Get the ROI RSS Feed 
Subscribe to the ROI podcast in itunes 
Return Home
How to Hire a Web Development Firm - Part 1
The advice that follows pertains really to hiring or partnering with anyone, but for the purposes here we will focus on web development firms.
There are many choices in the market place for nearly anything. Employees, stock brokers, financial advisors and of course web developers. In web development you will find usability firms, creative boutiques, consultants and many more specialties. We have been told that competition (read choices) are good for the economy, good for keeping vendors competitive in price and technology and good for the consumer. To a certain extent, this is true. Monopolies don’t help the market self regulate. The problems comes in when too many choices are introduced. In the case of web developers, it comes down to specialties.
As the internet continues to mature and businesses find ways to leverage the internet, a multitude of specialties have grown into the field. While this is good overall because it gives us more people dedicated to expanding our understanding of the internets possiblities, technologies and applications; however, it also becomes harder for businesses to sort out what type of help they need. Due to the specialization of the web industry, not all firms can offer the same level of service across the board.
Imagine being the owner of small business trying to take that exceptionally hard leap to “medium” size. There are many things on your plate to think about. How will your operations expand to the needed size? Where are the economies of scale you can leverage? What infrastructure changes will be needed? What will it cost? How does the internet, social media and search marketing fit in? There’s a lot to do. Your going to need help. But from who?
If you hire a technology company, you will surely get great technology solutions. But will they understand usability? If you hire a creative firm you can probably get a really great looking web site. It might even win some awards. But do they understand how to leverage the internet to meet your business goals? How will you determine which skill set is right for you? How will you ensure you don’t make the wrong decision, potentially losing precision time and money? Its simple. Don’t worry about it.
Don’t worry about it? Thats my advice? Well… Yes. Let me rephrase. Don’t worry about it YET. The internet is a fast changing environment. Its ok to make some mistakes. The best internet strategy to have is one based on failing fast and fixing fast. Keep that in mind and use it as a reason to not worry about hiring the wrong group.
Forget the technology. This applies in two ways. First, it doesn’t matter if your developer wants to use ruby on rails, php, or .NET. You can’t compare firms by what language they want to use. Why? See this post. Second, technology is a means to an end, not and end in itself. At this point in the game, getting the strategy right is much more important.
Forget the portfolio. Well, don’t totally forget the portfolio. Look at it, read the case studies, download the white papers and ebooks, but don’t base your entire decision on it, there is something more important.
So what should you worry about? First and foremost, do you get along with them? Do they think like you where it matters and think different where you have less experience? Do you like them? This may sound a little touchy-feely, but I’m not making this up. The best case I have ever heard for this argument comes from Jim Collins. Jim Collins is an author among other things, and his two best know books are “Built to Last” and “Good to Great“. These are mandatory reading for any business executive in my humble opinion. In his writing, Jim makes a remarkable case for why all the important questions are “Who” questions, not “What” questions. Best of all his cases are built from massive research studies and empirical evidence, not just opinion. He sites many companies such as HP and Sony that started by assembling the right team before they even knew what they were going to do for a business.
So what does this mean to you? Start by identifying some possible firms. Ask other professionals you know, check out their websites, search google or the yellow pages (if web firms even advertise there anymore). Get your list however you can, then create a short list based on initial impression and the attitude you feel when your are on their website. Look at their work, must most importantly see what they think is important. Then, one at a time call your short list and invite them over. Sit down and talk to them. Don’t start with what you need (read “think” you need) or ask what they know. Start by talking about business in general. How is your business going. How is there’s. What challenges do you have at the business level? What challenges do they have? What books are they reading? Basically, anything that allows you to start a conversation based on anything EXCEPT why you want to hire them or your project. If you think this will be awkward, heres a tip: Arrange to meet with your perspective firm with a few people from your company. Have someone from you company run a few minutes late, so you can initiate the conversation without the pressure of “getting started”.
A good partner in business is just like a marriage, make sure you like the person (firm) first. If you don’t see eye to eye on imperative strategic direction, it doesn’t matter how good they are at coding. If you don’t get along with your perspective vendor at a fundamental personal level, it doesn’t matter how good they can design. Your ability to work with your chosen partner is more important to the outcome of your project than anything else. Its just like dating, find a group that inspires you. Find a firm that talks and acts the way that you believe in. The foundation of the relationship should be about trust and mutual respect. If you don’t respect your chosen business partners, you are in for a rough ride. Don’t skip this step. Use the technology and specialization’s to choose between the firms you get along with, no the other way around.
At the end of the day we are all people. We require the help and assistance of others to make it through this world. Brands are great and companies are too, but behind it all we spend our day with people. Make sure that you do business with people who you don’t mind interacting with. There is no web development shop out there that has the market corned on everything. Keep looking until you find the right group and your project will most likely turn out great.