Tips for working with freelancers?

Question

Freelance

Good afternoon, I would like to ask you what tips you know when working with freelancers.
Two weeks ago I ordered a project from a freelancer, during the conversation the person behaved normally, asked about the project, about the functions, etc. In my opinion, the man knew what he was talking about.
The price was also normal, all the freelancers I talked to wanted 50% upfront. So it didn't bother me too much.
Having searched a little on the Internet, I found many sites that this studio / freelancer made, I also found them to be positive. So did the negative reviews (did not meet the deadline, but then either returned the money or completed the project). So, in my opinion everything was OK.
We agreed on the price, payment method and signed the contract. He promised / and twice a week to show the results and consult as needed.
And then it began, "Tomorrow everything will be, everything will be fine tonight, call back in two hours, and so on." For two weeks, I did not see a single line of code.
Apparently, the freelancer decided to deceive me ...
21 I want to hang up a sign for work done again.
I would like to hear advice on how to avoid being scammed by freelancers.
I will be glad to your advice.
THX

Answer 1

Many are ready to work without prepayment. For example, I ALWAYS work without advance payment. Yes, once, about 3 years ago, they threw me, once. Well, the flag in their hands - not much. But in most cases, without prepayment, you will be required to pay for the pieces already made, and the work will move in small iterations.
Personally, I need to kick every 3-4 days for the work to continue. At least write and ask "Well, what's there?". Even despite the fact that the money comes only after the fact that it is done, the money for one project is not so great ;)
I think that your mistake is that you did not remind the developer of your existence for a long time.
Look how it was there: He started doing something and worked for a couple of days. Then he scored. There are no reminders from you - he does nothing. When you wrote two weeks later, he realized that he specifically missed the deadlines and is now lost - 146% was so. He promised you in vain.
For example, if I promised the result by the deadline H, then it will be ready. That is why I promise deadlines extremely rarely and reluctantly, and only for extremely clear short tasks, because you are right - all sorts of force majeure may arise.
Regarding access to work - I always place orders on the customer's server - just as I said, the customer must pay in iterations for small pieces of work, then if he takes the work and does not pay, then this will be a very small part, and he will receive unfinished work, having won a penny - it will then backfire.
Well, I'm all on the example of myself, because this is the only freelancer I know well.

Answer 2

Prepayment annoys you in vain, rather the lack of prepayment is a wake-up call, I don’t specifically shield this freelancer (I personally worked without prepayment only at the very beginning of my career with absolutely no experience =D)
Staged payment depends on the project and your level, often intermediate builds require additional efforts, which increases the cost of the project, if this does not happen, this is also strange. (many stages are hard to evaluate for a non-developer, nothing has changed in the gui, you can’t touch anything with your hands, but the feast is working successfully)
It’s not suitable for everyone, with one client so as not to pull each other over trifles, and he has to keep his finger on the pulse ─ every evening I push to the server, he’s a developer, although he doesn’t understand the details, but in general it’s clear at what stage the work is, payment on his part 100% so that I don’t worry that I’ll just take the code (they didn’t come to such a model right away, but they are satisfied with it)
There are no uniform rules, neither low nor high price is a guarantee. If he has failed deadlines before, then why did you think that he would not fail your deadlines? If you were satisfied with this prospect with the condition of a return of money and a lower price, then what's the problem?

Answer 3

Hire three freelancers at once to work in parallel, never pay an advance payment.

Answer 4

1) If you can't, don't write. So it's not necessary yet ...
They start writing, or when the project is really big, and it's hard to track what and how falls as a result of your modifications. Or when several people work on a project and you need to control the integrity of the project.
2) Just read it and forget it for now. When you need it, you just feel it. What you need to write to control some place. There will be a need, and the question of how you will already approximately know the answer.
3) In any case, this is an additional overhead for the project. And if testing does not solve some problems, then it makes no sense...
Testing for the sake of testing is a waste of time.. Enlarge the project.. And somehow you will wake up and understand that it is impossible without it. And you will have specific tasks.