Avoid hiring the wrong software agency or developer

A quick guide to vetting tech partners

Author

Kevin Riedl
February 13, 2024

Have you ever had bad experiences with software agencies or freelancers?

Many of our clients have.
Unfortunately, it’s more common than people think.

At Wavect, we want to help you avoid that.

Here’s our guide on how to vet a software agency or a freelance developer.

What usually goes wrong

The negative experiences we usually hear about fall into 2 categories:

  1. The developers don't do proper requirements engineering

    Impact: not understanding what the client actually needs. This leads to misalignment, delays, and increased cost

  2. The developers overlook the possibility of using open-source code

    Impact: slows down the time-to-market but and increases costs

How to properly vet software agencies and developers

If I were hiring, here’s what I would do

  1. Ask about their process

How will they figure out what I want and actually need? Sometimes these two differ - it’s the developer's job to get to ask questions to clarify that.

For example, here’s the process we follow at Wavect to ensure we truly understand the client’s needs.

  1. Starting from scratch or looking at existing tools first

In most cases, there are some tools or solutions that are reliable and can massively speed up the process.

We worked with a large client (owns multiple businesses in web3) who wanted to build a browser wallet for their ecosystem.

We forked a great open-source wallet, rebranded it, and implemented add-ons to match the tech requirement fully.

In this way, we saved the client both time and money, just because we did our research.

Kevin Riedl, CEO

  1. Talk with previous clients

Getting a testimonial from a client is very important.
That’s why we have so many on our website.

And if I’m speaking directly with a past client of theirs, I would ask:

  • Did you achieve your goals after working with Company XYZ?

  • How was working with them?

  • Did they understand what you need?

  • Are you still working with them? If not, why?

Following these 3 steps is a great start for vetting a potential development partner/employee.

But we wanted to go the extra mile and give you some red flags to look out for:

If you have any questions about the above, please email us at [email protected]

Alternatively, let’s have a call

Wavect is a software agency specializing in Blockchain tech (Smart Contracts, Web3, NFTs and DeFi, Infrastructure).

Kevin Riedl, CEO, LinkedIn