Want to expand without employees? Try a dispersed team
By Nina Kaufman, Esq.Bit by bit, businesses small and large are moving away from using full-time employees. Why?
- The escalating costs of health care
- The thickets of employee legislation that impact smaller and smaller companies (like NYC’s recent move to a paid sick leave threshold of 5 employees, down from 20)
- The explosion of collaborative technologies that support the rise of the “gigster economy”
So if you’re not going to hire employees, but you want to grow your business, how can you do it with a team of independent contractors?
I spoke to a veteran of this model, Barbara Gorder. (Barbara and I shared the “Hanging Out Your Shingle” panel at the 3% Conference). Her marketing services firm, Undisclosed Location, provides advertising and communications around collaboration technologies.
As Barbara puts it:
“The company name ‘Undisclosed Location’ speaks to an insight. That smart-happy-people create the best ideas. And creative people are the happiest when they can live and work in a place that inspires them most.”
A bit about Barbara:
Barbara has helped to build and design some of the world’s most powerful brands over the past 20 years. She’s a multiple award-winner (Coty, Clios, Addys, and Cannes Lions finalist). She’s also Sunday painter, omnivorous reader of trash to classics, and life long world traveler.
Listen in to our conversation as we discuss:
- The journey to creating a cohesive yet dispersed team of senior superstars
- The challenges of using a distributed workforce
- Unlo’s vetting process for new team members
- How to ensure accountability and security when you can’t physically look over people’s shoulders
What other questions do you have for Barbara? Post them below!
Like what you read? Watch this short video to learn who we serve best.
