Heutzutage verläuft die Auftragsvergabe von Web-Dienstleistungen ganz anders als vor 10 oder 20 Jahren – leider möchte man häufig sagen. International haben sich Plattformen etabliert, auf welchen Auftragsgeber Freelancer suchen und finden. Doch leider ist das Ergebnis immer wieder anders, als sich Auftragsgeber erhoffen.
Just now I was confronted with another case where one can only shake one's head. An inexperienced client wanted to have a complex website made at a low price, but the contractor, who calls himself a web designer, held the client off for only half a year and did little. The client paid and paid, but the result at the end is simply laughable. Lost time, lost money.
Being a thrifty person is not always smart
One can understand all the clients who are looking for a cheap provider and therefore look for a freelancer on national and international platforms. The success of the platforms is based precisely on this need and this is also good for both sides. As a freelancer, you reach customers you would otherwise never get to, and as a client, you reach professionals you often can't find in your own country or only for expensive money. But often such clients save in the wrong place and then pay bitterly. The few details that a client has from a freelancer are not very meaningful for a correct assessment of the professional competence. And clients who only look at the costs often do not even pay attention to the skills of the applicant, blinded by the price. But if the freelancer then insists on an advance payment, does not hand over elementary data or threatens the client with damage to the website, it becomes clear that this contractual relationship has its pitfalls. I often hear that the freelancer has broken off the cooperation and left the client out in the cold. And what do you do when you realize that you paid expensive money, but you didn't get what you agreed.
Sometimes it would not be so wrong to hire a professional locally or in your own country than to cheat the providers back home to get a website for a minimal price. When you factor in the time and effort spent on the hassle and the removal of that, the bill ends up looking different. Thinking you're being particularly clever as a money-saver can sometimes come back to bite you in the ass.
Caution is better than indulgence
It is better to look twice than to make a commitment right away. Before choosing a freelancer or a web agency, you should look for as much information about the provider as possible and necessary. What does the freelancer's website look like? How professional is it? What do the references say? Does the provider have regular customers? And what does the provider really do? Many freelancers promise the client the blue from heaven, but do not deliver what they promise, because they can not. Generalists or those who claim to be are usually not as good as specialists. There are countless CMSs and web systems, all of which have countless features and countless plugins, addons and extensions, which makes it impossible from the outset to be good at all of them. Even as a WordPress expert, you don't master everything, because with around 60,000 plugins, it would be a miracle to know, evaluate and master them all. Providers who claim to be able to do everything are dishonest.
Ordering party also not always the best customers
Unfortunately, things don't always look rosy on the customer side either. Often, at the end of an offer, you find out that the provider only wanted to check the market to see who is submitting an offer and at what price. Often, such platforms show dubious providers who are not serious about their tender and only deprive freelancers of their time and money. You also have to keep an eye on the origin of customers: Contractors from Asia and third-world countries have a budget that corresponds to the income of their home country, which often does not work for Europeans. And even with clients, freelancers sometimes experience their blue miracle when the client never seriously intended to pay money, but was just playing a game or falsely accusing the freelancer of doing things wrong, even when the freelancer had no hand in it at all. Unfortunately, even a website and "for sale" references don't tell too much about a client. A risk always remains.
So let him who commits himself be tested
If you are serious about solving a problem with your website, you should look carefully at who you are dealing with when searching for a provider.
- Check the provider's website: What quality does it meet?
- Does he have a real address and phone number?
- How accessible is it?
- What do the customers and the work say about the provider?
- How does he behave and how does he react when asked critical questions?
- Do you feel the vendor wants to continue to serve them after the project ends?
If you take a serious look at the providers and pay attention to the quality of the service and the philosophy and ethics of the provider, you have a good chance of having a good experience. However, those who simply believe everyone naively, the main thing is that he is cheap, run the risk of falling for a good-for-nothing and charlatan. I wish you a good hand in choosing your professional partner. Such a thing should not be done lightly, but responsibly and fairly.
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