And now we're a WP contract agency

[davecoveney]

Here at Interconnect IT we work hard, but the times come when we can't fulfil everything that passes our way.

In other words, our marketing abilities have exceeded our abilities to deliver staff for fixed cost projects.

We also realised that clients were often hiring developers to carry out on-site work at lower costs than we, with our overheads, could manage.

Because we feel it's important to have an obvious go-to source for WordPress work in the UK, we've decided to add the provision of WordPress contractors to our business portfolio. It's early days yet, but we feel it's an exciting development.

The launch page is here: http://www.interconnectit.com/wordpress-contractors/ and there's a couple of pages where recruiters and contractors can register - using, of course, the wonderful Gravity Forms :o)

Would love to hear feedback on the idea, and what we should perhaps change in our offering? If you were looking for contracts, what would you wish to see? Similarly, if you were looking for somebody to work at your site, have I covered the likely requirements?

[andrea_r]

"have the rght to work in the UK"

Does this cover remotely? More wondering how that works.

[Cais]

You must be working through a limited company, have the right to work in the UK, and we will interview you to check your suitability for working through us.

I think this whole sentence would really pare down your external contractor's pool. Essentially no one remote as Andrea_r mentioned, also no freelance individuals starting out.

I would imagine an interview process should do just as well sorting out potentials on its own.

[davecoveney]

I can see what you both mean, but this is primarily aimed at clients who want on-site contractors. It may be that the UK perception of a contractor is different to in the US. In the UK, if you work remotely, especially from home, then you're generally considered a freelancer. Freelancers often have multiple clients at a time, contractors just one at a time.

There's also the difference between hiring on a Time & Labour basis, where the contractor is under the supervision of the client, and hiring a company like us where we tend to work to a fixed cost and quality agreement.

PS. I may be on here looking for people to work with us on a project or two soon - we're over-capacity as it is, and the work just keeps coming!

[andrea_r]

we're over-capacity as it is, and the work just keeps coming!

It's the same with everyone I talk to, even me!

[davecoveney]

It's a booming market, and although there's plenty out there who can do the basic stuff with themes, there's relatively few with a track record and/or heavyweight experience.

Times are good :-)

[andrea_r]

I left our contact form up, but stated we're booked solid. It has the opposite effect to what I wanted, I think it doubled requests. If one comes in that's larger and/or UK-based I've been sending them your way. :P

[Jeffro]

Just wondering, what the difference between your offering and CodePoet? http://codepoet.com/ the fact that the recommendation would be traveling right through your company to a contractor?

[andrea_r]

Code Poet just lists devs. What Dave woudl be doing is hiring contractors (like me for example) to help him finish more jobs.

[davecoveney]

Andrea - you should register :o)

We've placed Ptah Dunbar and Chris Garrett, and both are actually working remotely.

I'm pretty pleased - just six weeks after announcing this line of business we've got two very good people working for us on a high profile project. Margins aren't amazing (and costs are - factoring invoices, for example, isn't cheap) but what I like about it is that so long as you can find people it scales quite well. It also helps create a single-point where clients can go to for all their WordPress needs in the UK.