First and foremost, your developer has to understand your business. In some cases this is a fairly simple task. In others it's a great challenge. At ITG we use a Project Profile Workbook to do the initial assessment. The workbook touches on the basic elements of brand characteristics, business goals, target users and potential features and functionality, topics that should be covered in detail before development work begins in earnest. Once ITG gets the Project Profile Workbook back we do a quick sanity check with the potential client to make sure that there is general agreement on goals and budgets before a formal proposal is generated.