When hiring others, don’t think just in terms of cost per hour. For example: When dealing with top class talent they may cost $100 per hour. They could be compared to $10 for offshore talent, but what is the real difference? Let’s say the offshore talent takes 5X as long to do the same work. That’s already $50 for the same deliverable.
They may also take longer… much longer… to produce the same amount of work in terms of wait time. And they may not provide the same quality of work.
So is a difference of $50 worth the pain of potentially losing time associated with communicating with a less than professional person?
In summary, don’t be afraid to pay for top talent. You could reasonably assume the quality will be better, the lead times shorter, communication more direct, and enthusiasm to complete the work to be higher.
This is not to say that high cost freelancers are always professional. As always, make sure all assumptions are valid.
Brock’s Blog 