Small or big business all of us have to check 13 Things to Tick Off Before Working with an Agency or Freelancer
Go through this list before you sign anything or pay anyone. It applies equally to agencies and freelancers, no matter the service: website, online store, app, ads, social media, SEO, video, photo or design.
- Check if the company is registered on Companies House: how long it has existed, what its turnover is, and whether it has any legal proceedings.
- Know who will actually work on the project and have spoken to that person, not just the one who sold you the service.
- Check if the work in their portfolio is genuinely theirs and doesn’t appear on Google under someone else’s name.
- Have received a written, detailed proposal, not just a price on WhatsApp.
- Have not been guaranteed results: number 1 in Google, guaranteed sales or thousands of followers.
- Have not been pressured to decide on the spot.
- Have a written contract that clearly states what you will receive, by when, and what happens if it is not delivered.
- The contract explicitly states that the rights to the work are transferred to you.
- The contract states how much extra changes cost and how you can terminate.
- Pay by bank transfer into the company account, against an invoice.
- The domain, hosting, ads account and social media pages are in your name, and they only have access.
- Pay the advertising budget directly from your own card inside the platform.
- At the end, receive all source files and access credentials, then change the passwords.