A good IT partner saves you money; a bad one costs you twice — once to build, once to rebuild. The hard part is that both look similar in a sales call. Here is how to tell them apart before you commit.
Look at how they scope, not how they sell
A serious studio asks questions before quoting: who are your users, what is the deadline, what does success look like. A weak one quotes a round number in five minutes. The first conversation is the best signal you will get — pay attention to it.
- Discovery first: they want to understand the problem before pricing it.
- Written scope: deliverables, timeline and price are on paper, not in a chat.
- Honest trade-offs: they tell you what they would not build, and why.
Red flags that should worry you
- A price far below everyone else — it usually means a template, no revisions, or hidden add-ons later.
- Guarantees of "#1 on Google in a month" or any fixed ranking — nobody can promise that.
- No references, no portfolio you can actually open and click.
- They will not hand over the source code, domain or hosting credentials.
Rule of thumb: compare what is included, not just the headline price. Revisions, content, hosting, support and source-code ownership are where cheap quotes quietly cut corners.
Questions to ask before you sign
- Who owns the code and accounts after launch? (The answer must be "you".)
- What happens after go-live — support, fixes, who do I call?
- How do we communicate, and how often will I see progress?
- What is explicitly not in this quote?
At NorthMountain you talk to the engineers building your product, the scope and price are fixed in writing, and you own everything at the end. If you are weighing options, our guide on what a website actually costs is a good next read.