The first project with a new development partner sets the pattern for everything after it. Agencies that get this right usually have a simple onboarding routine: they agree the basics, start small and review honestly. This checklist gives you that routine, whether you are working with a freelancer, a team or a white label partner.
Before you share anything
- Sign an NDA. Do this before you share any client material. See our NDA and IP checklist for what to include.
- Agree who owns the work. Ownership should pass to you on payment.
- Confirm who does the work. Ask who will build, where they are based and who your day-to-day contact is.
- Check examples. Look at live websites on your phone, not just screenshots.
Agree how you will work together
- A single place for questions. A shared chat channel or a simple board, so nothing important lives in one person’s inbox.
- Who approves what. One named person on your side who gives feedback and signs off.
- How you will brief. A template you use every time, so quotes are faster and mistakes are rarer. A good brief states the goal, the pages and features, the deadline, where the designs and text are and who the contact is.
- How you will share access. Use a password manager. Never send logins by email.
- Your quality standard. Write down what “done” means: mobile layout checked, forms tested, speed reasonable, links working, basic search settings in place and a short guide for the client.
Set up the technical side
- A staging site. A private copy of the site where you can review work before it goes live.
- Hosting and domain. Decide who owns the accounts. The best answer is the client or your agency, never the partner.
- Tools. Any design files, project boards, analytics accounts and plugin licences the partner will need.
- Backups. Confirm how and where they are made, and how a restore works.
Run a small first project
Do not start with your biggest client. Choose a small, real project with a clear scope and a calm deadline. It lets you test the partner’s communication, quality and speed on something that matters but will not hurt you if it goes slowly. Our website projects are fixed scope and fixed price, which makes them a safe way to begin.
Review the first project honestly
When it is done, sit down with the partner and go through:
- What went well, and what did not?
- Was the brief clear enough?
- Did the work match your standard on the first review, or did it need several rounds?
- Was communication easy?
- Was the real cost, including your own time, what you expected?
Write down the changes and use them in the next brief. If it went well, move to a regular arrangement. A monthly dedicated team suits agencies with steady work.
Pitfalls to avoid
- Skipping the brief template because “this one is simple”
- Giving feedback in pieces over several days
- Letting several people on your side give conflicting feedback
- Changing the scope halfway and expecting the same price and schedule
- Not writing down what was agreed on a call
A short agenda for the first call
Use the first conversation to cover the essentials:
- What types of projects will you send, and how often?
- Which platforms and tools do you use most?
- How do you like to receive questions and updates?
- What are your must-haves: speed, accessibility, brand rules?
- What does a smooth project look like to you?
- What worries you most about working with an outside team?
Write the answers into your onboarding notes. They become the first draft of your working agreement.
Warning signs in the first project
- Questions that were answered in the brief, asked again and again
- Work that arrives with no staging link to review
- Surprises on price or scope
- Silence when something goes wrong
- Unwillingness to explain how something was built
One of these is a bump. Several together mean you should reconsider before sending a bigger project.
What a good partner does in return
A good partner asks smart questions early, shows work in progress on staging, flags risks instead of hiding them, admits mistakes quickly and hands over cleanly. They treat your clients as yours. Judge the relationship on those behaviours, not on how impressive the first proposal sounded.
Plan for the time difference
If your partner is in India, the time gap shapes how you work, so agree it on day one.
- Know the gap. India is 9.5 to 13.5 hours ahead of the US and 8.5 to 13.5 hours ahead of Canada, depending on your region and on daylight saving. India does not change its clocks, so the gap shifts by an hour when yours do.
- Hand over in writing. Send a short note at the end of your day with what is waiting, what is blocked and what is urgent.
- Pick one or two call times. Your morning is usually the partner’s evening. Put the times in both calendars.
- Agree how to reach each other when something cannot wait.
- Tell your client how work flows, so a request sent late in your day does not feel slow.
Our time zone pages show the exact gap for each region.
A simple routine for later projects
- Brief using the template
- Quote and confirm the scope in writing
- Build on staging
- One consolidated round of feedback
- Test against your checklist
- Launch, then hand over with a client handoff checklist (we cover that in a separate guide)
Our how it works page shows how we run this from our side, and our guide to outsourcing WordPress development covers the same ground from the agency’s point of view.