Very true. Most of these things can be contracted for, there are people like me that do these things. But it's not cheap.
It's become somewhat of a litmus test for me. If potential clients are are surprised by the time, cost and effort if these things, it's usually a sign they're not a well thought out venture, and therefore not a great client.
> It's become somewhat of a litmus test for me. If potential clients are are surprised by the time, cost and effort if these things, it's usually a sign they're not a well thought out venture, and therefore not a great client.
This is a pretty good litmus test also for consulting. The amount of companies out there who think they can get an entire mobile app integrated to an existing companies infrastructure (that itself comprises of random SaaS apps from small companies with no APIs) for the equivalent of 2 months of work by one developer is quite astounding.
Lots of [fairly inexperienced] developers feed the perception.
I don’t know how many times I’ve given someone an honest, thoughtful estimate, and had them come to me, saying “I found this whiz kid, who a gamer friend recommended, who will do it all in a week, as a PWA!”
Eight months later, I’m usually asking “So… how’d that work out for you?”
We are a few days away from submitting an app I’ve been developing for about a year and a half (but the project has been under way for over three years).
The reason that I took it on, was because a [non-technical] friend of mine had created a nonprofit, and was soliciting bids for development of the tech.
He didn’t have a particularly detailed plan, but his original idea would have required a massive development effort.
The “studios” he was talking to, told him that they would have a fully-functional MVP, in three months.
The only person he talked to, that I respected, was a relatively older chap, who basically said "It will be at least six months, and six figures, but come back, when you have a better idea of what you want."
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"We do what we do, not because it is easy, but because we thought it would be easy."
Potential clients who express a desire not to pay enough to keep you in business are best left to your competitors.
Potential clients who are under-capitalized and say, I will need to find more money are worth working with.
The biggest mistake in business is trying to save clients/customers money on the goods/services you sell. The last 10% is the part of the price where you make money.
It's become somewhat of a litmus test for me. If potential clients are are surprised by the time, cost and effort if these things, it's usually a sign they're not a well thought out venture, and therefore not a great client.