Hire a web agency, freelancer, or hire yourself – which is better?

Once you have decided to make your next web project a reality, you will soon notice that there are a number of different paths to take. Are you going to hire a web agency, freelancer, or hire your own staff? There are pros and cons to all the options and we will try to sort out some of them here.

Only you can answer which option is right for you and your needs. If you are thinking of just starting up, it may not be possible at all to hire someone, and then an alternative may be to take care of the development yourself. If you want to start a simple news site or an e-commerce with a few articles, there are many solutions today that even the least technically savvy can handle. Keep in mind, however, that if you want to expand in the future, it is smart to have a stable foundation from the beginning that can be built on. Most customers we meet usually start by developing a website to build a start-up capital and then hire someone when it’s time to expand.

What needs do you have?

Once you have decided that external labor is the way to go, you need to figure out what your needs are, and to understand what you really need, you can think about a few simple questions:

• What needs to be done?
• How big is the project?
• How much time do you have to spend on the project yourself?
• How much does it cost?
• When should it be ready?

Once you have answered the questions, you have hopefully gained a better understanding of the scope of your project – a prerequisite for you to be able to explain to someone outside what the need is. When it’s time to choose a path, you need to be clear about the different options available and their advantages and disadvantages:

Freelancer

Benefits

Cost

Since the freelancer is herself, she does not have the large costs that a large company incurs and can therefore charge a lower price.

Expertise

The freelancer is often an expert in a limited area and can therefore be a cost-effective alternative if you need help with a specific area. For example, if you need new web design, there are many competent freelancers who can quickly give you the design that will make your website stand out.

Flexibility

When you hire a freelancer, you have the opportunity to decide how much help you need, how often and when you need it. The freelancer decides his own working hours and can therefore often help you even outside office hours.

Time

If you need help with a smaller and simpler task that you can clearly define for an outsider, a freelancer can often help you faster than anyone else. Since the freelancer does not have to take into account the processes that exist in a larger company, the person can get started with the work much faster. However, the freelancer’s capacity is limited for exactly the same reason and if you need a complete solution, you will soon notice that the freelancer is not enough.

Cons

You need to know what you need

When you hire a freelancer, you must have a good insight into what it is you really need. There are many freelancers who are experts in different areas and therefore it is difficult to know who to hire if you do not know what you really need. There is also a risk that the freelancer exaggerates his knowledge in the area you need help with, so be sure to take references so that you are sure that the person really has the skills you need.

Knowledge

Since the freelancer is often an expert in her specific field, there will also be areas where she has no experience. If you have a lot of time to administer and project manage, a solution may be to hire several different freelancers who complement each other. Keep in mind, however, that it always takes a while before a new group works effectively together, and therefore it may become more expensive and take longer than it first seemed like.

Reliability

There is always a risk that only one person has insight into your project. If your freelancer suddenly becomes ill, goes on holiday or in the worst case takes another more profitable assignment, your project can quickly suffer. Therefore, be sure to sign agreements that regulate these events and that guarantee the delivery you have agreed on. Also, be sure to sort out the division of responsibilities in the project. What happens when the freelancer finishes his work? If something does not work after delivery, you must be able to contact the person to get help with your problems.

No infrastructure

A freelancer often lacks the infrastructure that a web agency has been developing for a long time. A good infrastructure streamlines many of the processes that for a single freelancer would have been very time-consuming.

Agency

Benefits

Affordable package solutions

Over the years, the web agency has worked with a large number of different projects and developed solutions to problems that they then took advantage of to be able to reuse in future projects. For example, in our e-commerce solution Qala, we have taken advantage of our customers’ most common requests and packaged them in a complete solution. With Qala, you get a stable foundation that you can quickly start using and build on with new functions as the needs become apparent. That way, we do not have to spend time and money reinventing the wheel and can instead focus on the details that make your e-commerce a winner.

Experience

When you hire an agency, you get a broad competence that the freelancer or your own employees will have a hard time measuring up to. Together, the staff at the agency has worked with a variety of clients and projects from all different industries and built up a toolbox that they will bring to your project. The many different professional roles at the agency will contribute muscles to the project in their own way, regardless of whether it is an architect, designer, or project manager, they will come up with perspectives and experiences from previous projects.

Agile working methods

Today, many web agencies work with agile working methods. This means that the work is performed in iterations where the first step is an “MVP”, a minimum viable product (in other words the least viable product). An MVP is a working version of a new solution that gives users sufficient benefits immediately when it is launched. By first launching an MVP, you can discover new needs as they make themselves reminded and then build on with new features. Many times these new features require expertise that may not have been in the team from the beginning and then the agency can easily add a new person to the team so that your project gets exactly the expertise required.

Open to change

It is the agency’s job to not only welcome new ideas but also to come up with suggestions on how your project can be improved and developed during the journey. If you choose an agency that works with agile working methods, the process of working towards new requirements and goals will be quick and easy.

Support and maintenance

If you choose a web agency that also offers maintenance and hosting, your digital presence will always be in safe hands. New technologies and tools are developed daily in the web industry and therefore it is important that the post-delivery also gets a lot of focus so that your website is constantly updated and maintained. When you hire a web agency, you get added value and overall responsibility that lasts long after your website is launched.

Cons

Long process

If you do not choose a pre-packaged solution, you can expect that the project will take longer to complete than it would have taken for a freelancer. The agency will spend a lot of time on the preparatory work to do the right things from the beginning and can thus avoid having to go back and fix errors and emergency solutions that were made to get a quick result.

Cost

Because a web agency has the width they have, it also means many more employees, which in turn means higher overheads and more administration, which ultimately leads to a higher price for you as a customer. But, remember that behind the price tag hides many years of experience from successful and less successful projects that have been transformed into learning and knowledge that the agency will bring to your project.

Hire your own staff

Benefits

Full focus

When you hire your own staff, you get a team that will give your project full focus during all working hours. Because they work for you and no one else and are always on-site, your project will be their only priority and after a while, they will gain an understanding of your business, and your needs as a freelancer or agency will have a much harder time understanding.

Sustainable

Hiring your own staff is the most sustainable option if you run a large company that will expand for a long time to come. A strong internal technical department with large width and many professional roles is superior to a freelancer or an agency. You then basically get an internal web agency that is there for you and can solve your problems as soon as they arise, without any other customer being given higher priority.

Cons

Cost

Hiring new staff is expensive, especially if you want a staff that is broad enough to handle all the tasks involved in a new project. Either you need to hire a few senior people with broad knowledge or a larger number of people who are more specialized in their field.

Employment process

No matter how many people you choose to hire for your project, you will need to go through a hiring process and all that entails. Just finding the right people can be difficult and then comes the whole process of onboarding the new employees so that they eventually become productive.

Varied workload

When developing a new project, a lot of work usually needs to be done until the solution is launched. After launch, the workload decreases rapidly and your employees will instead devote themselves to maintenance, operation, and updates. But, once you have hired people, they will be on your payroll regardless of whether you have work that needs to be done or not.

In summary

If you have a small business in the start-up phase, you can probably manage on your own or with a freelancer who can help you get started. After a while, once you have built up capital, you can turn to a web agency to get a stable, comprehensive solution that can grow and can then hire its own staff who maintain and update your website with products and content. Regardless of which path you choose, the most important thing is that you first find out what you really need, it is only when you have defined your needs and goals that you can feel confident that the path you chose was right for your project.