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I am a freelance web developer, so maybe I can show the other side of the coin to you. For $15k from me, you would receive: 1) a complete website built to your
by jcoby 17y ago
I am a freelance web developer, so maybe I can show the other side of the coin to you.
For $15k from me, you would receive: 1) a complete website built to your specs (including advice on how to best design your site if desired) 2) a period of support and bug fixes after the site is finished and 3) a site built using readable, commented code with actual error handling. I charge by the hour, so you can keep me around as long as needed and make as many changes as you like.
It's lower risk to bring in a contractor than to hire a full-time employee. I don't require an office, a computer, health insurance, or a period of time to learn your company and its politics. If you don't like me or my work, you can generally terminate the contract without any legal problems as long as you pay your outstanding bill. I don't have to play office politics so I can do the things that an in-house developer wouldn't be allowed to do.
I come to the table with several sites under my belt and a library of code that I can draw from. Once you have a website built by a skilled contractor (note, there are lots of unskilled ones out there), you can bring in a less-skilled developer to maintain the site or enter into a reduced-fee maintenance contract.
Really, it comes down to what you plan on doing with the site. If your business is a website, you're probably better off developing it in-house.
If your business involves a website/web app but it isn't core to your business (or if you don't plan on continued maintenance), it makes sense to hire it out and use the money saved on other business expenses. eCommerce and CMS sites are a perfect example.
If you want a website to announce you exist, hire it out to the cheapest contractor or flat rate developer you can find. Just don't expect to be able to easily maintain it.
You tend to get what you pay for. I've worked on several sites where they hired out cheaper developers only to bring me in to clean up the mess and make the site work.