Reality Check. Outsource Initial Site Creation?

[twmcree]

First Post... Wish that I had found this place a couple years ago.

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Alright,

So this is the first time that I have considered outsourcing any aspect of my businesses, I am a bit apprehensive... basically been a one man show thus far.

For a past project (much simpler site than this one) I've done everything from scratch (besides utilizing JQuery for a few features, and someone elses JS for lazyloading images).

LAN: Have a development environment setup to serve my builds from a Centos/httpd/MariaDB/PHP VM hosted by Ubuntu. Grunt plugins are configured... Etc...

WWW: Configured and currently running an unmanaged VPS with same configuration as local VM. Ended up throwing cwp on it after about a month to make administration easier on myself.

Long story short, I simply lack web dev experience and don't have the time to do adequate research for this upcoming project, particularly when it comes to best practices... Through the time I have invested thus far in the field, I've found that it's plenty easy to find some arbitrary syntax and write up something that will load in a browser.. but to create an efficient seamless user experience that will get the desired response from the target audience, I reckon that is what separates the competent from the pseudo/incompetent.


Project details:

- E-Commerce Site
- Configurable End Product, approx 15 variations.
- Eventually a platform for which users can login to a knowledge base and further site access... (feature for the further future)

I can handle any content creation required.

Will ya'll please give me an idea of exactly what I am getting myself into regarding tossing around the idea of investing in an individual's services to create a desired site structure? The pitfalls?

Looking forward to ya'lls experienced feedback.

Thanks,
Wagner

[not2easy]

Hi twmcree and welcome to WebmasterWorld [webmasterworld.com]

The answer is "it depends". I am afraid the question is so broad that people shy away from any response because it covers "everything" that most webmasters do and/or consider doing.

The main question I see is the cost/benefit question of outsourcing your site development and for that it depends - are you outsourcing to people who have an established presence? Do you know their work? Are you shopping around by price or credentials? Are you prepared to work hand in hand with your developer to end up with your ideal solution or is this something you wanted to hand off and hope on?

Some time spent with list creation can make your project easier to work on. You can't really begin without a complete contract that assumes nothing. Add in NDA. Prepare to have many such discussions before you find the 'right' developer. You need to both understand the terminology and the amount of optional changes before there is an agreement. The best developers have had enough experience with your requirements to offer suggestions, but they do expect you to know exactly what you want.

The downsides? There are some very capable developers who are overbooked and cannot complete your project in a reasonable time. There are claims of expertise that become disappointments rather than progress. There are not quite right developers who will agree to anything to get the work and then let you down (or worse).

Specific concerns you might have would get more useful responses here, just sayin'.

For worst case scenario, see what can happen: [webmasterworld.com...]

[twmcree]

Thank you for the response!

This post represents what is pretty much the first step that I have taken for the necessary data accumulation prior to making a decision... So still running pretty blind. (thanks for shedding some light on the situation)

This project is something that I would want to work hand in hand with the developer on... not a control freak, I just want to make sure that everything is moving forward according to plan. ..... I would never feel comfortable completely leaving a task up to an unproven individual.

Though it is starting to sound like I would be better off jumping through the hoops on my own... I feel more comfortable working my way through the dev process than sifting through external sources to find an individual 'potentially' suitable for the project.

Now that I have found this resource, things should flow relatively smoothly... Hopefully next time I will come with questions that are much more specific with regards to what I am trying to accomplish... It seems that what I lack are best practices for Video integration, how to setup/style an adequate form for product selection, server side scripting... I am sure that I will be made aware of my ignorance to a much greater extent whenever I delve back into it.

Wagner

[tangor]

Do all the planning up front! Saves time and money on the back side. :)

Meanwhile, don't neglect local resources, including community college level young coders. Give them a problem (a section you are not familiar with) and let them work that up as needed.

[twmcree]

10-4.

Thank you for the input!

Wagner.