Photo Credit: Free Extras

Competition Is Good

I’ll preface this critique by stating I’ve got zero problem with competition! Competition is necessary and good. It’s also unavoidable.

Creative Flavor competes against other web development companies all the time and consistently wins about 3 out of every 4 projects we bid on. Typically, companies who request bids from us judge first our experience and competence. They bring their ideas and requirements, and we present our ideas and recommendations for getting them from Point A to Point B and beyond. Next they judge our like-ability because it’s important to enjoy the people you’ll be working with over the next few months. Project cost, while significant, is rarely the deciding factor in our experience. Cost is secondary and negotiable. Quality is not!

Coming from this type of environment, you can imagine my disappointment with Elance!

But This is Ridiculous

First, providers have to pay a fee if they want to submit more than 1-2 bids per month. I chose the $10 plan to try it out. That seems reasonable, but when you factor in the 6.75%-8.75% commission Elance takes on projects you win, it’s overkill.

After spending half an hour searching through projects, I observed a common theme among 99.3% of them:

“I want a website like [insert web address for any Fortune 100 company]. I have this great idea and it’s going to be huge. It has to look professional, have all the bells and whistles and be easy for me to update myself. I also need an awesome logo and SEO because I want this new site to rank #1 on all the search engines. I’m just starting this so I don’t have a big budget, but I’m willing to help you out by giving you a percentage of profits. There is also the possibility of more projects if you do a good job. I have some understanding about what it takes to do this so I expect a fair price. Also, would like this launched within 2 weeks. Serious Bidders Only. Budget: <$500.”

This would be roll-on-the-floor hilarious if it weren’t so common! There are pages and pages of people advertising a need for skilled design/development services at $5-$10 per hour! Some equate to even less. Are they serious? Sadly, yes.

What’s not laughable is that there are actually bids on these projects! Most bidders are from India and Pakistan where I suppose $5/hr is a living wage. There’s usually a bid by an American or two who I must assume is a starving college student desperate for any money he or she can get. Fine. This kind of global bidding system probably works well for some, but not for us.

I’ll Try It Anyway

Surely there are a couple good projects to bid on though, I think.

Searching on, it seems about .07% of project posters have some understanding of the real cost and value of web development. They have a reasonable budget and typically begin their posting with requirements that providers be fluent in English. I find a handful of projects that appear worth pursuing and spend most of the day writing 4 in-depth proposals. I’m a bit concerned that even those 4 are a waste of time because the proposals are written without the valuable input we collect in the 1-2 hour discussions we have with new clients. Yes, you can ask questions before bidding, but it’s just not the same as the pre-bid discussions we have on the phone and in-person.

The bids are submitted. I’m doubtful I’ll get a positive response as there are 30+ bids, mostly from India and Pakistan. My bids are 2-4 times as high as their highest bids! With this format, the cost factor seems more crucial than competence and like-ability.

Of the four bids, only one poster responded to let me know that the project was canceled as none of the bids he received met his requirements. Never heard a darn thing from the other 3 though. Not even a simple Thanks for the proposal, but… response.

I tried to chalk it up to a bad first round. I only submitted 4 bids. Maybe if I submitted 20 more I’d be able to call it a success, but that’s 20-40 hours of time which could be better spent closing better projects. I tried to convince myself that I should give it a better effort for the remainder of the month before making a judgment, but I discontinued membership anyway. It made me feel too dirty.

Conclusion: Elance is Not For Us

Companies who “do web design” for $199, low-ballers and desperate hacks have already demeaned the entire industry. They’ve turned what is a technical, thoughtful profession into a commodity that many now believe should come free with web hosting service. Ick.  Elance has found a way to contaminate it further. (Though probably not intentionally as evidenced by a comment on this blog from Elance’s Brad Porteus.)

Even though I did not win a project or perform any work, I feel like I’ve contributed to the decline of this industry’s image by participating briefly and giving $10 to Elance.  Elance and its providers who enjoy the format probably offer a decent service to a certain segment of the population, but not the segment we like to serve.

I let my company taste the dark side and there’s no desire to go back!  As penitence, we’ll do double-time supporting the professional design community that is working hard to evolve for the better as described by Vitaly Friedman in “Dear Web Design Community: Where Have You Gone?“

What’s your Elance experience?

When I tell other business owners that my company regularly turns down projects, even during lean times, they are in complete disbelief! This practice completely opposes the goal of most businesses to work with as many clients as possible. So what is my reasoning behind this strange decision?

It’s actually very sound business advice. Here’s why we do it:

1) Personal Joy: We know what types of projects motivate us, inspire us and make us feel good every step of the way. On the flip-side, we also know what types of projects drain our energy and leave us asking why we took the project in the first place.

Since I started this business to be happy and less stressed with my professional life, I have to make sure the projects we choose to take contribute to our happiness level and my desire to keep stress to a minimum.

This is good for our clients too. When everyone involved is happy, the project is much more successful!

2) Negative Client: We have a checklist to gauge the budget, knowledge, expectations and needs of a new client. This helps us determine if we’re the right group for the job. But while they are interviewing us, we’re also interviewing them.

You can usually tell in your first discussion or two if a potential client is going to make your life difficult for the next 3 three months. They usually make statements like: I could do this myself, but I don’t have time, I’ve gone through 5 designers in the past year, or I need A, B, C and X, Y, Z but I spent my budget on something else so I’m hoping you can give me a break. These are big red flags for us!

Historically, the projects with clients who use those types of phrases are unappreciative and never satisfied.  We end up wasting so much time trying to please someone who is impossible to please and it eats up all our profit. These days, we look for indications that a client is going to be overly difficult. If we determine they will be, we kindly pass.

3) Above or Below our Capabilities: We’re flexible, but we do have a process we like to stick to.

Our process works very well for particular types of projects and not so well for others. For instance, we’re a great fit for projects for small and mid-sized businesses desiring custom design and integrated websites in the $15K-$85K range. But our process does not scale well for very small projects under $10K because those require us to trim key services. Then the end-product will likely fail our high quality standards.

Very large projects do not work well within our process either because they require more time and resources than we are willing to invest and, to be honest, it’s not fun to work with companies that are too big!

4) Unreasonable Time Lines: We can turnaround a project quickly and our schedule can be flexible to meet certain time-sensitive requests. But when someone expects a project to be done in a time frame that our schedule just can’t accommodate, we’ll let them know we aren’t the ones for the job. Speeding up too much can negatively effect the quality of what we produce and we just can’t live with that!

5) Questionable Morals/Ethics: My business partner was attending a networking event a few years back when he was approached by a very professional-looking woman who inquired about our company’s services. She conveyed in detail everything she wanted us to do. Her budget was reasonable. It sounded good!

But then she let him know it was for a pornography website. Without hesitation he turned her down (and then she got very angry with him and had a few choice words, but that’s another blog post!)

She may have been the best client in the world, but we choose to maintain a certain moral standard and refuse to cross the line. We don’t do projects that are related to pornography, promote illegal activities, or that are harmful to others.

How To Determine If You Should Turn Away Work

First, you have to know your strengths and limitations. Is there something you can’t do, or just don’t WANT to do? Don’t take on projects that require those skills.

Second, know what types of clients you like to work with. What’s your ideal client’s budget, time frame, participation level, and industry? The more detailed, the better. To make sure you’re being realistic, also ask if you’re the ideal provider for that particular type of client.

Third, take the time to ask questions during the initial discussion to find if the company you’re talking to is more in line with your ideal client or one you’d rather avoid.

If they don’t make the cut, as hard as it is, politely let them know you aren’t a good fit and send them on their way. Your time is better spent engaging your great clients and reaching out to new great clients. Dealing with negative clients and projects will use up your energy and resources and you’ll be burned out and unprofitable in no time!

Now it’s your turn! Do you turn away projects? How do you do it? Share your story here.