Hiring a freelance Magento developer can be a great option for creating an e-commerce site at a much lower cost than using in house developers or going with a large agency.
The benefits of using a freelance developer are:
Cost effective
- Freelancers set their own rates, which are based largely on hours worked, experience and skill set. Their hourly rates are usually half of what Agencies charge.
- Agencies are usually more expensive, and charge from $150 to $300 per hour. Their costs are higher since they also cover employee salaries and benefits, as well as markup on hourly rates.
- In house developers also have higher costs, since they also include the developer’s salary and benefits.
Experience and Skills
- Freelancers usually specialize in a particular software, which makes they very familiar with what works and what doesn’t. Good freelancers have built dozens of magneto stores. In other words, they are experts in magento.
- Agency developers usually wear multiple hats since most agencies don’t specialize only in Magento development. There is also very high turnover in most agencies, since top developers are in high demand.
- In house developers are usually focused on a wide range of projects and don’t ever work long enough in Magento to become familiar with it. This usually ends up costing you more in the long run since building your Magento store is
a learn as you go process.
Flexibility
- Freelancers usually work on more than one project on any given day. Unless they are under a deadline, they can usually modify their schedule to accomodate your needs.
- Agency developers usually work on one project at a time. This makes it hard for them to open time for anything outside of project scope, since they are on a tight deadline.
- Freelance developers will sometimes work beyond the normal Monday thru Friday to make sure projects get completed in time. Agency and in house developers work only during business hours.
Responsiveness
- Freelancers are extremely responsive- answers are usually an email or phone call away.
- Agency developers don’t usually communicate much with the client- everything goes thru the project manager.
Summary
- Freelancers are a great choice for small to medium Magento development projects and are typically more flexible and lower cost.
- Freelancers allow you to be more involved in the development process, since there are no layers between you and your developer.
Woolley Design is Jon Woolley, who has been doing freelance Magento development for the last 6 years.
Jon has helped launch over 100 Magento sites during that time, is based in the US and doesn’t outsource any development.
If you want someone with extensive experience with Magento and at a reasonable cost, contact me.