Hackers for hire are (generally) much more hit-or-miss as far as capability (dedication really) goes. This is kind of a worse-case, but just think of all the government websites out there that are nearly unusable. It's because the coders have no stake and just put in their 8 hours. Stake in the outcome is what makes a person create something great. For example, I'm typing this at my day job instead of working on my projects, but over the weekend I worked like a machine for about 12 hours without a break on my current venture. And that's because I had other obligations and couldn't afford to put in more time.

I recommend bringing in a tech guy and giving him something to own.