Picking a development partner matters more than picking a framework. The wrong choice costs a year rather than a sprint. The useful part is that most of the signals are visible before anything gets signed, if you know which questions force a straight answer.
Ask who will actually build the thing, then ask to meet them. Ask for an itemised fixed proposal, because a vague hours estimate is where budgets quietly disappear. Ask how often you will see working software, since weekly is the only answer that really protects you. And ask for a reference from a project that is more than a year old, because maintainability only shows up with time.
Then watch for the agency willing to say no. A partner who talks you out of a feature you do not need yet is optimising for your outcome rather than their invoice, and that is the one worth hiring.
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