Scaling Smart: How Startups Can Leverage Project Workers For Higher ROI

By Pavel Shynkarenko

As I’ve personally experienced, scaling a startup can often feel like running a sprint on a treadmill. Navigating through this critical phase can give us the impression that we are constantly moving, but the resources we need are always just out of reach. This also includes people, especially in today’s convoluted job market.

There is traditional hiring, yet its high salaries, benefits and long-term commitments can quickly drain a startup’s limited budget, making rapid growth harder to achieve. Given that venture capital is also constrained, it may not be the best idea.

So, what is the smart way to go? I’m seeing a growing trend toward looking for fractional contractors. These are specialists who are brought in for part-time roles, and offer a more flexible, cost-effective alternative.

By hiring top talent only when needed, startups can significantly reduce costs while driving faster, more efficient results. Scaling smart means investing in outcomes, not overhead. Here’s how this can work.

The advantage of contractors

Hiring conventional, full-time employees (if there’s still a word for that) demands long-term commitments that tie up resources in salaries, benefits and onboarding costs. For startups — which likely need financial flexibility to thrive — this can be detrimental. Fractional contractors, on the other hand, allow emerging businesses to tap into beneficial expertise without the full-time price tag.

For example, a tech startup preparing to scale could bring in a part-time CFO to manage its financial strategy, saving up to $40,000 to $50,000 annually compared to a full-time hire. Note that the company is still getting top-tier expertise when it needs it. This model lowers costs while enabling startups to remain agile — reallocating resources to high-impact areas like product development or customer acquisition.

ROI in action

Consider a SaaS startup preparing to enter new markets. Instead of committing to a full-time marketing director, they decide to engage a fractional marketing consultant for six months. The result? A successful campaign launch with 10% to 15% lower costs, plus the flexibility to invest surplus funds in other critical growth initiatives.

Besides the financial benefits, fractional contractors also open the door to niche expertise, increasing ROI in more than one way.

Whether it’s a part-time compliance expert or an HR adviser to streamline hiring, startups can meet specialized needs without the burden of full-time salaries or benefits. This is particularly helpful when launching specific initiatives such as targeted marketing campaigns, where the lion’s share of the budget often goes to full-time personnel, but it’s not always included in the cost breakdown because it is taken as a given.

Strategies for success

To maximize the ROI of fractional contractors, startups should first identify the key roles needed. This means focusing on areas that require specialized knowledge or commitments, like financial planning or product launches.

Once these are set, firms can leverage tools like Intch to quickly connect with high-quality fractional talent that can deliver results quickly.

While non-employees won’t be full-time staff, integrating them into hybrid teams with project management tools like Trello or Monday .com is still valuable to ensure smooth communication and greater alignment on goals. Clear plans and expectations are paramount to ensuring the freelancers integrate seamlessly into the existing team structure.

By combining full-time employees with flexible, fractional talent, startups can scale faster, stay agile and achieve a higher ROI.

This model of smart scaling not only allows businesses to move quicker but also helps them build for the long-term in a dynamic and competitive market. Additionally, this can likely bring profitability sooner — something essential in today’s venture market.

Pavel Shynkarenko is a leader with more than 20 years of experience in financial and legal tech, business development and client-contractor automation. In 2014, he co-founded Solar Staff, a fintech payroll company for freelancers, achieving $10 million-plus in annual revenue. In 2024, Solar Staff rebranded as Mellow, an HR platform managing contractor risks and ensuring fair pay and benefits. Mellow now supports 1,500-plus companies and 400,000 contractors globally, bridging full-time and project-based work for the Gen Z workforce.

Illustration: Dom Guzman