Over the years of working in development, we have seen dozens of projects that never made it to production.
And in most cases they had one thing in common - development started with a freelancer.
Let us note right away that this article is not about bad people and not about "reelancing is evil".
It is about a mismatch between the work format and business objectives.
If you are a business owner and are planning to launch a website, an online store, a chatbot, or implement automation, this material can save you time, money, and nerves.
Problem #1: The desire to save money
Let’s skip the proverb: "A miser pays twice", because everyone knows it, but few apply it. It is better to move straight to logic: the average salary of an IT specialist on the market is ~ 200,000 rubles per month. An average IT specialist can work on two projects in parallel without losing quality. If you hire a freelancer who does the work at a price 3-4 times lower than the market, then most likely they have taken on a bunch of projects, so instead of 2 parallel ones they will be doing 5-6, which will affect both quality and deadlines.
As a result, saving money at the start almost always turns into overpayment at the finish, if the finish happens at all.
Problem #2: A freelancer has no responsibility for the result
A freelancer usually is responsible for:
- a task;
- a piece of code;
- a specific screen.
But a business needs a result, and very few freelancers can afford such a luxury as responsibility for the result.
If the project did not launch, common reasons are:
- the task turned out to be complex;
- expectations did not match;
- requirements changed;
- some data was missing.
Formally, the freelancer may be right, but in reality the business is left without a working product.
In business, not only the process is important, but also the result:
- the website is launched, ads are set up, the result - leads are coming in, revenue is growing;
- the bot is launched, the manager spends less time on routine tasks, the result - savings on routine work and focus on more important tasks;
- the mobile app is launched, wholesalers place orders online, they go into 1C, the result - multiple savings due to automation.
Problem #3. One person does not have the resources for a full-fledged project
Almost any IT solution for successful implementation requires an entire team that solves various tasks:
- writing a technical specification;
- designing;
- design development;
- writing code;
- project control and management
- and others. And now think about it - can one freelancer perform all these tasks independently, while working on a bunch of projects at the same time, without missing deadlines?
In addition, when a team works on a project, the vision is not limited to the vision of a developer or a designer. Instead, each team member contributes their experience to the final result.
Problem #4. No processes - no deadlines
So, a freelancer takes your order, the first week everything goes great, but then 1-2 more orders come in and the freelancer starts to “drift”, then another order appears and in the end - the freelancer has “drifted”, starts feeding you with “tomorrows”.
IT companies usually have established and regulated processes by which projects are implemented, certainly not all of them, but in most cases they are. But the most important thing is that when a service is provided business to business, there is a clear understanding that:
- in B2B development time - is money;
- a launch delay - is lost profit that cannot be recovered.
Problem #5. A project made by a freelancer is difficult to support and scale.
Let’s say you got lucky, the freelancer almost finished the project or even launched it. What’s next? Documentation needs to be written, the code needs to be supported, modernized, new features added, and so on. The freelancer has 5 more projects and no time left for such “little things”. You go to another freelancer, and they have to figure out the project from scratch, again losing time and money.
At this point, the business realizes that the project seems to exist, but the contractor - no longer does.
So, when is a freelancer still a good option?
You can hire a freelancer if:
- you understand the development process well;
- you can split it into several dozen small tasks with clear descriptions and a duration of no more than 40 hours;
- you have time to manage the development process;
- there are no strict deadlines.
In all other cases, a business needs not a performer, but a partner who is responsible for the result.
In conclusion
Most projects with freelancers do not reach launch not because freelancers are bad, but because:
- the format does not fit business objectives;
- there is no responsibility for the result;
- there is no systematic approach.
If the development of an IT solution or automation is part of your business model, it should be treated as an investment project, not as a task "to make a website" or "to write code".
