How to choose an agency

Choosing an agency is mostly about process and honesty, not portfolio aesthetics.

Questions that separate suppliers

Ask these

• Who will actually do the work, and can I meet them?
• What happens when the estimate is wrong, and how often is it wrong?
• How do we review progress, and how often do I see working software?
• Who owns the code and the data, and what happens at the end of the contract?
• What do you do when you disagree with me?
• Can I speak to a client whose project went badly?

Red flags

A proposal that cannot be traced back to your brief. Estimates with single numbers and no assumptions. No named team. A refusal to discuss exit or ownership. Pricing by page count. Enthusiasm for every idea you have, which means nobody is protecting your budget.

What good looks like

A supplier who tells you that one of your requirements is unnecessary, that a cheaper approach exists, or that you should not do this project at all right now. That is the behaviour you are buying. The rest is execution, and execution can be managed.