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Charles's avatar
Charles R Community Member

First Time Client-data entry: q re breaking up a project

I have a data checking/data entry project.  I have done a little bit of research and have a plan of how to break up the project which I wanted to get feedback on. 

 

I have ~15k documents to go through and will stage the project in 2 parts.  I was considering hiring 3 different contractors to handle the first part, then using the best 1-2 to handle the 2nd part.  Is it ok to be transparent that there's some "competition", to first show accuracy, but also for level of professionalism and communication?  The work itself is very, very simple, and I am putting in a lot of time and every effort to create a set of instructions (with examples) which will, I hope, make completing the task straight forward.  

 

Feedback/thoughts?  And I would *very much* welcome any general suggestions people have as I embark on my first go around.

8 REPLIES 8
Anuj's avatar
Anuj B Community Member

Hi Charles,

It's always good to distribute and break such large projects among several freelancers rather than a single freelancer because it helps you to get completed the work in a timely manner plus by hiring 2-3 freelancers, you know which ones are the best to continue with. If you can create instructions it would help them understand the project much better. I think you are good to go and can start hiring the Freecalncers.

Thank you 

Charles's avatar
Charles R Community Member

That was precisely my plan: to use the initial stage as a "proving ground" and then use the freelancers I like to take on the 2nd half of the project.

Charles's avatar
Charles R Community Member

Did you have any other suggestions for my first go around?

Anuj's avatar
Anuj B Community Member

Yes, never make the payment upfront even if the freelancer request. Always use the escrow option for fixed-price jobs and release the payments after the work is completed. For hourly jobs, you are automatically charged through your credit card.

Robin's avatar
Robin H Community Member

In my opinion I don't think it is necessary to mention you've hired other freelancers for "competition" (accuracy, speed, etc.).  When you post a job at the top you can mention "Need 2-3 freelancers".  If you hire more than 1 freelancer, it will be noted in the "Activity on this job" section with Hired: 2 (or 3, 4, etc.).

Charles's avatar
Charles R Community Member

Very helpful thank you!

Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

Hiring multiple freelancers to see how they do is one of the smartest and most efficient ways to save money on a project.

 

If I have 200 files that need to be processed, it is worth it to me to hire multiple people at the start of the project.

 

I hired 6 freelancers using hourly contracts.

2 of them never did any work. I closed the contract without paying them anything.

One of the freelancers was VERY fast. But her work had so many errors that I could not use it.

The other 3 freelancers produced work of equal quality.

I continued working with the 2 who were the fastest.

This way, I saved a lot of money on the project.

Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

I agree with Robin: You do not need to tell freelancers that there is a "competition."

 

You job posting does not even to indicate that you are hiring multiple freelancers. Whether you say so or not, is your choice. It may be helpful for freelancers to know that there are multiple openings for the job. That may encourage more to apply.

 

But I often hire multiple freelancers using job postings that I plan to hire only one.