Half of the agency conversations I have start the same way: "We have a client who needs an app, we do not have developers, and we do not want to say no." White-label delivery is the answer to that, and it works well when the handoffs are clear. Here is how we run it.
The shape of it
Three parties: your client, your agency, and our team. Your client only ever sees you. You own the relationship, the brand, the invoice and the credit. We build the thing, under a non-disclosure agreement, and we never contact your client directly unless you want a developer in the room.
Who talks to whom
This is the first thing to settle, because it decides whether the project is smooth or painful.
- Your project manager runs the client. Requirements, expectations, timelines, invoices.
- One person on our side runs the build. Usually me or a lead developer. Your PM talks to that one person.
- Optional: a developer in client meetings. Some agencies want us on technical calls, introduced as part of their team. That works fine; we just need to know the ground rules.
What does not work: the client messaging our developers directly with changes nobody has scoped. Everything goes through your PM.
Brand and deliverables
Designs, documents, demo environments and repositories can all carry your name. We work in your tools if you prefer (Slack, Jira, Linear, GitHub, Figma) or in ours with you invited. Code is committed to a repository your agency owns, which is also what protects you if the relationship with us ever ends.
Pricing between us
Two models, both simple:
- Fixed scope. You send us the brief, we send you a fixed quote with milestones, you add your margin and quote the client. Changes are quoted to you before they are built.
- Dedicated developer. A named developer for an agreed number of days per month, billed monthly. Better for agencies with a steady flow of smaller jobs.
We do not take a percentage of your client fee and we do not need to know what you charge.
Contracts
An NDA covering the client's information and the existence of the arrangement; a services agreement that assigns all IP to your agency (so you can assign it on to the client); and a clause that we do not approach your clients. We sign this before seeing any client material.
Where it goes wrong, and how to avoid it
- Scope agreed with the client before the developer saw it. Send us the brief before you price it. A thirty-minute call saves a painful renegotiation.
- Silent weeks. We send written updates at the end of every sprint and demo every two weeks. If you are not getting that from a white-label partner, ask why.
- Design handed over as a finished artefact. Involve the developer when the design is 70% done, not 100%. The last 30% is where feasibility questions live.
Who this suits
Design studios, marketing agencies, SEO agencies and consultancies in Australia, the UK, the US and Canada that keep saying no to development work. The UK in particular has an easy time-zone overlap with Islamabad: most of your working day.
If this describes you, the outsourcing page has the engagement models and the partners page has the terms. A first conversation is thirty minutes.