Case Study - NetBizExpert

Ted Prodromou was working as a consultant in the nineties, setting up servers, firewalls, etc., but that business disappeared with the dot-com crash. Later, while Prodromou was working on a client's personal computer, he was asked if he knew how to develop websites. Though his experience in web development was limited at the time, he was able to turn the client's disc program into a website, thus beginning his web development business. "Over time, I went to networking events and met a lot of small business owners who didn't have websites -- or who had really bad websites and eventually, I had too much business."

"oDesk gave me a great way to hire really talented programmers at an affordable rate."

– Ted Prodromou / Owner, NetBizExpert

How oDesk Helped:

In 2006, Prodromou found oDesk and hired a few programmers. "It's 2 years later now and I'm still working with two of the original providers I hired. oDesk gave me a great way to hire really talented programmers at affordable rates."

"I also tried (some other sites), but the quality was hit or miss -- you'd find a good person, but they weren't available or you'd find bad people who lied about their credentials," says Prodromou. "On oDesk I'll just search for a certain specialty and look at their certification test results as well as feedback from other projects that they've done. You can actually interview the people before you hire them." Prodromou typically interviews providers using instant messaging and sometimes using Skype. He recalls that on other sites, it was hard to interview candidates because there was no formal process. "On other sites - it's like trying to get a hotel on PriceLine -- you don't know what you're going to end up with," described Prodromou.

Prodromou also makes use of oDesk's management tools. "Another big point is the Work Diary," he says. "I use it when I have new programmers. I'll keep an eye on them, just to be certain."

Today, Prodromou focuses most of his time meeting with people and selling more projects. "I put together the job requirements, find which of his oDesk programmers are available, and send it off," explains Prodromou. He mostly does projects for local people, but through referrals he has clients all over the world. "I'm getting to the point where I need to hire some more programmers and expand my oDesk team -- and I'll probably hire a project manager too," says Prodromou. He currently has programmers in the Philippines, Romania, and Greece and is happy to say that he has had, "no communication problems at all." Because of the time zone differences, Prodromou, who works from a home office, will check in with some providers first thing in the morning and others later in the evening.

Prodromou likes oDesk's automated payment system. "It's so easy for me -- pretty much automatic and I like automatic. With other sites, you have to put money in escrow, etc. It's more difficult." oDesk also makes taxes easier for Prodromou. "Instead of having employees or contractors on my taxes and having to do 1099s, it's all done through oDesk. It makes life a lot easier."

NetBizExpert's clients are aware that Prodromou has programmers that work for him and that a number of them are overseas. This is never an issue because of the high quality providers that Prodromou hires. "It's just like having employees," he says, "but more cost effective. Most of my providers on oDesk charge $12-15 per hour whereas local people want at least $75 per hour." As a result, NetBizExpert can charge $1,000 for a particular website rather than $5,000 if local people had worked on it.