Creating a digital business card with a freelance designer — how should we divide the work and handle pricing?

Break the process down into a three-stage protocol: 1) Infrastructure stage: The server and domain belong to the company, the designer deploys the template here. 2) Hardware stage: You buy blank NFC cards in bulk, the designer only sends the print file to the press. 3) Content stage: You provide the info for 16 employees in a spreadsheet, the designer does the initial setup.

We did this for our 20-person team last fall. Paid the designer 14,000 TL for the UI and template. We bought blank NFC cards ourselves in bulk for 70 TL each and had our logos printed at a local UV printer for 45 TL per card. Total cost came out to a third of what agencies quoted.

edit: typed from phone, sorry for typos.

Definitely do not let the designer enter employee details manually. Make it a requirement that they set up an open-source or simple CMS. Tomorrow when an engineer leaves, you shouldn't have to call the designer and ask for a favor; you should be able to deactivate them with one click from your company email.

Is the infrastructure the designer proposed made of static HTML pages, or is there a dynamic database? If they're going to clone files separately for each employee, you'll be chained to the designer every time a phone number changes even for just 16 people.

Be very careful when building a living system like this with a freelancer. In 8 months when a new hire comes in, that designer might have taken a full-time job or left the industry entirely. If they aren't going to leave you with a self-sufficient dashboard, don't even bother.

i'd say definitely don't push sourcing the NFC cards onto the designer. the chip quality read range and durability of the UV print are an entirey separate expertise... tbh let the designer provide the file you get a sample print directly from the manufacturer and test it with your phone.

edit: fixed a few typos.

imo just have the designer draw up the template. buying blank nfc cards on the market and writing the link with a free nfc tool on your phone literally takes 30 secs, dont overcomplicate it.

Storing contact details and job titles of corporate employees on third-party servers poses regulatory risks. Therefore, hosting the database on a company-owned server and signing an NDA with the designer is a corporate necessity.

i went through the same thing.

We need to make a distinction here. A partnership without a payment schedule locks up at the first split.

Proven by experience.

I was thinking the same thing. If you get three different answers on a topic, the question was asked wrong.

This is my opinion I'm not claiming it's absolute truth.

I didn't know that.

Noted, thanks.

my questions are cleared up thanks.

We've heard this a lot but it never happened like that for us. Taking notes for two weeks yields better results than a six-month estimate.

I agree, and I'd like to emphasize that. Hasty decisions become decisions you have to fix six months later.

Don't hesitate to ask; those who don't ask always pay more. Good luck with that.

Thanks for posting. If IP assignment to the company isn't written from the start, it can't be collected later.

The only thing separating friendship from partnership is a written contract. If I were you, I'd go this route.

I feel the same way. Hasty decisions become decisions you have to fix six months later.

If I were you, I'd go this route.