Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I need to have a program written for doing business on the Internet. I am
totally high tech illiterate and don’t understand the language, but I know
what I want.

I have placed request for bids on E-lance and received various prices some
very low, from India, some very high from Russia.

I would like to hire, for a fee, a consultant to supervise the job and assure
me that I will get what I need for my money.

Is this a good idea? Is there another way to go about making sure the job
will be well done?

A lot of time on E-lance or other freelance sites you can get great  (cheap) prices...but you usually "get what you pay for".

Not knowing the person you hire is a scary undertaking. So, do the best to protect yourself by:

Checking out the person/firm, their work, past clients, and get a written proposal/quote and a contract. You certainly do not want to pay in full until you are completely satisfied.  There should be provisions in the contract to deal with if either party does not do what they said they will do.

Hiring a consultant to oversee the work  - unless you knnow the consultant - is sort of doubling the problem/potential problem.

There are a lot of scripts / programs already written and available, Id` be surprised if what you want is not already available... or smoething available only needs a little "tweaking" to provide for your needs.

~Roland

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I would recommend finding one good person to do the job rather than someone you are unsure of with someone else to supervise who you may be unsure of.  How about hiring whoever you think would be suited to supervise the job to actually do the job?  They are more likely to understand you than an unknown in India or Russia.

I would hire someone you could meet face to face or at least talk to over the phone.  Communication is going to be a key factor in working with a developer.

I`d have to agree ... rather than finding yourself a developer and a project manager, just find a developer that comes with references.

If you find one you like, look at the portfolio and ask them for links to current projects. Go to their client`s sites. Find the contact information on the sites. And then contact the site/business owners to ask them about their experiences! If you find someone who works with businesses like yours, or at least the same size of business, more than likely you`ll be talking to their clients who are entrepreneurs and small business owners - and these people were in the same boat you were right before they went through the process. Often times that`s the best way to get a non-techie perspective on a developer if you are not a techie yourself.

I would be reluctant to hire overseas. If there is a problem, what do you do? How do you deal with response time when your contractors are halfway around the world?

It`s really important that you are able to sift through the gift of gab and the sales pitch, otherwise you hire the wrong developer, waste alot of money, and waste alot of time.  Just ask me -- I did all of the above.  Finally, after months of trying to get my site open, I fired the developer March 21st, found someone new, and my site is being launched today or tomorrow.  You need someone who can understand and DO what you want or expain why another way would be better.  You need someone who delivers what they claim they can do or who can explain why there might be a delay.  You need someone who is professional in their business dealings but who also has heart and understands your project.  You need someone who knows they can`t do it all, what they are weak at, and who has partners that are good in those areas who can deliver!

I found that person and that company for my website and I`m thrilled that it will launch either later today or tomorrow.  Check it out at www.YourSoothsayer.com.

I hired Nikole from nhg@nhgconsulting.com -- the SuN member who posted above.  She`s done a great job of interpreting what I need and taking the information I provided (same info given to the first developer) and creating a site that I`m proud of.  As soon as it is launched you can see what I`m talking about.

Be careful who you hire . . . money really doesn`t grow on trees and you really do get what you pay for.

jillybeans

I`m a very experienced software developer and I think you`ve been given some really great advice from the previous posters.

I think you should find someone local, even if it`s more expensive. Also, you say that you`re somewhat illiterate with respect to software development ... but you know what you want. [That`s a good thing.] If you`re inexperienced with the in/out of software development, it`s going to be exceedingly frustrating unless you hire a really first rate programmer. Trust me, software development can be interminably frustrating even when you *know* what you`re doing.

If this idea isn`t top secret, post a bit more and I`ll try and give you more specific advice. Private message would be fine as well.

Hiring a supervisor may be worth it only if a/ you know your supervisor well b/ he knows exactly what you needs. If possible he should be someone working with you on your business.

The development of a website requires constant communication between programmer and client: before the project has begun there is communication on the requirements, and several change-approval iterations, during the project development there is communication on possible changes in the requirements due to performance issues, UI recommendations from the programmer, etc. So if the supervisor is not competent enough and does not take the same decisions as you would, then you would anyway have to be involved..so hiring a supervisor becomes useless in this case.

As far as whether a company or a single programmer should be hired: that doesn`t matter, what matters is the experience the person/company has with sites of similar nature. Better find a a few sites you like, find out who built them and contact these people with a request for quote, specifying what exactly you need. Very often companies specialize in specific businesses (e.g sites for media) and do not perform very well on other types of websites...

RE elance: there are some good companies bidding there, but you will hardly notice them as they are just buried among the indian / east european companies..so I wouldn`t advise you to lose time sifting the offers there..

 

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SiteKreator.com - make your own website in 30 mins! Design, content editor and hosting all in one! See intro at http://intro.sitekreator.com

maintanence is also an important point,
dont miss that point.



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-Richard West
SWBOX.com
Software for Developers

Thank you all for your time and valuable information.
I now feel much more secure in what to do.

Since you ask, the website will be about ordering your diner on line.
Freshly prepared and delivered hot and completely ready to eat right to
where you like to be, at home.

I have a patent pending on the food carrier especially design to maintain
food hot long enough so that it can be delivered.
You will chose/vote from a list of entrees what will be on the following
week menu. Only one entree per day but different every day. Each entrée
is for two, complete with two or three vegetables and a starch.

I call it the Joy of Not Cooking…..
Gilbert

FYI... I`m sure there is already a script (PHP application) to handle that kind of transaction.

~Roland

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