Top 7 Reasons Why It’s Better to Hire a Freelance Designer or Small Design Firm Than a Large Design Company.
by Calvin Cox on August 20, 2008
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There are many options when hiring a web designer or design company in general. I mean the list is seriously endless. So the question is how do you find the right design company to build your website or complete your next design project. The design industry has flourished, and with the internet , choosing the right web design company has become a full time job. Personally I tend to favor the smaller design firms or freelance designer when hiring for my projects, here is why:
- Freelance designers and small design firms are very ambitious and want the work.
- Freelance designers just starting out want to do the best job they can in order to promote their brand.
- Freelance designers and small design firms tend to deliver the project earlier than larger design companies.
- Freelance designers and small design companies are more accessible during off hours, i.e. tech support.
- Freelance designers and small design companies are more flexible when it comes to design changes.
- Freelance designers and small design firms tend to be more innovative when it comes to new ideas and cutting edge technology.
7. Freelance designers and small design firms can be a great resource for future website upgrades because the designer who designed your website is probably the owner, chances are he won’t fire himself or be looking for a better career opportunity.
Freelance Switch has a great article from the freelance designer perspective, titled, You Vs. The Design Firms: How To Win Every Time. Of course with any choice you make due diligence is key. Just like in any business there are good and bad apples. Research and vet the designer or design firm before hiring, my article: “Scars From a Bad Proposal: 8 do’s and don’ts when choosing a web designer” will give you some vetting tips.
What has been your experience when hiring a freelance designer or small design firm as opposed to a larger design company?
14 comments
I absolutely agree with you,Calvin.
No matter what industry you are in,if you hire a big dog, they are not going to give the personal approach a small company will.
posted @ Wednesday, August 20, 2008 2:34 PM by larisa larisacox@gmail.com
by larisa on October 3, 2010 at 3:26 pm. #
I’m guessing you are a freelancer or someone who works for a small design firm.
This is all very very generalized making most of this your opinion.
Freelances can be pants and some bigger companies provide personal account managers to give the client that ‘personal touch’ that you speak of. Also, within bigger firms there can be a lot of competition for work meaning that workers there are always striving to outdo their colleagues in order to gain more recognition within the company.
posted @ Tuesday, August 26, 2008 9:47 AM by Michael Wilson cityofangels36@hotmail.com
by Michael Wilson on October 3, 2010 at 3:27 pm. #
I am immediately cautious of the writer’s perspective here. A designer himself, Calvin is surreptitiously promoting self-interest under the guise of an informative perspective from a ‘colleague’.
Always weigh the pros and cons of working with a design individual or studio/shop. Never do it because there is a quick 7-point list. It’s a tough landscape for drumming up business these days, and this sort of tactic undermines professionalism and has the potential to erode design ethics.
Remember, your product is what’s important. How you choose to get your business challenges met is more important than a designer’s accessibility during off hours….
posted @ Tuesday, August 26, 2008 1:41 PM by Patrick zahaa@hotmail.com
by Patrick on October 3, 2010 at 3:30 pm. #
I agree with Michael on that it is GENERALLYy that smaller companies try harder than bigger ones. You are right, it depends on a company. But I have to strongly disagree with Patrick on his issue. Big companies often have enough clients, and their fame works for them, so very often they don’t care about customer satisfaction, because they know that if that one customer complains, it’s probably not going to hurt them. I am not from the design industry, so I might be partial.At the same time, to me there is not much difference between other industries and the design one in that respect. I remember listening to the tapes of a very succsessful real estate investor (Ron LeGrand), and he said that if you need to have repairs done choose a small company, not a big dog.They will do a decent job, and are not going to charge you an arm and a leg.
posted @ Tuesday, August 26, 2008 3:15 PM by larisa larisacox@gmail.com
by larisa on October 3, 2010 at 3:31 pm. #
Wow. I certainly did not expect such a heated discussion from my top 7 however I welcome the discussion
Michael:
I agree with you Michael that my list is somewhat general, however my points are more my experiences regarding hiring smaller and larger firm. I have had better end results and service.
Patrick you wrote:
I am immediately cautious of the writer’s perspective here. A designer himself, Calvin is surreptitiously promoting self-interest under the guise of an informative perspective from a ‘colleague’.
Your comments sounds a little harsh for a list created from my own experience – but I’d still like to address it:
Your points are certainly valid with respect to my comparisons, as they are good and bad designers and design companies alike as noted in my post that one should completely “Research and vet the designer or design firm before hiring” With that said I would have to respectfully disagree with your assumptions regarding why I wrote this article. It is true that I own a small design firm but this article in particular was based completely from my experience when hiring for my web design projects. I’ve lost quite a bit of money dealing with companies who’s bottom line was payment and cared less about the final product. As I systematically moved to having my work done by smaller firms I noticed their eagerness to work not only to be paid but to produce products that not only represented me, but also their respective company’s brand. On a side note though. hypothetically, If I did post this article to “drum up business” and give my perspective of why I should be hired; I’m perplexed to understand why you would use the term “ surreptitiously promoting” as I would think that this article was far from sneakily promoting but rather very bold. And as a designer and businessman, bold is always better for me.
Larisa:
Interesting reference: I completely agree with your comments.
posted @ Tuesday, August 26, 2008 4:44 PM by Calvin Cox calvincox@gmail.com
by Calvin Cox on October 3, 2010 at 3:32 pm. #
Great post Calvin and I completely agree BUT…to offer more of a balance to the argument, I wrote Top 7 Reasons Why It’s Better to Hire a Large Design Company Than a Freelance Designer or Small Design Firm
posted @ Tuesday, August 26, 2008 7:45 PM by James Paden – Xemion.com
by James Paden - Xemion.com on October 3, 2010 at 3:33 pm. #
James:
Wow, I must have really struck a nerve here: I Just read your Top 7 and believe you have some valid points -much more detailed than my summary list . I think at the end of the day size doesn’t matter but rather the company that you hire to do the work. For me if I had to choose between a large firm and a smaller firm with all else equal- quality of work, support, price, delivery date: The small company would win every time and that’s because for some strange reason I believe that smaller companies tend to be more personally connected to your brand than larger ones, and they are very careful to do an excellent job because they can use the completed projects as strong advertising for new projects: Frankly, I think that’s a huge factor in my choice between choosing between a small and large design firm – sounds a little cheesy-I know but the fact is I own a small design firm and every project I do for my clients becomes a project for my company’s Brand as well.
posted @ Wednesday, August 27, 2008 12:56 PM by Calvin Cox calvincox@gmail.com
by Calvin Cox on October 3, 2010 at 3:34 pm. #
I completely agree, Calvin. As a freelancer myself, I would almost always recommend a small firm or freelancer to a potential client.
My post was merely to illustrate that there are some reasons to choose a large firm. I fear I came on a tad strong though, and like you said, really struck a nerve.
Oh well…I was just reading Darren Rowse’s advice to create some controversy on your blog…I guess I succeeded!
posted @ Wednesday, August 27, 2008 1:35 PM by James Paden james@xemion.com
by James Paden - Xemion.com on October 3, 2010 at 3:35 pm. #
Being a freelance designer, I agree with everything thats being said in the blog.
The best way to look at it is “Would you call one person or ten persons ?”.
So stick with the “small” .
Ashmith
http://www.ashmith.com
posted @ Thursday, August 28, 2008 4:37 PM by Ashmith Singh email@ashmith.com
by Ashmith Singh on October 3, 2010 at 3:36 pm. #
I just opened up my graphics design web pagewww.thedigitaloffering.com and this information was very helpful THANKS!
posted @ Sunday, September 14, 2008 6:02 PM by Wesley info@thedigitaloffering.com
by Wesley on October 3, 2010 at 3:37 pm. #
These points are still good, As a small business myself I think there are a lot more points which could be added but most likely better saved for an FAQ page on the designers website.
At least they can also add another angle to promoting themselves well towards potential clients without pushing their services/products but more about promoting themselves and benefits they can give to clients.
Cheers
Kev
Web Design Farnborough
posted @ Thursday, March 19, 2009 4:25 PM by Kev Jaques kev@multilayerdesign.com
by Kev Jaques on October 3, 2010 at 3:39 pm. #
I don’t know what the answer is but it’s interesting to think about. Okay, I’m not a designer but I work in making prototypes and have to deal with large vs small for myself and how I recommend designers hire others.
Let’s start with me. I’m tiny, a one person outfit. The benefits are that I’m highly specialized and it’s fair to say I pick my projects. I like hard things, stuff that’s challenging design-wise or cost wise. I don’t like simple, sportswear bores me (in a work context). One thing I didn’t notice being covered here was the capacity or range of services a service can provide. I can pretty much do it all but there’s some work I don’t like. Like tech packs altho I have to get over it. I’m good to hire if you have a project that nobody else will touch.
Now let’s talk about my competitor, a company called Patternworks Inc. (patternworksinc.com) Btw, I heart them, very very much. Very dear friends and I admire the caliber of their work, more than anyone else. Love fest dispensed with, they’re much larger than me. They have more contacts in their immediate community. They have a lot more work so their turn around may not be as fast. However, they’re more experienced and faster at certain things (the aforementioned tech packs and also grading which I’m not wild about). They will do pretty much anything. They cost a bit more than me but their prices are fair and on target for their area (I live in a low rent area so my costs are lower).
In the end, deciding to hire either one of us can’t be summarized with large vs small, I think it depends on the client’s needs, especially long term. If you need an ongoing relationship, they have the infrastructure for it. Me, I don’t like commitments but I love to solve thorny or so called impossible problems. Either firm will give support and advice the client needs. Both do good work. Both are esteemed in the community. But neither of us are better than the other based on size alone. What do you need? That’s how you determine which firm regardless of size is best for you.
posted @ Thursday, September 10, 2009 11:55 AM by Kathleen Fasanella kathleen@fashion-incubator.com
by Kathleen Fasanella on October 3, 2010 at 3:40 pm. #
I have to say I agree with the comments that this is all about NEED. Not just “Big” vs. “Small.” There are obviously pros and cons to both sides, many of which have been covered here in this brief article, and as a member of a small firm (4 people) I am inclined to side with those small firms and freelancers because of my situation. But you can’t ignore the fact that there are always going to be situations and projects that are just better suited to be run and managed by a larger team. The higher the profile, and the bigger the budget the larger the management and production staff required. That has always been my experience.
posted @ Thursday, October 22, 2009 10:42 AM by Matt Nelson mnelson@firsttracksmarketing.com
by Matt Nelson on October 3, 2010 at 3:41 pm. #
I’m a freelance designer too and I agree with you Calvin. No question that there is a shift away from the bigger firms to freelancers and small and medium-sized design shops.
Also there’s been an explosion of jobs sites. Here’s an interesting one called Webbyslist:
http://www.Webbyslist.com
It aggregates the major job sites into a single (very long) list. A freelancers paradise…
posted @ Friday, December 11, 2009 8:04 PM by JT info@web5design.com
by JT on October 3, 2010 at 3:43 pm. #