly to develop trust among the customers.

The number of freelancers is increasing like nothing, and the reputation for their work isn’t always perfect. If it is worse to work with a slow freelancer, it is even nastier to associate with a fast worker who continuously makes errors. Lets discuss in detail what are the major difference between working with freelancer packaging designer or professional packaging design agency :

How do Freelancers are poison for Brand Reputation?

One of the significant reasons this happens is that around 95% of freelancers work on the side; they usually have a full-time job and work on evenings or weekends for an additional wage. As they are working on a short-time basis, we can’t expect them to be available full time and have to wait for their convenient time. Due to this, the deadlines are never promised, and the chances of loss are higher due to overheads.

Additionally, freelancers may not be reliable because they may not have the same commitment to a project that a full-time employee does. It can lead to missed deadlines, missed commitments, and overall chaos. A company may also end up spending more money because a freelancer is not always reliable and does not take the time to learn about the company’s culture and expectations. These are the significant reasons why freelancers are poison for brand reputation.

Why Should a Company not Hire a Freelancer Packaging Designer?

Now let’s discuss the primary reasons why you shouldn’t hire a freelance packaging designer:

• Fail to meet deadlines:

The first and foremost problem that most clients face with freelancers is that they do not commit to deadlines, and even if they do, they always fail to meet them and make you in trouble. Every client expects their project to be done top priority, but due to multiple projects, they fail in handling, and everything could clash. No matter how popular a freelancer is, you cannot know their authenticity and can’t trust them.

In such a situation, you will understand the importance of outsourcing agencies as they are professionals and have an excellent experience known for their deliverables and commitments. You will interact with the team, have personal or online meetings, and legally sign a contract that makes the relationship more robust and better long-term services.

• There is no guarantee of receiving high-quality services:

You often approach freelancers based on the review or feedback you’ve seen on the digital platforms. You might see different works and approaches based on the quality, but don’t fool yourself. If you trust and believe what they are doing is the best gives more darkness to the project. You need to guide them more and put in the effort from your side to get decent work within an extended period.

There are situations where clients get trapped just because they trust the freelancer’s reviews. They usually create positive reviews on their own or through their friends to get more projects, giving a false impression.

When it comes to agencies, they have professional teams who have proven experience in the segment, and they will never compromise on the quality.

• More chit-chat, less work:

Have you ever realised the number of chats you do with a freelancer in a day? I’m sure if you ever hire a freelancer, you might have observed the number of screenshots you send and receive each day. It leads to delays in delivering communications and waiting periods, thus delaying accomplishing the targets.

When it comes to outsourcing agencies, they follow a systematic process and collect your brief initially so that there won’t be a gap in between and lets you tension free. They will send you design concepts in the proper presentation, and the project manager will get in touch with the client for feedback, making it easier to raise the concerns and deliver the message.

• Assembled Portfolios:

While approaching a freelancer, I’m sure that they must have shown you a comprehensive portfolio with unique designs, claiming it’s their works. But can we really trust it? Do they have any sources? No. Even studies state that numerous freelancers display false portfolios and information to get the project. Therefore, blindly trusting them can confuse your business.

Though you can easily identify that freelancer is lying in most cases, sometimes, if they are professional scammers, it’s difficult to identify them. As you don’t have any source, you need to trust them at any cost.

In such a situation, you’ll get the importance of a packaging design agency whom you can trust. From their portfolios and clients’ testimonials, you can realise the quality of their works.

• Requesting Extra time:

If you approach a freelancer just because of the thought that you will get more priorities and get the work done rapidly, then I request you to open your eyes and get the reality. Freelancers never disclose their works and offer you many false promises. But, in reality, most of them are overwhelmed with enormous work.

A professional agency always has a systematic process and gives you clarity on the timing to plan out actions accordingly. After starting the project, when you ask for designs, they will give excuses and ask for more time. As they don’t have a systematic process, you can’t expect anything at the right time.

Pros of Hiring a Packaging Design Agency over a Freelancer

Now let’s discuss the primary reasons why you need to approach a packaging design agency:

• Business Resilience:

The primary reason for approaching a professional agency is that you won’t face any challenges even if one of the team members is not available on a day. An alternative member would fill the space as they have a source and a good team, resulting in business resilience.

An agency works on teamwork and is guided by expertise management, which will help a smooth function of the overall project. A secondary source will always be open whether you need to get any changes done or communicate with the agency. It helps in completing your project within the time limit.

• Resource Quality:

The second important element you need to consider is resource quality. There are many instances faced by people where the freelancers have shown faked portfolios and skills to get a project and later identified by the clients with their low quality of work.

A professional design agency has a team of skilled resources and moulds them with time. Even if you hire a junior resource from an agency, they are guided by a group of senior and professional folks to help them in complex situations. Such agencies have substantial industry disclosure and niche expertise.

• A wide range of services:

Approaching a design agency allows you to enjoy a wide range of services. While a freelancer is restricted to only a particular service, an agency guides you by giving multiple benefits that help grow the business.

It helps you save cost and time by approaching different sources as a client. If you go for an agency just for one service, there is no scope of price reduction too. Moreover, if you get every kind of branding related service under one roof, you won’t need to worry about the quality of work and time as you are already familiar with them.

• Professionalism:

We are all aware of the incidents where freelancers vanish from a project of their own choice without informing anyone, making clients into trouble and loss. The same might happen with an agency, but they always have a backup source waiting to help you and fill the space during emergencies, making you in a free zone.

Employees in most agencies follow a strict working pattern and generally have solid work ethics. The teams are guided by senior employees, ensuring no discrepancy occurs in the project they handle. Moreover, there is a standard level that each agency maintains, so we can trust them and expect professionalism.

• Interaction:

One of the clients’ significant concerns about freelancers is the lack of interaction with them. They are not available all the time, and need to wait for a long time to get a revert from them. You need to hire a resource that can interact with you, understand your requirements and openly help you in critical conditions.

Here comes the value of an agency where you’ll get an opportunity to interact with a group of teams and be able to communicate all your needs to them. You will get a secure feeling while working with them, thus creating a friendly atmosphere for both parties.

• Participation and Dedication:

The last and most crucial element is the participation and dedication you receive from the hired team. As discussed above, we have many examples of challenges customers face from freelancers due to this element. Due to a lack of time and excessive projects than their limit, we can’t expect dedication or participation from them.

Though an agency also has numerous projects, they have the potential and good team to manage the situation. One can always determine its dignity by reviewing their portfolio and client testimonials.

Conclusion

I hope you understand why you should approach a professional design agency with this blog. Though, you might be surprised by what we discussed about freelancers. As one of the prominent packaging design agencies, we have encountered various situations where clients got stuck with freelancers and later approached us. So, I thought many brands have a misconception that approaching a freelancer and agency are the same, but in reality, these are extremely at two corners.

Therefore, before making any decision, you need to understand the reality of both sides of the coin. After all, it’s entirely your choice of whom to hire. I hope from now you get a deep understanding of the elements we discussed and make a wise decision.

Author: Megha Malik

As a passionate entrepreneur and creative brand consultant with experience of 14 years in digital, branding and packaging industry, it is my honest effort to put my experiences and knowledge of industry towards readers. A chartered accountant by degree but a marketing personality in blood has motivated her to take in designing industry as a career. With her fun-loving personality and sharp branding skills, she is a great motivational speaker on her YouTube channel, an active member in various business channels offline as well as online. Do connect me personally via my LinkedIn and I love to share my expertise with you.