Count your money
The first thing you should pay attention to when choosing a contractor is budgeting. Before issuing an invoice, a conscientious contractor discusses the client's request and expectations with them, studies the documentation, etc. The final amount usually depends on the team's expertise and experience, the time frame for the work, expenses at different stages of development, etc. To understand whether the contractor is asking for too much, it is worth spain whatsapp resource asking for a detailed estimate. It should specify what tasks and in what volume will be performed. Next, you need to compare these expenses, including the salaries of specialists, with the market average. Keep in mind that the final contract amount includes a 30% margin, tax fees, and a 10-20% leeway in case the contractor has unforeseen expenses. If the contractor immediately offered a fixed amount, there is a risk that it will subsequently increase several times or that it includes too large a markup.
Many companies speak to potential clients in professional jargon, largely to confuse and sell unnecessary services. For example, you may be told: "we will make a product on microservices, and everything will fly for you." Meanwhile, microservice architecture implies the development of individual components of an IT system that can work and scale independently of each other. A separate person is usually involved in the development and support of each block, so this is an expensive process to implement. At the same time, in 99% of cases, such an architecture is not necessary. The more conscientious the contractor, the more understandable and simpler he communicates with the customer and is more willing to clarify details.
Request a repository
We live in the Internet era, and many companies store examples of their successful work in the public domain. Therefore, a contractor can easily appropriate a particular project. With the development of neural networks, it has become even easier to fill your portfolio with beautiful cases: they can simply be generated. Therefore, it is worth asking a potential contractor for a repository along with examples of past orders - it stores the project code and all the files used in the development of digital products. Be sure to communicate with the contractor's previous clients - this will help identify fake work and other pitfalls.
Check the team composition
Many agencies agree to any projects, even if they do not have the necessary expertise. For example, they promise to develop a mobile application, while they specialize in websites. To compensate for the lack of knowledge and skills in a particular area, they usually hire outside specialists for the project. What is the problem with this approach? Without the necessary qualifications, the contractor cannot assess the competence of the freelancer and the result of his work, which means that the client risks receiving a non-working service. To avoid such a situation, you can add a ban on hiring external employees for the project to the contract with the contractor.
Avoid a broken phone
Another red flag that may appear during the work process is that you do not have direct communication with the development team. If the contractor refuses to involve employees and department heads in meetings and promises to convey your wishes to them personally, the project has most likely been given to a subcontractor. And this is fraught with missed deadlines. In addition, the output may be completely different from what was discussed at the start.