1. Can I see real work?
Ask for live projects you can open and use, and for one or two clients you can speak to. A polished slide deck tells you little about how the software behaves.
2. Who will actually do the work?
Ask for the names and roles of the people who will design and build your project, and whether you will talk to them directly. Small teams where the people you meet are the people who build tend to make decisions faster.
3. Will I get a written scope, timeline and price?
Before work starts you should have all three in writing. If the scope changes, the change and its cost should also be written down before it happens.
4. How will I see progress?
Look for weekly steps with working software, not a long silence followed by a big reveal. Seeing the product early lets you correct course while it is cheap.
5. Who owns the code and the accounts?
You should. At handover you should receive the source code, the documentation and ownership of the domain, hosting and store accounts. Ask this before you sign.
6. Do they understand how customers in Angola actually use the internet?
Good local design starts with these questions:
- Is it designed for phones first?
- Does it work on slow or unstable connections?
- Can customers contact you by WhatsApp?
- Is it in Portuguese, and in English if you need it?
- Can it accept the payment methods your customers use, where the provider offers an integration?
7. What happens after launch?
Software needs updates and fixes. Ask what support is offered, what it costs, and how quickly problems are handled.
8. Do they explain things plainly?
A good team explains options, costs and trade-offs without jargon, and tells you when you do not need what you asked for. If an answer is vague now, it will be vague later.