Agency or Freelancers? What do you choose?
Where can I find the best developer?
If you've ever asked this question, you might know how challenging it is to find a worthwhile answer š
In short, you can consider 3 options:
1ļøā£ to hire an in-house developer
2ļøā£ work with an independent freelancer
3ļøā£ hire a remote specialist from an agency
As pandemic said "hello" to the remote-work reality, I won't waste time explaining the advantages of hiring remote specialists (2nd and 3rd variants). Instead, I'll compare the key differences between agencies and freelancers.
āļø Scalability
Today you need only 1 developer. In a month your business gets funding and you need 5 developers at once. To quickly find 5 able freelancers sounds almost impossible, doesn't it? So, for growing teams, an agency is the best variant. Freelancers are a good fit for small-sized businesses.
āļø Management
You donāt need to keep abreast of the whole process when working with an agency, as they provide management on theirs. With freelancers, you manage the whole process as a rule. Choose what works for you here.
āļø Extra value
Many agencies include additional services in the package: consulting, design, testing, to name a few. You get several skills in one place. If an agency provides partnership programs, you can also find more opportunities for business growth. Freelancers aren't so flexible.
āļø Price
Price still remains a decisive factor while choosing a service provider. Yes, freelancers won at this point, but try to focus on the common value instead.
Do you have experience working with agencies/freelancers? Interesting to hear your thoughts.
I like the small agency route myself. Itās good to mix and match. The great thing about agencies now is they come in all sizes and disciplines. You can get a small team of UX and Product designers that are focused on a specific industry and style, or you can go with a large and diverse firm that has a variety of different skill sets that suit your needs. Over the years Iāve been amazed on how flexible and how easy external people, even on a temporary basis fit in to our core team. Not enough is talked about these types of models.
Absolutely agree with you. It's hard to believe that some brands are still afraid of working with agencies thinking it's about not cost-effective or non-flexible type of collaboration.
Serious?! I think itās changing now because thereās such a huge talent war going on, coupled with the desire for people to work remotely and or be an independent professionals. Iām curious to know what are the reasons why companies still donāt want to work with boutique studios or development teams? Is it the ācultureā argument?
I think small agency with a big agency feel is the way to go...
Big agencies charge way too much and boutique agencies really want to get recognition, so they'll go above and beyond on shoe string budgets...
Here's a boutique agency that's been really successful over the past little bit, and they've worked on clients like Jagermeister, but still on the lower cost spectrum.
https://gridagencyinc.ca/