Agency vs. freelancer: Why a (reliable!) agency is the better partner

Many companies now rely on external service providers to implement digitization strategies in the form of websites, prototypes or complex e-commerce solutions. Selecting the right provider is of crucial importance here. Because no matter what industry or sector it is: There are truly plenty of providers. This is why companies often find it difficult to make the right decision at the right pace, both in the short and long term. And this decision revolves first and foremost around the following question: Do we trust an agency or freelancers* or freelancers?

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Agency vs. freelancer – what it comes down to

When looking for a provider, the focus is usually on criteria such as price/performance, availability, references or recommendations. But people often forget that there are other – and at least as important – criteria that should be used to select a partner for an upcoming digitization project. So that in the end a provider also becomes a genuine partner.

1. What experience does the supplier have from “my” industry or sector? Could this experience generate synergies for the upcoming project?
2. Is there experience from other industries or sectors that can be used meaningfully in your own project?
3. According to which standards, methods and processes does the provider work? Which standards can I rely on as a company and how clean are project documentation and handover?
4. What experience from other areas of digitization (including search engine optimization and marketing, tracking, etc.) will help me make the right decision in my project?
5. And last but not least: How resilient and redundant is the partner?

Set priorities correctly

Especially when it comes to resilience and redundancy, (established) agencies differ from freelancers or self-employed people. At WEVENTURE, we regularly come into contact with inquiries or concrete projects in which only a few or none of the above-mentioned 5 points have been “tapped” beforehand.

Especially when companies decide for or against a provider solely for cost reasons, this leads to major budgetary challenges in the course of the project. All too often, follow-up costs are forgotten or ignored. This is precisely our experience as an agency over the past few years: customers who honestly admitted that they had previously turned to the wrong partner because the expenses seemed pleasantly low at first glance.

Important: The right partner is not automatically the cheapest, because low hourly or daily rates are no guarantee of cost-effective completion. Likewise, lump-sum offers or fixed prices do not provide certainty as to whether a project can be completed to the right quality.

Basis for decision-making

Regardless of costs, the decision should fall on the right partner if the following points are given:

1. Holistic view of the project or order

Digitization strategies and projects must be viewed holistically by the partner in order to achieve successful results. Therefore, it is important that partners contribute their holistic knowledge and, for example, complement a project professionally with expertise in the areas of SEO, SEA, SMA or tracking. It is precisely these multidisciplinary expert skills that a single freelancer cannot muster in the vast majority of cases.

2. Creation of synergies through other services or experiences

Having access to many years of cross-industry expertise is a benefit that every company should appreciate. For example, experience from a certain industry can be of surprisingly great benefit when implementing a landing page for projects from other industries.

3. High methodology and standards in planning and implementation

As a client, the time after the project must also always be planned. Therefore, a methodical approach on the part of the agency is always a guarantee for a structured handover and successful project completion.

4. Redundancy and reliability of the teams deployed

If a client places a digitization order with an agency, they need to be confident that redundancy across all teams will mean that projects do not hang on individuals when they are completed.

The last point in particular is a decisive argument for always opting for an agency and against an individual freelancer. Because a (well-positioned!) agency can guarantee manpower leeway much more reliably than – well – a freelancer. According to many of our clients, this lack of redundancy in particular was the decisive point why originally agreed costs were significantly exceeded.

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Conclusion: If the decision is between an agency and a freelancer, we recommend the agency in almost all cases for the reasons mentioned above. Because: Whoever decides in favor of an agency like WEVENTURE creates security in the conception and implementation of projects and thus guarantees predictable costs, punctual completion and an extremely high level of quality.

We convinced you to work with an experienced agency for your next digitization project? Great. Then we’d like to give you three good reasons why you should choose WEVENTURE:

1. Through agile methods, many years of experience and a well-established quality management, we create work results at the highest level and to the complete satisfaction of our customers.
2. First-class project and milestone planning ensures that our customers receive results and successes that meet their expectations and also meet the deadlines communicated at the beginning.
3. Completing projects within agreed budgets is not just part of our quality promise – it is our daily self-expectation as an entrepreneurial partner. We really understand budgets.

*For better readability, we have refrained from using the feminine form in the rest of the text when referring to persons and professions. Of course, we also ask our female readers to feel addressed at all times.