Outsourcing is unfortunately a market with very low levels of transparency. It’s easy to just hop on Google and type “developers”, but most probably the amount of results will overwhelm you. So let’s narrow it down.
Freelancer platforms
There are several platforms which let you find freelancers or teams for any given job, the biggest and most popular being Upwork.
These platforms have big directories of developers and dev shops where you can post a job request, gather proposals, negotiate and close deals.
That’s great because it gives you a basic process to look for people and you’re not entirely left on your own. Also, many filters and user recommendations enable you to assess your potential partners before hiring them. An escrow system parks your money until you approve the contractor’s work.
There are some downsides in my opinion to working with the bigger platforms. It’s still a lot of work to find and assess people, and the recommendations can be fake. Furthermore they lock you and the contractor into their platform by terms of service, meaning you’re not allowed to just decide to make payments outside of the platform, which is expensive on larger projects or long-term work.
Another thing I’ve noticed with those platforms is a shortage of highly professional teams. Most jobs are simple and in low price ranges and thus attract people who are very junior or sloppy with the work.
Many professionals avoid those platforms so they can apply their own, proven process and pricing strategy and display references which didn’t come through the closed platform ecosystem.
But you need to decide for yourself and if you have the time to play around and have some small test projects ready, I recommend you give one of those platforms a go. I’ve seen many people successfully outsource their projects with great people for very low rates, but plan to spend some time and budget to find the right person.
Pro tip:
Never just rely on publishing your job posting. While you will get candidates rolling in, you also want to go hunting yourself – the most promising candidates are busy working, not scrolling through requests. You need to invite them.
Go ahead and start hunting: open the search and look for developers with vetted skills, experience, reputation on the given platform and enough hours worked. There are filters for all of those.
Check out their profiles, and if you’re interested, click to invite them to your job posting.
They will now either accept or deny it. If they deny, do follow up on them in the chat and ask why! This is valuable information for you since you want to find out what turned them off, since it may turn off others as well. Optimise your job posting based on your learning.
My last bit of advice: If you require invoices, especially in a special format, make sure to clearly ask about that up front. Many freelancers don’t issue invoices at all, are charging you as private people or don’t hand out invoices unless asked. Don’t confuse the platform’s default invoice template on the freelancer’s behalf with a proper invoice issued by them. This is especially important if you’re within the EU.
Tip: all developers and teams matched through Trustshoring issue proper invoices.
Clutch.co
Clutch.co is fairly new but trending. It’s a new kind of review site where clients can review their service providers’ performance. Every single review is gathered by clutch.co staff by phone, which ensures genuine reviews. If you know exactly what you’re looking for, you can find great service providers from all around the world for your tech stack.
It’s absolutely possible to find your next partner just by searching for “WordPress developer Poland”. Very similar rules apply as to finding people on the freelancer platforms above. Due to the lack of authentic reviews you should insist on talking to previous and current customers for your own due diligence.
Trustshoring
Now for a shameless plug, at Trustshoring I match you to tried and trusted development teams from Eastern Europe. I personally take into account your location, needs, budget, vertical and previous IT experience to match you to the right team.
All teams are vetted by me and deliver excellent work. You don’t have to look through and talk to hundreds of potential candidates because I will connect you to a maximum of two whom I can absolutely recommend and you’ll enjoy working with. Also, they all issue proper invoices.
Best of all, it’s completely free for you, since I get a small finders fee, once you’re happily working together. And you don’t have to spend hours doing research up front.
