Using an IT contractor – Getting it right

At some point in your life as a contractor you’re likely to need the help of an IT contractor to help your business grow. Whether that’s to give your website the attention it so desperately needs or building features in your app – they’re the people who can make it a reality for you.

But delving into the world of apps, programming and technical detail can be seriously daunting for most people and you want to make sure you get what you’re looking for. Here’s what you need to do to avoid confusion, keep costs down and get the job done.

Clear picture

The best place to start is to know where you want to finish. What do you want your project to help you do and what do you want it to look like?

Having a clear picture of what you want to achieve will help keep your contractor on track.

Sample it

If you’ve seen a website, app or design you love and want to include or mirror certain aspects then grab a sample, pop it in a file and send it over to your contractor.

Goals

We’re not talking life goals here, but what do you want your project to achieve? Do you want it to bring in more sales or inform your readers? The objectives of the project will change the design a great deal.

Timeline

Having a timeline and timescales (realistic) will help keep you and your contractor to a deadline. Keeping this in mind can keep your costs down and, even if you both miss the deadline, will usually have your project completed in a shorter timeframe – it could drag on and on otherwise.

There’s obviously a great deal more to hiring a contractor than we’ve talked about and we’re going to cover more next time!