We’re not your typical agency
This is where you’ll typically see things like “Mission Statements” and “Our Vision” – but not us.
To be perfectly honest, we don’t have some grand “make the world a better place” vision. We didn’t start this company to change the world.
We were simply a small team of 3 people who wanted to do something together. We had to figure out our mission along the way. And it’s been a long, difficult road getting this far. We’ve made plenty of mistakes, and we’ve learnt a lot from both our clients and our team.
So this page is about sharing what we’ve learnt, and what you need to look out for when starting your next web or app project.
1 – You need a team that is honest.
Honesty is a hard thing to find in the web development world.
What do buzzwords such as “Full Service”, “Goal Driven” actually mean? We’ve found that they all mean different things depending on the agency which can make things very confusing!
At HotSource, we quickly realised that we wanted Transparent Honesty to be one of our values.
Here’s something other large agencies won’t tell you: Building websites is a lot easier than it was 20 years ago
And yet they’re still charging the same rates? Following the same fixed processes? Why?
Because nobody challenges it
Sign this ‘Scope of Work’, pay $10,000, and we’ll have your website done in 6 weeks. Meanwhile, they’re throwing a template on a WordPress install and filling the remaining 5 weeks up with pointless calls and meetings
Of course, we’re exaggerating slightly here but the point is still valid – it’s very easy to put together a website based on a template, often without writing a single line of code – so what are you actually getting for your money?
Your agency might tell you that all websites require a full scope of work with fixed milestones, custom coded templates etc – but it’s simply not true for a lot of websites.
We don’t work that way. We work to a ‘Plan’, not a fixed ‘Scope’. We don’t pretend things are more difficult than they are, and we’ll give you the options if there’s an easier route.
2 – You need a team that is flexible.
Why are we still dealing with fixed scopes in 2023?
Changing requirements can be frustrating to deal with. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
Your goals will change throughout the project. They almost always do.
Other agencies will get you to sign a Scope of Work – and won’t allow changes until the project is complete (along with more $$$)
This is because they’re using outdated processes
The startup world figured it out – so why is it so hard for web agencies?
Put simply: You want to launch early. At HotSource, we avoid 4-8 week milestones. We stick to the plan, but keep the steps small. This allows much greater flexibility.
3 – You need a partner.
It’s easy to say ‘Yes’ to clients
“Yes, we can build that. Yes, that’s a great idea. Yes, we’ll have this finished by Wednesday”
But it’s a trap. Sometimes, we can’t build it. Sometimes, it’s not a great idea – and we already know we’re not going to finish on time
You’ll end up chasing the agency up for weeks, with endless delays and broken promises
At HotSource, we focus on forming partnerships built on honesty, expectations and trust
If we make a mistake (and it *does* happen) – we own up to it.
If we don’t know how to do something – we’ll tell you, then try to figure it out.
And we’ll say ‘No’ or ‘Maybe later’ more often than not.
This allows us to become invested in the success of your project. We want you to succeed – and we won’t set you up to fail.