Pitfalls to avoid when working with agencies (based on my $120k worth of experience)
Aleksandr Volodarsky
13 replies
I was inspired by one of the questions from the community here. So I decided to share my insight on choosing agencies to work with. Coming from personal experience, there are tons of ways working with an agency can go wrong. I’ve spent $120k working with 4 agencies: SEO, paid acquisition, conversion copywriting, and design 😺
I also know the situation from the other side, as I run a development marketplace to hire vetted engineers (http://lemon.io).
Having matched hundreds of developers with startups and worked with agencies myself, I found what makes choosing an agency a success. Sharing my personal checklist:
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Aleksandr Volodarsky@volodarik
Don’t Panic by Lemon.io
👌🏼 Go to the agency when you clearly know what needs to be built.
User stories, jobs to be done, roadmap or design: whatever specification you have. Otherwise, much of the code will be thrown away. Same rules work for marketing agencies. If you don’t know your users and positioning, none of the agencies will do marketing for you.
👌🏼 Check out the background before shortlisting
Start with research: find testimonials or real products the agency helped build. Check the “Showcase” section on the website. Open Trustpilot & G2.
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Don’t Panic by Lemon.io
👌🏼 Ask for a consultation before you commit to anything
Meeting the team can help you check the fit before starting the project. If you’re looking for a dev agency, chat with developers beforehand. Soft skills are as critical as ability to code.
👌🏼 Really, get to know the developers
Ensure that the developers assigned to your project are the ones actually doing the work. Be sure, the dev is fairly paid.
Don’t Panic by Lemon.io
👌🏼 Draft the specification
Spend time scoping the development, UI or QA tasks or ask for just scope beforehand. Having clear requirements will help you manage the costs.
👌🏼 Start small & provide feedback
Figure out if you can get the small commitment from the beginning. Focus on delivering a smaller MVP with the ability to change developers on the way (if it gets stuck). Get iterations with user feedback as early as possible to ensure you’re moving in the right direction. Move in short sprints. Pay for milestones.
Don’t Panic by Lemon.io
👌🏼 Keep the decision-making in-house
Make sure you have the technical co-founder or CTO to make the macro decisions. If you don’t want to include someone full-time, you can get started with a fractional CTO. Don’t outsource strategy.
👌🏼 Hire the agency that’s a good fit for your style
Pick the team that uses the same development approach, has remote culture, shares similar values and you’d generally like to hang out with those people.
Don’t Panic by Lemon.io
👌🏼 Ask for replacement policy
Verify that the agency has a replacement policy in case of bad hires or other issues. Have an agreement that outlines who owns the right to the product and the associated intellectual property.
👌🏼 Protect your idea
Include code ownership into the contract. Outline that you own the right to the product and the associated intellectual property.
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I hope it was useful! 😊
Don’t Panic by Lemon.io
Great tips!
Don’t Panic by Lemon.io
Don’t Panic by Lemon.io
@lisadziuba I'm glad you found my tips helpful.
Thanks for your tips and that's totally correct since I've been working in an agency and also have an experience with my own agency. If I can add the checklist I would add
make sure we have time to regularly meet with the agency, my experience as an agency working with super busy person is very painful yes the client give us (the agency) quick feedback but sometimes the feedback was not always can be implemented and we need time to discuss with the client. If there is no time to meet then it automatically will pushback the timeline.
Don’t Panic by Lemon.io
@daniel_roy93 I totally agree. Regular meetings with the agency are crucial to ensure that both parties are on the same page and that feedback can be effectively incorporated into the project. Thank you for your comment!
One thing we know for sure, there are no pitfalls in working with us. We will quickly help you find a venture investor for your startup, as well as help you prepare your startup for presentation to investors
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As someone who owned a software development agency for years, I think the relationship between clients and agencies should be often rethought.
Situations when an agency knows more about a business than its owners and it cannot be replaced can easily occur and sometimes it would be healthier for both parties to end the relationship.
If a business is hiring an agency, they should keep track of everything and have all the knowledge to replace the agency when necessary!