What are the advantages for start-ups working with an independent secretary?

Independent or freelance secretaries are more and more in demand by start-ups, SMEs, and small-sized businesses. Collaboration with an independent secretary can indeed have different advantages. But it can, in some instances and on specific points, be a hindrance. This post will highlight some of the advantages and disadvantages of a start-up working with an independent secretary!

What is an independent secretary?

An independent secretary is someone who, as the name suggests, is independent or freelance. The person offers their administrative services, generally under micro-entrepreneur (formerly self-employed), to companies wishing to outsource their administrative management.

To summarize, it is a person who does the job of secretary but who is not salaried; she has several small business clients. The advantages are numerous: flexible working hours, open remuneration, and the development of skills.

The advantages for a start-up of working with an independent secretary

A start-up, in many cases, does not have sizeable administrative management. In fact, she does not need to pay a secretary to handle this role. Calling on an independent secretary is, therefore, a suitable solution. Indeed, the latter only intervenes when necessary. This can be for regular or ad hoc administrative tasks.

The contract between the independent secretary and the start-up is a partnership. No employment contract, no social charges, and the Boss / Employee relationship does not exist. It can therefore end when either party wishes or there is a mutual agreement because there is no long-term commitment which is an advantage for both parties.

For a start-up, delegating administrative management to an independent secretary is also of financial interest. Indeed, it costs less than to pay a person or to go through an interim company. With a freelance secretary, there is no paid vacation or salary costs. Note that as an employee of a start-up, a secretary can ask it to finance training, which an independent secretary cannot do.

The start-up also saves money from a material point of view since it has no running costs. The independent secretary works from home with her own computer, internet connection, telephone, printer, etc.

Finally, an independent secretary is often more available than a salaried secretary. She can, for example, agree to deal with an urgent task one evening, a Saturday…with, of course, an overtime payment.

The disadvantages

Although less numerous than the benefits, there are nonetheless a few less positive aspects.

An independent secretary is, in fact, a service provider external to the start-up; the management may therefore be hesitant to entrust them with tasks with sensitive information or that require a high confidentiality level. Not being an integral part of the business can be seen as an impediment.

As a self-employed person working at home, the secretary herself counts the hours worked, and the start-up client has no absolute control over this and can hardly verify. Therefore both parties work together based on the trust and confidence they have developed among themselves.