Why Freelance Marketplaces Are Not a Small Business Owner's Friend

As a small business, one of the most tempting ways to get affordable web design services is to use a freelance marketplace such as oDesk or eLance. The simple fact is using these marketplaces is one of the biggest mistakes that a small business or start-up company can make. Taking this avenue is going to be a huge drain on both your time and your wallet.

Let me share with you a small nightmare story from one of these marketplaces. One small business owner decided that he was going to use eLance to have a small program developed for his company. He was a veteran user of eLance and had reviewed numerous applications with no problem but that didn't stop him from getting scammed. He hired what seemed like a reputable coder. The coder ended up taking advantage of the eLance terms of service and made the business owner pay early before the work was complete.

As if that wasn't enough, the coder was able to bill him for another $140 dollars without his consent! All in all, the business owner ended up with a code that didn't work and a bill for over $300, and eLance only gave him back $75 in credit after fighting with them via email!

So what do you need to do to keep yourself and your small business safe?

• Avoid freelance sites like eLance for development services; they can rack up a hefty bill before you even get a working program.

• Don't trust an applicant just because their application hits all the right notes, some of them have more experience in conning you, then you have in reviewing applications.

• Don't waste time reviewing all the applications that flood in on these sites, a single job could have an upwards of 30 applicants. As a small business you don't have time to waste on these applicants without the guarantee of a good hire.

Luckily there are companies that will take the guess work out of hiring the perfect web service developer and coder! Engineering recruiting firms go through the available applicants for you one at a time and make sure that they are not only qualified, but that the work they turn out is quality!

Some people fear that these firms cost more money for their engineers; however the slightly higher cost is easily justified when you realize that you are not paying extra for bad programmers, throwing your time away on application review, or being stuck with unqualified workers.

Bottom Line, if you are a serious start-up or small business owner you need to avoid the freelance marketplaces and use a recruiting firm to get the job done right.

Dritlap Parfozzi is a web developer and part time engineer that has recently retired from his full time job as a software designer. He spends most of his time now working with Engineer Nexus http://www.engineernexus.com/ helping start-up and small business find reputable and affordable engineers and developers for their companies.