Has Anyone ran a web design outsourcing business

you really need to setup a website for your outsorsing business first and when do some advertising online. never pay 100% upfront. trust me. you will get less problems when you will need to fix issues and stuff like that. i'm taking 30% upfront from first time customers. nobody really wants to pay for something what they cant see. i would offer you to estimate your project and break it in smaller peaces. and estimate every peace separately. so when you finish a small part of project completely you can charge a customer for work what was done. i think your indian guys will be happy with that kind of payment model as well. so if something goes wrong you will not loose all money in this way.

Web design is an extremely competitive field. I can't imagine paying someone in India 100% upfront for work. There are half a dozen outsourcing sites where you can get quality work done and not pay a dime upfront.. you would need to deposit funds into escrow accounts, or do what they call "milestones" which still protects your money.

I have had several websites done and not paid anything upfront. It may help that my rating is the highest possible on the outsourcing site since I always pay on time when the work is completed, and anyone bidding on my projects knows that my track record shows they will get paid.

As far as templates, themeforest.net has a wide selection of excellent templates, expertly coded which you can purchase and then have them customized for your client, giving you very high quality design at an affordable price. Templatemonster and flashmint also have great templates.

Good luck with your business..

Brokering has been going on for hundreds of years, so im not going to jump down your throat, but be aware this kind of setup can go south pretty quick.

1st you will need a decent float to pay for work before you get paid, even if the markup makes this smaller.

2nd, you need to be excellent at working out clients exact requirements, and explaining them exactly to your team.
Otherwise, you end up paying for extra work you cant bill for.

First what % of the funds do i get upfront from my clients.
=> 50%, that's what I charge.

I am in contact with a web development outsource team in india and they normally want 100% payment upfront.Their work is very high quality and low cost.
=> If the price is low, what is the problem in paying 100% upfront. You will be a regular client of your provider. So they should be happy to entertain your request. If you still want control, find mutually agreeable payment timeline--goal-based or other.

Also how can i locate clients easily?
=> If you haven't figure out this yet, why did you start the business? No point running a shop if you don't know how to reach customers. Research the market before starting the business. You can find some clients here, but it is very competitive. Try to explore your local market. Reach out via offline marketing-newspaper classifieds, pamphlets, etc.

Do i need a contract in place with my client? and if so are their templates i can get a hold of.
=> No contract means trouble. Even if you do not have a formal contract, have the scope of project clearly defined in your email messages and invoice. What if the client refuses payments saying that you failed to fulfil the requirements of the deal?

Being a middleman can be tricky. Never quote a price to your customers if you are not sure about the cost. I have had 'web design agencies' come to me for projects with complex features but not enough budget to get things done. Some features are easy to visualize but difficult to code. Always provide a realistic quote or get the project assessed by your provider.

The main issue of outsourcing is the work quality, the Asian market is very good in this regard, they provide quality work in low price and most of them don't even charge upfront payment. Hire a group of people from India,Pakistan and Bangladesh, I have done a lot of work with Asian guys and I had a good experience.

Hello Mark,

It's nice that you want to start your own business with web development business.

I am a developer and running a web development company from Bangladesh. From my experience, I can tell you following,

1. Never pay 100% upfront this is not the correct to business. Because you need to understand the people you are hiring if they are capable to give you the expected quality in time. So you can make work list and make the payment according the work list.

2. "Not paying the upfront" don't thing that you will not get the correct quality or project in time. Because the person or company who work for you they always like the good client and it's a sign that when customer is paying like 25% upfront 30% after demo and some improvement of the project 25% after final delivery and 20% after the project complete and all the bug fix, that client is good. Always remember that you can not take your own money. So it's always better to make milestone payment. In this way both parties are safe.

3. I am working like this for a long time and I got good clients and working for them for a long time. Most of them I am working already 4-5 years and they are paying me with this milestone.

4. So it will be great when you are getting a project then you should understand what is the best way to make a list of the worklist and then find some good developer or team and send them the list and after the quotation and then you select who is good and transfer the project and give a upfront 20-30% and you start the project and then follow up the project and start getting the work and pay for the work.

So, after all best of luck for your new business. If you need any suggestion then don't heisted to contact with me.

Thanks
Mahmud
Web Works BD
skype: magentoxhtml