Today, we are here to teach you everything you should know before hiring a software project freelancer. Obviously, many pure idea owners do not have the skills to produce the software they need. These people are called non-technical founders. Lack of technical skills does not mean that there is no way to implement ideas.
Contracting with software outsourcing companies, using growth centers and accelerators, and outsourcing work to an experienced freelancer are ways to help non-technical founders set up their startup.
Learn more: Is It Possible to Launch a Successful Startup without Technical Knowledge?
A brief comparison of programming companies, freelancers, growth centers, and accelerators
Partnership with each of the above has its cons and pros. Outsourcing programming companies – including our company: SOJECT – have usually brought a wide range of specialties together. They can provide guarantees that a freelancer cannot. Freelancers, on the other hand, usually offer a lower price. If your software project is not so complex to requires a team of different specialties, you can outsource it to a suitable freelancer. (Suitable! The whole story is summed up in the word).
On the other hand, joining growth centers and accelerators provide at least a part of your project’s financial and educational capital. Still, it would be best if you kept in mind that a number of your company’s shares will be allocated to initial investors in return. If your business does not succeed, a natural or legal person must buy the initial investor’s shares. Of course, the terms of the contract are different in various accelerators. Be sure to read the terms of the agreement well before concluding the contract so that you do not get into trouble later.
Learn more: Startup Accelerator Definition, Benefits, and Process
Apart from all these benefits and advantages, this article focuses on hiring a software project freelancer and teaching you everything about hiring freelancers.
Who is a freelancer?
Freelancers are skilled people who use their expertise to provide remote services to companies and organizations. Freelancers can devote all their time to one company, or they can work with several companies at the same time.
Freelance services can be simple (such as data entry and writing) or very specialized (such as social media marketing or software developing).
For example, the possibility of hiring a freelance translator to work remotely or in absentia can solve the problem of hiring many companies (especially when a specialist with the necessary skills is not found in a geographical area).
If you are new at hiring a software project freelancer, let me inform you that you have entered a challenging field. Finding the right person for your job is not easy.
If you are involved in hiring a freelancer, stay tuned with SOJECT.
Where to find freelancers
You will find a vast job market for freelancers through a short internet exploration. These platforms bring freelancers with different skills from around the world together.
The most crucial problem when hiring a freelancer abroad is the time zone difference, which can slow down the software project process.
To smartly solve this issue, you need to determine the appropriate time. You will probably find a suitable time for both parties to hold online meetings.
However, the difference in the currency value is also another obstacle. Therefore, it is better to sign contracts with freelancers in countries whose money has less value than yours.
Learn more: The Best Countries for Software Outsourcing for Newcomer
Review portfolios before hiring a freelancer.
Whether you outsource your software project to a freelancer or a software company, reviewing the portfolio is one of the first things you need to do- maybe even before interacting with the intended freelancer or company.
Examining the portfolio is crucial in many ways:
- You need to see if the freelancer’s work quality is equivalent to what you want and what you pay for.
- Is the price you pay to build your software project commensurate with the quality you receive?
- Does your taste match the portfolio provided? This item is essential because something may be beautiful to you, while beauty meaning for someone on the other side of the world may have a long distance from yours. This is especially important when it comes to UI design and software appearance.
Furthermore, it is also best to reach out to former freelancer customers and ask about satisfaction, the quality of the work, the price, and the commitment to time.
Conduct appropriate interviews to hire the appropriate freelancer
The idea of interviewing online may seem a little weird, but you can get acquainted with your freelance staffs by interviewing them online. Some websites allow you to chat with freelancers or use apps like Skype. The interview will help you assess freelancers’ personality traits and determine any obstacles ahead. The interview also helps build a good working relationship (before hiring the freelancer).
Things to look for or ask your potential employee when interviewing:
- Ability to communicate verbally and conversationally
- Freelancer character
- Why does he work as a freelancer?
- How long has he been working as a freelancer?
- What does he do in his spare time?
- What is his approach to when the project will end?
- Does he use a personal contract form?
- Has any employer ever abruptly stopped working with him?
- How does he evaluate the results of his work?
- What projects has he worked on so far?
Communication before hiring
Relationships always bring better results. Sending text messages between the entrepreneur and the freelancer is one way of communication; especially if they can’t talk verbally in a common language.
You do not need to hire a freelancer who works for days without interacting with you and finally asks if everything is right?! Experienced freelancers understand the importance of communication and try to ask their employer questions at every stage of the job to provide the best quality.
The draft agreement for the whole project
After hiring the freelancer, and before starting work, you should make sure that all project requirements are correctly understood. You should discuss the whole project; schedule, the delivery date of the project’s major stages, payment planning, etc. This process will help you avoid conflicts that may arise later.
Hiring a freelancer for immediate jobs
When hiring a freelancer, you need to know that nothing is more annoying than the urgent software projects. Urgency can be more costly for the employer. On the other hand, the freelancer is under pressure to provide high-quality results in the short term (Which, of course, does not happen most of the times). You must set a reasonable deadline at the very beginning. Remember that you have to provide all the necessary information to the freelancer to achieve your goal. Learn this golden rule to treat others the way you would like to be treated.
Pay a fair wage to the freelancer.
Estimating a fair price for a particular software project can be challenging. If your bid is too low, typically, no freelancer is willing to do the project. Worst of all, if someone accepts it, the final result probably will not be satisfactory.
One way to reach an ideal price is to evaluate the value based on the number of working hours. To estimate the required working hours, you can talk to people who have experience in this field and then calculate the average price.
If possible, check the feedback of previous employers.
Employers can comment on the freelancer’s performance at many related service providers’ sites. Reading these comments before hiring a freelancer can be very helpful. You can also get previous employers’ contact information through these comments to achieve more communication.
Payment guarantee
If you have found your employee on a freelance site, there is no severe payment concern. But if your connection is independent of these intermediary services, the freelancer may be concerned about getting paid.
Usually, in this situation, the employer and the freelancer talk openly to reach an acceptable agreement for both parties. Paying half of the salary at the beginning of the work is a standard solution. However, we can say one of the risks of being a freelancer is the constant concern about the employer’s reliability. So, try to gain the freelancer’s trust to do your job with more psychological security. Rest assured that the result will be worth the investment.
Property rights
After hiring a freelancer, and before starting commercial projects such as software design and development, you should discuss property rights. These rights must be stated in a legal document and accepted by both parties to prevent further objections.
Avoid hiring freelancers based on price.
Many freelancers work independently on the Internet, offering a wide range of prices for doing your project. Meanwhile, low prices can be really tempting. But you also have to think about the consequences. Nothing is cheap for no reason.
If the freelancer who accepted your offer lives in a low-cost country, this price may be justified. But you have to be careful anyway. India, the most common destination for software sponsorship, charges low prices, but the quality of their work is not very satisfactory. The downside of a low-quality project to your business is undoubtedly more than the savings you have made.
Consider the freelancer schedule.
Be aware that the freelancer you hire may not work just for you. He probably has at least one other employer who has to deliver his projects on time. So before hiring a freelancer, make sure he can deliver the project on time. Also, avoid adding sudden, uncoordinated tasks; as he may not deliver the work on time.
