What do you have that’s not in Mumbai?
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
When it comes to the evaluation of your web skills or what you have to offer a client on a dollar for dollar basis what are you worth? How do you value your time, skill level or the bottles of unbridled enthusiasm which embodies that passion you have for your work? Yes, I’m asking what you have to offer that’s not cheaper or more easily obtained from Mumbai? Or Bulgaria for that matter? These are valid questions to put out there because much of the time your business is competing on this level. Why you? What’s your value proposition to the client?
My answer to that has changed over recent years from availability, service and attention to detail to become one of quality. I sell quality. I am not and never will belong to a code factory churning out junk by the hour full of bloated and badly written JavaScript that works. I’m selling something that Mumbai can’t easily provide – strong natural English comprehension skills, I’m subject to Australian confidentiality laws not a foreign one, I provide high quality templates without resorting to hacks, I focus on accessibility and usability and have the audacity to be asking for a lot more money than someone in Mumbai. Why? Because my pedantic bullying nature (or what I prefer to call my firm conviction) is something that adds value to my work rather than deprecates from it.
Ultimately I believe my value proposition is that I’m authentic. I’ve been me for a long time and this set of beliefs and the life that has gone with it have brought me directly to this place. I’m not a facade of some call centre when you get into trouble, I’m me and I’m there. There are industry peers who like me and others who loathe me for my opinions, and that all makes up a part of where I stand. Because standing somewhere is at least something.
One of the major industry issues with web development is that clients nearly always have no idea about the technology or complexity or even the value of quality. What is quality when the only comparison is on the cost? Of course Mumbai sounds like value.
My value to an organisation isn’t necessarily in what I am employed to achieve for them, its also in the rounded industry knowledge which I bring to the conversation. And there you have it – I offer you a conversation. A person. A real authentic experience. And, in most cases, a fast turnaround.
So, stranger, what do you have that’s not in Mumbai? Feel free to self promote in the comments.
