Should I Hire a Magento Freelancer or a Development Company?

When an idea hits your mind to launch your product then you start thinking about turning it into reality. It is certainly not an easy process but with the right approach, you can get there.  To put your idea into reality you need eCommerce development in Magento Platform for which you need an expert developer or a digital company. Yes for your e-commerce store, you certainly want to hire a Magento development company to help you get the best solutions possible to kick start your online business and grow as it goes along.

Magento 2 (M2) represents an emerging paradigm in e-commerce development. In opposition to the earlier version of this popular platform, it has more features, is more complicated, and has more lines of code. Magento 2 does have a few shortcomings, the most notable of which is its slowness. The following are some of the most popular Magento 2 speed optimization tips that could benefit your Magento projects:

The hosting options you choose have a higher impact on the website’s overall performance. It also plays a vital role in the Magento 2 store’s speed. Choose any fast Magento 2 hosting plan from Servebolt, or as much RAM, CPU, and SSD storage as you can on other providers. When it comes to hosting, don’t compromise.

• Use Content Delivery Network (CDN)

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a handy technology that caches Magento store static content such as CSS, JavaScript, graphics, video files, graphics, and so on. As a result, Magento store performance improves. This, in turn, speeds up the Magento 2 store.

Magento 2 includes a built-in Varnish system that combines a better performance-to-cost ratio with measurable results. Varnish is designed to accelerate HTTP traffic, however, the integrated full-page caching (to either the file system or the database) is substantially lower. This will lead to a fast Magento 2 store.

(i) Select  Stores  >  Configuration  >  Advanced  >  System  >  Full Page Cache  from the Stores menu.

(ii) Varnish Caching is available in the Caching Application list.

(iii) In the TTL for the public content field, type a value.

(iv) Expand Varnish Settings and fill in the details of your Varnish configuration.

The CSS and JS files must be minified as part of Magento speed optimization. It results in a fast Magento 2 store. Blending and minifying CSS and JavaScript resources can make the Magento website very compact, resulting in a good load performance. This technology is built-in to Magento, and you may enable CSS/JS minification in the admin area.

(i) Magento should be in production mode

(ii) Select  Stores  >  Configuration  >  Advanced  >  Developer  from the drop-down menu.

(iii) Click yes for Minifying Javascript Files.

(iv) Save the Configuration

(v) At the  System  >  Cache Management page , flush the cache.

Every project is unique and whether you should hire Magento freelancers or a Magento development company can be a bit tricky. It becomes difficult to decide between a freelancer and a development firm also because you may not be aware of the pros and cons associated with each choice. To help you out the article will elaborate on the pros and cons of hiring Magento developers from a reputed company and a Magento freelancer.

Talking about a Magento freelancer, he/she has the relevant skill sets required to work on your project. He/she as a freelancer may work for multiple companies as a paid contractor or may run his own business with his/her clientele. If he/she as a freelancer is an independent contractor then he/she may work from home.

Flexibility

Freelancers can work as per their work schedules. They can take up more or less work at their convenience. They can even work extra hours to submit the work on time.

Reasonable Rates

Freelancers charge quite reasonable as compared to professional Magento development companies, which is not always the case with some highly professional freelancer’s who charge a high rate on an hourly basis too, still as compared to a development company you will find 20-30% reduced rates when it comes to freelancers.

In the case of freelancers, you don’t have to pay for the office space or resources which is actually the case with a large company.

Specialized in one area

Most freelancers manage their business on their own and thus they try to gain expertise in a single area. So, it can be profitable to hire a freelancer for specific projects/tasks or to completed projects based on a single skill that the freelancer is proficient in.

Almost free of Legal problems

When you hire full-time employees then there are certain rights that are applicable and you have to follow stated by the state/federal law. It means there are more chances that legal claims may be claimed against you. Freelancers aren’t employed under anyone and thus are free of legal problems/claims.

Can be found online

With a lot of people approaching freelancers for their projects, a lot of platforms online are encouraging freelancers to register on their portal to find clients. So, you can also visit these portals and hunt for the right freelancer to get the job done.

Problems related to Confidentiality

This may not be a big issue, but some companies do follow some confidentiality rules which they feel cannot be actually followed while working with freelancers. Still, you can check with freelancers if they are ready to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), and again you need to be alert while getting the NDA signed too.

They Vanish

Freelancers work on a project basis and they can take up multiple projects to work on simultaneously. They may vanish in between your project all of a sudden. Before you assign them your project make sure they are available as per your schedule. In such cases, it becomes a bit difficult to get assurance from a freelancer and keep a check.

Not all freelancers think about the quality of your product

Well, not all freelancers work to get the same clients over and over again. It also means they hardly care about the quality of the product you are planning to launch.

No surety of Maintenance

After the freelancers complete a project, they do not give you the surety of maintenance in case there are any bugs appearing later. In such cases, you need to find others to resolve the bugs.

Lack of Organization Skills

Well, if you are not monitoring your project then don’t expect every freelancer to be having good management and organization skills to do so for you. They may be experts in their area but not every freelancer can manage your project on your behalf. With a lack of management and timeliness skills, in some cases, you may face not meeting their deadlines on time, etc.

Latest Technologies Implemented

Magento development companies always update themselves with the latest software trends and the newest programming languages to offer the best software solutions to their clients.

Process-oriented Workflow

After you hire your Magento solution partner, you just need to speak to the project managers, go through the reports and get details about completion of work, check and approve, suggest changes and wait for the changes to be implemented and the project to reach its development stage. The entire project development process goes through a systematic workflow and thus deadlines are met always.

An ideal choice for large companies & start-up businesses

When it comes to a professional Magento development company, it provides a complete series of services right from consultation, analysis, and evaluation that lets you learn about the strategy that is going to be followed for your business. The stages are created to make the process seamless for you. Also, Magento development company comprises expert designers, managers, developers, QAs, etc. The roles are clearly defined for each employee who makes the execution of the strategy transparent and smooth.

Vast Experience

Hiring a Magento software development company always gives you the team of having a skill set in different areas. With their vast experience, they can offer the best solution you need for your business.

Free of Legal Problems

Magneto development companies are legalized business firms and thus there are fewer chances of facing any legal issues.

Software companies give importance to the client’s brand

Magento development companies know the importance of your company’s product and they work hard to provide the best services.

Provide regular support and updates

They believe in long-term relationships and thus provide regular maintenance and support in the long run for your products. They also assist you with bug fixes and send you regular updates too.

Companies prefer building trust with their clients and they focus on getting more projects in a project from their old clients too.

Expensive rates

The rates are higher as compared to freelancers. You may find freelancers to be cheaper but as the companies need to incur their costs for company services etc, they charge more than what the freelancers do. It depends on your budget, project requirement, and deadlines as to whether you want to hire a freelancer or a development team. Make sure you analyze your project requirements and then decide whether you need a freelancer or a development team to carry out your project efficiently. Both the options have their own set of pros and cons that you need to gauge before you reach a conclusion. The pros and cons mentioned above would certainly help you make the right decision.