How To Hire A Freelance Software Developer In Singapore

Hiring a freelance software developer in Singapore

Whether you are a startup looking for a simple, affordable freelance software developer for your business, or an established business looking to take your next digital steps, finding a software developer can be a daunting task.

After a quick Google search you will probably see that you could browse for hours on end looking at all the profiles that pop up.

Selecting the right freelancer for your project is important, else you could end up wasting your time and money.

Entrepreneurs are increasingly using freelancers to do one task instead of using a full-time employee.

Freelancers offer the advantages of being cheaper, with less time, paperwork, and know-how needed.

Freelancers are individuals who work remotely for companies, some are located in Singapore while others are located in other countries like the United States or India.

Freelancers can work either full-time or part-time, depending on their preference, and can have one employer or many at the same time.

With the rise of freelancing in Singapore, hiring has become a breeze.

Freelancers can do simple jobs like writing and data entry, or more specialised jobs like web design.

The ability to hire someone remotely eliminates the problem faced by many companies – especially if they are in an area where there are few experts in the skills they need.

How to find a freelance software developer in Singapore

You will have two options when looking for freelancers. The first is to find them using a marketplace website like Fiverr, Upwork, or Arc.

These websites allow freelancers to create profiles, showcase their skills, experience and portfolios, as well as receive reviews from past clients.

The second is to work with a freelancer directly. They will have their own website, where they showcase their skills and portfolio.

Hiring a freelance software developer through a marketplace

There are many benefits of hiring freelancers, but there are still many questions that come up about sourcing the right candidates.

Online marketplaces usually benefit the buyer. The reason for this is that the marketplace company is willing to protect its reputation by offering as much support to the buyer as possible.

So it might sound like a perfect option, but there is a side effect caused by that. Sellers are often left overworked and unpaid.

For example, a seller might spend a week working on a project, and a difficult client could be unhappy about something and contact the marketplaces customer support team.

After a bit of complaining and mentioning how much they dislike the platform, in fear of a customer going around leaving bad reviews about the company, they will side with the customer and offer them a refund.

This leaves the freelancer out of time and money. Now not all marketplaces do this but it is more common than you would like.

Just a quick Google search for “don’t use fiverr” or “don’t use upwork” and you will see a bunch of horror stories.

The side effect of this is that the best software developers might stay away from these platforms and take the time to build up their client base without being dependent on a middle man.

That way they could deal with the customer directly and not have their income dependent on a large for profit company.

Another good thing turned bad is that marketplaces are cheap. Marketplaces let software developers from all countries create a profile and offer their services.

This is great for hiring because now instead of having access to the few software developers located near your home or office, you have access to any software developer on the planet.

So maybe you live in an area where the standard is low to medium compared to the global standard, marketplaces give you access to the full spectrum of freelancers.

Having access to all freelancers might sound great superficially, but there is a lot more to it.

The cost of living in Croatia is a lot lower than Singapore, so someone working in Singapore needs to earn a lot more to pay the bills.

This creates a situation where freelancers based in cheaper countries can charge a lot less than those based in first world countries.

This makes it impossible for freelance software developers in Singapore to compete. So that drives the best and most talented developers far away from these platforms.

You can definitely find some good developers there, but if you put yourself in their shoes, would you work for half your worth if you had other opportunities? Most certainly not, so maybe hiring a freelance developer directly is the better bet.

Hiring a freelance software developer directly

To escape the tight competition and low earning of marketplaces the most skilled software developers work with clients directly.

They will set up their own website where they will list all the apps they have built and also tell you a bit about themselves and how they work.

The two ways you can find them is by searching Google for “freelance software developer in Singapore” or doing a similar search on LinkedIn, where they will include the word “freelance” in their title.

These freelancers typically deliver higher quality work than those on marketplaces, but you also lose the customer support and payment protection.

Why you shouldn’t hire a freelance software developer

We have received far too many emails from people who have worked with a freelancer and now have semi functional software that they cannot launch, plus they are out a huge chunk of money.

So now they need to reach out to a software development company in Singapore to see if there is a way to save their project.

The main reason people hire freelancers instead of companies to develop their custom software is cost.

Freelancers typically charge less because they work alone and don’t need to pay employees and cover other expenses.

They are still not by any means cheap, and the cost might be less than a large company, but compared to a smaller team, there is only a slight price difference.

However, that slight difference is probably the best investment you will ever make.

Working with a professional team means that quality of service is ensured. Freelancers are known for not being consistent, where companies have a team of trained professionals who have launched many projects.

Having a sound process is essential to developing first-class custom software platforms!

This ensures that the software is well designed, soundly engineered and built to scale with your business.

It also ensures that timeframes are met and costs are minimised. This way you pay once and your platform just works.

No need to go running around trying to patch things up after the freelancer couldn’t complete some features.

Communication is also a big issue when working with freelance software developers. It’s not good to stereotype, but us developers are known to not be the most social.

Freelancers just want to code and don’t want to deal with clients and that makes it difficult to fully understand their clients needs and that leads to all sorts of issues where the final product just isn’t what you thought of during the initial discussion.

At our team we believe in constant communication, feedback and iteration, and that’s why our clients are always fully satisfied with the final products we deliver.

Now let’s imagine the best case scenario, where the freelancer develops the first version of your custom software and it works well so you launch.

The launch is a success and users love using your new interesting platform, but now there are some small bugs, which is natural as it scales and also you want to add some more features.

But after reaching out to the freelancer you find out that they are busy with another project or just not available right now.

That puts you in a stressful situation. Freelancers don’t have a team so they only work on one project at a time.

Because of that the chances of you getting something done when needed are low. When you work with a team, they are always available for you.

Once we finish the project we will continue to work with you as long as needed so we can squash any bad bugs and build features as you grow your company into a huge success.

There is no need to work with a freelance developer in Singapore, since some of the best software developers in the world are located here.

So if you want to have a successful project developed, be sure to look for a company to partner up with.

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