Most projects that go wrong don't go wrong in the build. They go wrong in the first conversation, when the client describes a solution instead of a problem, and the developer builds exactly what was asked instead of what was needed. The good news: you don't need to learn anything technical to prevent this. You need to arrive with five answers.
One: what does this need to do for the business? Not "I need a booking page", that's a solution. The problem is "customers call to book, we miss half the calls, and we lose those jobs." A good developer hearing the second version might build something better than what you would have asked for. Describe the pain, not the prescription.
Two: who exactly uses it? "Everyone" is not an answer. Is it a 65-year-old booking care for their mother on a phone? A property buyer comparing options on a lunch break? The more specific the person, the better every decision downstream gets, from the size of the buttons to the words on them.
Three: what does success look like in 90 days? More inquiries? Fewer support calls? An hour saved per day? If you can name the number you'll check, the whole project gains a spine. If nobody can name it, that's worth discovering before money changes hands, not after.
Four: what already exists? The current website, the spreadsheet you run everything from, the tool you pay for and dislike. Show it all, including the workarounds, the workaround your team invented is usually the most honest description of what you actually need.
Five: what's the budget range? Owners often withhold this, concerned they'll be quoted up to it. But a good developer uses budget the way an architect does, not to spend it all, but to know which version of the solution to propose. There is a $3,000 answer and a $30,000 answer to most problems, and both can be right.
Put those five answers on one page, plain sentences, no formatting required, and send it before your first call. You'll receive better proposals and more accurate prices, and you'll quickly see the difference between a builder who read it and one who didn't.