How do you deal with outsourcing???

Yes, finding the right guy may be hard if you don't have something to start with.

The most important is communication. I have been a service provider for 7 years and I had very happy clients, but on some projects, it was very hard to produce the results expected because the expectation was different than what the product details was, or I had to work with little of no information.

Also, don't underpay workers. If you want to get a good job done, and you don't know how to separate the work into small chunks so anyone with basic experience can do it so you can underpay, then you will never get the things that you want paying very low.

Don't hire people from freelancer. It is a terrible site with really low quality workers. I also know that from experience. There are good onres as well, but if you don't want to waste hours looking for a quality, I would recommend you odesk or elance. Odesk has cheaper prices, though. But both of them match each other in terms of quality.

Sincerely,
mindwire

Give people a chance to prove themselves. Pick people who produce high quality at low rates. DEMAND RESULTS not excuses.

What are your software requirements like?

Have you seen examples of their work?

Are you giving them a trial period first to see how good they are?

Are you asking for daily updates on progress, and regular looks at the software as it is developed?

My background is in software - managing development teams, and running I.T. departments. Software design and development is easy to send off track without the right software requirements.

If you are not skilled in writing software requirements, which I suspect you are not, then this could be as much your fault as the freelancers.

The best suggestion I have is to get regular looks at progress, so that you get a chance to give your feedback. In the beginning don't freak out if it doesn't work, just that it's heading in the right direction. Doing things this way means that you have the biggest chance of being able to put things on the right track the quickest.

Software development is generally quite complex, and it's very easy to think you know what your customer wants, only to find out that your terminology differs, and you're going off at tangents.

I suggest you look for someone who is good at gathering requirements from you, and do that as the first part of the gig. Make sure you talk it through on skype - sketch things out, so it's as visual as it can be. Once you're both in agreement, the software should end up what you want it to be. Still get the regular feedback, or looks at the software - make sure you agree this ahead of time.

I'd second everything Martin has said above along with a bit of encouragement.

Finding a good outsource is a lot of hard work but when you do finally find the right ones, it's well worth the effort. Then you can start building long term and mutually profitable relationships that can last for years.

Good luck and try not to get too frustrated. See it as a marathon and not a sprint... you'll be fine

Steve