To make a decision between an agency and a freelancer, it is worth knowing the factors that have the greatest influence on the decision-making process. This will help you make the best decision between the two providers. SMEs should carefully consider these points before making a decision
As a contractor, One of the first critical decisions you'll need to make when starting a project is whether to hire an agency or a freelancer.
Making the correct choice is not a straightforward decision. However, there are a few factors you can evaluate to reach the choice that best suits your needs and objectives.
Whether you decide to go with a freelancer or with an agency, you will find highly skilled people who can deliver well-crafted products. But, the size, objective, and budget of your project, including how much time you want to commit to it, are some of the valuable factors that come into play in making the right selection.
Let us, therefore, consider the pros and cons and factors that could affect your choice of hiring an agency vs freelancer for IT projects in this article.
Both an agency and a freelancer can be equally skilled and deliver top-quality results. However, a freelancer is usually skilled in one specific area, while an agency is experienced in several fields and provides various services to its clients. An agency can also assist you if you contemplate what skills your project will require before making your decision.
Look at the services you need to get delivered from the other side. See how you can get the most services delivered by hiring a minimum of one freelance or an agency only. Since freelancers are usually niche-specific, they provide limited services that might not cover your complete list (especially for big projects). Because an agency consists of a team, they provide a variety of services.
Do you want to be heavily involved in the project and need to be able to contact the working person during normal hours?
There are several full-time freelancers available whom you can contact during your work hours. But a lot of them also have other jobs or commitments and work on side projects in the off-hours. Getting a hold of them during your business hours can be tough, and if they have other projects, they may put priority on projects that are more important to them.
Since there are several team members working in an agency, the projects are distributed among different members, and they give all their projects an equal priority.
Freelancers are fine with working odd hours. They don't have a fixed working hour to operate. They can update your app even late at night, write code anytime or fix bugs early in the morning. You will just need to get clear with them about what you want in terms of output or deliverables, and they will pick the time to do the work optimally. On the other hand, an agency operates during business hours and might not be responsive during odd hours and weekends since their team members are not available.
Freelancers are known to be less expensive than agencies. This makes sense since they do not have the overhead cost that a typical company has. However, if your project requires more than one freelancer, its costs can quickly get out of control. This is especially true if the scope of the project is not clear from the very beginning, and you need to make adjustments or fix it along the way.
An agency is expensive as compared to a freelancer, but they deliver a complete package of projects and, more often than not, take care of the testing as well.
Have a look at the previous projects completed successfully by the freelancer or agency. This will give you an insight into the quality of work they deliver. Also, if they have developed any project before similar to your industry, that will be an added advantage for you.
Find the industry experience that a freelancer or an agency holds in your industry. Usually, it's better to give the project to the one that has more experience in developing IT projects in your industry. Your involvement will be less in such cases.
Reading reviews of the freelancer vs agency will help you understand how can be your experience working with them.
Ask the agency or freelancer about the bandwidth they have in terms of future projects. The agency or freelancer will provide the exact time required to complete your project. However, you should make it clear that once they take up your project, they should not leave it mid-way.
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