As has been mentioned here (and only to reiterate it) this is why ‘Product Manager’ is a role. We are employed to take the business requirements, understand what you’re actually trying to achieve with the product (in complete non-technical terms), then put into action a ‘project’ for the engineers to work with. This includes requirements gathering (which is what you did, but in far more detail so there is no ambiguity, but should also be done as you go in an agile way such there isnt resource wastage on things you dont want/need), project management, customer profiling and research, and prioritisation of what should be done vs what could be done.
There are many options for early stage entrepreneurs to create an MVP, such as no code solutions and also having a technical co-founder, but hiring a freelancer is risk laden, as you’ve found out.
Hopefully I am allowed to plug here (won’t post a link, message me if you’re interested), but my company offers just this solution. You sit down with me (a product manager) to truly understand what it is you want to achieve, and then we work with our experienced engineers, using industry best practice to achieve the product you’re looking for, within your allocated budget.
If you want to make them feel appreciated, inexpensive but personalised gifts can be a great hit. I wouldn’t spend more than $50 on it, as if you spend a lot, they would probably just rather the cash. But personalised gifts of appreciation are always a lovely small gesture of kindness, and also reinforce that you care because you’re putting in the effort to learn about their interests or hobbies.