Stick with the Eastern European developers.
So you have this great idea for an app or website, but lack the technical skills to pull it off. You’re on a budget. Outsourcing to countries where the cost of living is much lower has been a great way for me to save on costs.
I’ve had good luck finding freelancers on Freelancer and Upwork.
When it comes to Freelancer I recommend this for small task. Upwork, is better when the task is bigger and you know you need quality.
It’s important to remember the relationship you have when hiring someone from these sites, it is less like hiring an agency and more like you’re a manager hiring an employee.
Now before you list your project, make sure you know what you want to do first. Go into the details as best you can. For your app or website, work out what you want on each page. Create a detailed flow chart of all the steps. This will help you define what features you need and the scope of the project.
As a designer I never outsource the design work and honestly this is not something I recommend outsourcing to a developing country. Best to get a native speaker and someone that has an understanding of the target market for your product. This way you can work together and have everything planned out as best as possible for your developer. If you have the budget, also hire a professional copywriter. Your job is to be project manager.
Choosing the right candidate.
You’ll have to wait some time before quality candidates start applying for your job. Not trying to be raciest, but ignore anyone from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan ect. Personally, my experience with developers from these countries has been terrible. These days, I hire from Eastern Europe. The culture is closer, they are honest about what they can and can’t do. The majority of Indian developers that I have dealt with, always say, “yes I can do that” even though they might not know what I am talking about. Stick with the eastern Europeans and save yourself a lot of pain. Even specify in your job title that you are looking for candidates from these countries.
Remember to break your project up into clear milestones, this is fairer for you and the developer.
If you don’t want to go through the whole hiring process through Upwork or Freelancer, contact me and I’ll give you the contacts details of the devs I use. (Please no time wasters, if you have no budget and are not taking action. Do not contact me. These devs have been great to me and I don’t want to waste their time)