Nathan Hirsch

Nathan Hirsch currently lives in Orlando, Florida and is the CEO of FreeeUp, a rapidly growing freelance marketplace catering to eCommerce and marketing businesses. Prior to starting FreeeUp in 2015, Nathan sold over $25 million on Amazon. He is an expert in hiring and has been interviewed on over 200 business podcasts. Nathan regularly speaks at industry events about scaling with remote talent and is a recognized figure within the industry.

His client’s number one problem is poor experiences hiring from other freelance marketplaces and not being able to find reliable talent online. They use other platforms to post jobs only to run into an overwhelming amount of applicants that haven’t been vetted leading to high rates of turnover and frustration.

He solves this problem for them by pre-vetting all talent before allowing only the top 1% into the network, providing around the clock customer support, and only introducing them to 1 qualified candidate at a time. FreeeUp’s core mission is to make hiring online simpler for both business owners and freelancers. Simpler for business owners to find, hire, and pay reliable talent online. And simpler for freelancers to find and start working with new clients online.

Nathan Hirsch also founded Ecombalance.com a monthly bookkeeping service for Ecommerce Sellers/agencies and OutsourceSchool.com where he teaches his hiring processes.

Where did the idea for FreeeUp come from?

My business partner, Connor Gillivan, and I sold over $25 million online and ran into tons of frustrations with the other freelance platforms out there, before starting FreeeUp in 2015. With that of our business, we started hiring online and got very poor customer support. We decided that we wanted a better way. We wanted to make it simpler to find, hire, manage, and pay reliable talent online, without the roadblocks we were running into. FreeeUp was the result.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

My typical day is a combination of internal management, external marketing, as well as growth projects. I stay ahead of my schedule by meticulously planning meetings and limiting phone calls and interviews to specific time blocks on my calendar. I stay productive by keeping focused on growth projects that add the most value to the business in the short and long run.

How do you bring ideas to life?

My business partner and I meet on a quarterly basis to plan and strategize for the next quarter. Each time, we walk away with an organized list of goals for each team within the business. I bring ideas to life by clearly communicating and motivating my team to take action. I make sure the idea thrives by being the leader behind them.

What’s one trend that excites you?

The growth of the freelance economy. All over the world, businesses and professionals are engaging in more freelance work relationships than ever before. No longer is location a limitation. Anyone can work with anyone from anywhere in the world. I love that and I’m excited to see it further grow.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

I wake up before the business day starts. In those hours before everyone is awake and buzzing, I am able to make real progress on growth projects, clear things out for the day and brainstorm new avenues of growth for the business.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

You can start and scale a profitable company 100% remotely with people from all over the world.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

Take inventory of what you’re spending your time on and hire out anything that isn’t directly contributing to the growth of the business.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

Starting a referral program early on and having laser focus on giving every user a positive experience.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

Hiring the wrong person for a key role within the business. It was a difficult lesson learned, but it taught me how to interview, who to look for, and how to make sure they are the right fit before committing to them.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

The best times to hire:
1. When you are overloaded with repetitive tasks.
2. When you’re expanding into a business strategy that you know nothing about.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

Joining the Shapr.co community. It’s been an amazing and simple tool for networking with other entrepreneurs and business owners from my phone that I picked up earlier this year and have had great success with.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

Skype. I use it every day to manage my remote team. There are 40+ of us all around the world working on FreeeUp. Skype is what unites us. We hold all-hands meetings every Monday, team meetings weekly, and brainstorm sessions regularly. I couldn’t be as productive at communicating as I am without it.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

Start With Why by Simon Sinek. Knowing WHY you exist as a company trickles down into how you run the business and what you’re offering to your customers. Sinek effortlessly outlines a theory for thinking about business growth that any entrepreneur can benefit from.

What is your favorite quote?

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela.

Key Learnings:

• FreeeUp is a platform where you can hire reliable eCommerce and marketing freelancers to help grow your business.
• The freelance economy is growing rapidly with predictions that over 50% of the US workforce could be freelancing within the next 10 years.
• Building a business with remote talent is 100% feasible with the tools available online today.

Connect:

www.twitter.com/freeeup