Nobody sets out to have a bad project. It happens because two people agreed enthusiastically about a result and never agreed about the details. Ask these six things before signing anything, and write down the answers.
1. Who exactly will do the work?
Not who is in the meeting — who writes the code and moves the pixels. In a lot of agencies the person who charmed you in the first call disappears afterwards and a junior inherits the project. That is not automatically bad, but you should know it before, not after.
2. What exactly is in the price, and what is not?
The list of what is excluded is more informative than the list of what is included. Content writing, photos, hosting for the first year, training, the number of revision rounds — every one of these becomes an invoice later if it was never named.
3. What do I own at the end?
Domain, hosting account, analytics, source code, design files. In whose name are they created, and when do they become yours? If the answer involves "we manage that for you", ask what happens the day you want to leave.
4. Can I edit it myself afterwards?
A site you have to email someone about to change a price is a site that goes stale within six months. Ask to see the admin screen where you would change text and images. If there is a reason to show it later rather than now, that is the answer.
5. What happens if you are late?
Delays happen and it is not always the studio's fault. What you want is a date in writing and an honest answer about what happens if it slips. Notice whether they also tell you what could make you the cause of a delay — a studio that has thought about this has run real projects.
6. Show me something that did not go well.
Everyone shows their best three projects. Ask about a difficult one — what went wrong, what they changed afterwards. Anyone who has delivered a serious volume of work has a real answer. "Nothing has ever gone wrong" means either very few projects, or a story you are about to become part of.
What to do with the answers
Ask the same six questions to three people, write the answers in one document, and compare the columns rather than the price. The cheapest quote is often the one that excluded the most — and the difference does not disappear, it simply arrives later.
The most useful thing a studio can tell you in a first call is what they will not do.
In short
- Ask who writes the code, not who runs the meeting.
- The exclusions list is more revealing than the inclusions list.
- Ownership should be in your name from day one.
- Ask about a project that went badly — the answer tells you the most.
Hamza El Ghad
Runs Step to Begin, a small studio in Tangier building websites, automation and video since 2019.
