Do you need someone to build you an app or website? Here's some advice:

How long do you think this will take? - every project manager ever

I get this question a lot, and with good reason. People want to know how much this will cost, is it worth the effort and should we even bother.

Asking a Software Developer or a designer how long something is going to take is a hard question. Time spent on actually writing the code is not how long someone has spent thinking about it, starting it, restarting it or even procrastinating on it (and procrastination can be an important part of the building process).

It’s rare to find software projects that are delivered on time, under-budget, feature complete and bug-free. Our industry is not alone. Builders regularly encounter delays. Large public infrastructure projects frequently get overrun and writers miss their deadlines.

So should you even ask the question in the first place knowing there’s a chance you won’t get what you want on time? I don’t think so. Assume there will be reasonable delays and instead ask if it’s worth waiting for. Should we be doing this? If the answer is a definite yes, than a small delay is insignificant.

How do I find someone good?

You can always just email me ;)

How much should I budget?

Without knowing the specific application you want to build, I won’t know. It’s better to think about it in a different way. If you’re hiring someone for the first time, you have to find a price that your comfortable paying. It’s up to the contractor to give you a good price.

Go too low, and no-one will take you seriously.

Go too high, and you might be taken for a ride.

As a contractor, I tend to try and seek out clients who will be with me long-term. Other contractors prefer short-term high paying gigs. It’s completely up to you to see what’s suitable.

Should I use an NDA(non-disclosure agreement)?

If it makes you feel comfortable or you have any doubts, than yes.