Most of our clients consider building their own teams before they approach us.
These founders like the idea of developing their own app with their own people, and that’s fair.
But what they quickly learn is interviewing individual developers and assembling an in-house team is a stressful and time-consuming process. Especially if you’re non-technical and aren’t entirely sure how to interview a technical person.
Don’t get me wrong, you eventually need an in-house team. But in-house isn’t always the right decision before you’ve built your product.
First, there’s all the overhead. When you build a team, you’ll face both structural overhead (benefits, paperwork, HR) and management overhead (building culture, keeping everyone happy, facilitating good work). Then there’s the skills dilemma. You don't need a full-time designer, product manager, project manager, front end developer, and backend developer—but you do need a little of all those skills.
And, of course, there’s the whole months-long, super hard hiring process.
When you’re still figuring out what to build and what customers want, building an in-house team is massively distracting.
The good news is: there’s an alternative, and it’s not learning code. It’s outsourcing.
Outsourced app development teams tend to be a lot easier to manage, especially for early-stage startups. You have a single point of contact, a single invoice each month, and experts that have already been vetted and proven to work well together on projects.
Meaning, rather than being swamped with hiring and overhead, you can focus on building your business. With outsourcing, you work from your strengths and get to market faster.
Here’s what you need to know to make that happen:
- When does outsourcing make sense?
- Has anyone successfully outsourced an MVP?
- How much does it cost to outsource an app?
- Outsourcing options: Freelancers vs. agencies
- 7 factors to consider when outsourcing
- How to ensure you get to market fast
Who is this post for?
This post is primarily for non-technical founders who don’t want to spend months building an in-house team or years learning how to code. It’s also for anyone who’s looking to get a better grasp on why and how to outsource development. We mainly discuss outsourcing apps, but the principles apply to other types of development, too.
Should you outsource app development?
Whether outsourcing is a good move for you depends on your own skillset and how quickly you want to move.
You shouldn’t outsource app development when:
- You can build the app yourself and have the time to do so
- You have a technical co-founder
- You have an in-house development team
- You have no idea whether your product meets a real need
You should consider outsourcing when:
- You can’t code the app yourself: You may be tech-adjacent or have some technical skills, but it’d be quite the stretch to say you could code an app yourself.
- You don’t have a team: You want to hire someday, but you don’t have a technical co-founder or in-house developers yet.
- You don’t want to learn intense coding: Yes, you could learn basic CSS in a few weeks. And you could drop some money on a coding course and learn code in a year. But when you have so many other strengths you bring to the table, this route just doesn’t look viable to you. (Caveat: we always recommend learning enough to be dangerous.)
Most non-technical founders fit in the second list. And, contrary to popular belief, that scenario is only dire if you’re trying to raise big funds from VCs who prefer tech built in-house. In that case, your best bet is finding a technical co-founder...or other funding options.
For most other funding situations, including bootstrapping, outsourcing is a great choice. You should consider outsourcing if you don’t have the skills to build the app yourself and you want to get a product in customers’ hands quickly.
Benefits of outsourcing
There are five clear benefits to outsourcing:
- Get to market faster: In the time it takes to search for, find, vet, hire, and onboard a team member, you could have a real product in the hands of real users.
- Fewer strings attached: When you outsource, you don’t have to worry about hiring or managing employees, supplying vacation, setting up benefits, posting jobs, or anything else along those lines. And once the project is finished, you can easily scale back the relationship if you choose.
- Instant access to expertise: A good outsourcing partner will bring strong skills and deep experience to the table. They’ve already learned hard lessons on other projects and can help you avoid the same in your project.
- Lower costs than hiring: Senior-level software developers cost upwards of $120,000 per year, plus benefits and equity incentives. A full-time team with 2 developers, a designer, and a product manager could cost you $500,000 per year, plus equity. Outsourcing development is a fraction of that cost.
- Time to focus on other tasks: While outsourcing will require some ongoing time and supervision on your end, it’s much less intensive than hiring or learning to code. This frees up a huge amount of your time to focus on other high-value tasks like sales, marketing, and customer development. Or whatever other strengths are in your wheelhouse.
Drawbacks and risks of outsourcing
Where there’s an upside, there’s a downside. The benefits of outsourcing come at the following price:
- Communication challenges: Most of the time, outsourcing means working with a remote team. This can be a huge benefit (you literally have the world’s talent pool to choose from) but working with remote teams is challenging. You’ll spend less time on management than if you had your own team, but you should still expect frequent email, video, and text communications. And you should expect to work a little harder at this communication than if you were face-to-face.
According to research by FYI, communication is the #1 reported challenge with remote teams. If you outsource to a non-local partner, you’ll face this challenge too. https://usefyi.com/remote-work-report/
- Split priorities: To stay in business, most agencies and freelancers work with multiple clients at one time. Smart freelancers and agencies will limit their number of clients to ensure you’re a top priority, but it’s wise to remember you’re not their only priority.
- Long-term expense: While outsourcing is less expensive in the short-term, it can be far more expensive in the long-term. You will eventually reach the point where it makes more sense to build an in-house team.
If you can handle these drawbacks, then outsourcing is doubly a good fit for your business.
Businesses who outsourced MVP app development in part or whole (hint: you’ve heard of them) #
Groove, the popular customer experience platform led by Alex Turnbull, brings in $500k MRR. Slack, a messaging app you likely use, is valued in the tens of billions.
Besides being successful B2B SaaS companies, the one thing these businesses have in common is outsourcing all or some of their initial app development.
Alex Turnbull, the CEO and founder of Groove, initially looked for a technical co-founder. When the process for finding one proved incredibly difficult and slow, he turned elsewhere and hired an up-and-coming agency in Rhode Island. Reflecting on the decision, he points to the following realization as a tipping point: “Four months from now, I could have a living, breathing product in the market that would let me collect user feedback, get validation and push this business forward. Or, I could still potentially be sitting here with nothing.”
Turnbull and the agency completed a marketing site and initial app in four months.
Groove is now used by 70,000 people and 10,000 businesses in 140 countries, according to groovehq.com
Slack, too, got off the ground thanks to outsourcing. Around 2012, Stewart Butterfield, CEO and founder of Slack, approached a Canadian agency to turn his rough prototype into something better. And they did. The agency handled the logo, marketing site, and UI/UX design for the web and mobile app. In turn, Butterfield’s team got the product to market quickly and started to grow rapidly—$0 to $1 billion valuation in less than a year.
Slack’s valuation continued to climb after that first year.
Slack and Groove aren’t the only successful companies who outsourced to get off the ground. Other names you may recognize include Skype, WhatsApp, and Alibaba.
So, it’s accurate to say you’re in good company if you’re considering this route.
How much does it cost to outsource app development?
The short answer is it ranges from $5,000 to $500,000. While that may seem absurd at first, this actually makes sense when you break it down.
Imagine asking, “how much does it cost to update a kitchen?”
The first thing you’d want to dig into is, “what do you mean by update?” If you mean “I want a new stovetop and oven so I can stop hitting the $&@# microwave” (me last year) then you’re looking at a $2,000-$5,000 project.
But if you mean, “I want to gut the kitchen, install granite counters, tile the backsplash, add custom cabinetry, and, oh, move the sink over there,” then you easily jump to $30,000+. The final cost would also depend on factors like whether you hire a designer to layout the kitchen, and whether you hire the most in-demand contractors in town.
If you’ve ever done a home project before, you know: the more you add, the more it costs.
Likewise, the cost of your app will depend on what you want to build, and how you go about building it.
Let’s start with the what piece.
Why is app development so expensive? Understanding scope
If you work with a developer, they’ll call the what piece “scope.” The scope is everything your partner agrees to build for you.
Take the examples of Groove and Slack above. Groove walked away with a marketing site and a beta app. Slack walked away with a logo, marketing site, web, and mobile app. Based on that list alone, you can bet Slack paid more; their scope (what their partner built) was much bigger. Scope applies to the overall project, as well as each individual piece. (We’ll get into this more later on.)
The general rule is, the more stuff you want in your app, and the more complex each piece is, the more it’s going to cost. For example, when we looked at how much it’d cost to replicate most of what’s in Slack (and there’s a load of stuff in there), the price tag came in around $153,000. When we looked at how much it’d cost to build a much simpler MVP of the Starbucks app, that came in at $70,000.
Most apps we build for clients initially cost between $75,000 and $100,000.
That’s an overview of the what piece; the how piece is directly connected with who you hire, so let’s look at your two main options there.
Your 2 main outsourcing options: experienced freelancers and reputable app agencies
Hire one or more experienced freelancers
Quartz estimates there are over 56.7 million freelance workers in the US. Many of those are highly skilled developers and designers. Here’s what to expect if you work with one.
Costs of hiring a freelance app developer
Freelancers usually price by hour, by day, or by project (we cover these pricing structures in detail later). For easier comparison between freelancers and agencies, we’ll only look at hourly prices here.
Domestic freelance developers charge anywhere from $50 to $200+ an hour. According to Codementor, the median hourly rate for a freelance mobile app developer is $61-$80.
Generally speaking, a rookie developer will cost less but take more time (sometimes much more time) to correctly build an app. An experienced developer will cost more, but take less time to build a fantastic end product.
Pros
- Price: Unless you’re looking at the top 1%, freelancers are cheaper than agencies. Primarily because you’re paying for fewer employees and less overhead.
- Direct contact: When you hire a freelance developer, you also get to be in direct contact with the person building your product; if the developer excels at communication, this can really help you understand how the app works.
- Flexibility: Freelancers often have more flexibility than agencies, especially large agencies.
Cons
- Split focus: Because your freelancer is functioning as a developer and project manager, they’re likely only going to do one of those super well. You may spend more time following up, checking in, and reviewing a freelancer’s work than you would if you partnered with an agency.
- Management needed: If you hire more than 1 freelancer, you can expect to spend a lot of your time managing each person. Since the goal of outsourcing software development is to free up time for you to spend on higher-value tasks, this isn’t an ideal scenario. If you spend too much time in the weeds and managing, you won’t realize some of the biggest benefits of outsourcing.
- No lifeline: If your freelancer suddenly becomes unwell or experiences a crisis, there’s no other team member to take over while they’re out. Your project will be on pause until they return or recover.
When you hire a freelance developer, it’s important to note you’re hiring one person.
Krit
When to hire a freelance app developer
When you hire a freelance developer, it’s important to note you’re hiring one person. You don’t get project managers, UI/UX experts, or designers. You get the freelancer you hire. And while some developers have experience in areas like UI and design, there are hardly any rock stars who are good at everything.
This means freelancers are ideal if you have a very clear idea of what you’re building and only need 1-2 people to build it. In that scenario, they’re a phenomenal option.
But if you need a whole team of experts, you’ll want to look into hiring an agency.
Partner with a reputable app agency
There are fewer agencies than freelancers, but each agency tends to have a high concentration of talent. Most agencies also have a wide variety of talent: design, development, UI/UX, servers, business development, product development, and project management.
Costs
Agencies also price by hour, day, or project. (Again, we’ll ignore project and day rates here for easier comparison.)
Domestic agency hourly rates range from $125 to $800+ depending on the size and type of agency. Larger agencies that target enterprise and fortune 500 companies will land on the higher end of the spectrum ($500-$800+). Smaller agencies that target small and medium businesses will land on the lower end of the spectrum ($125-$500).
However, keep in mind the hourly rate may skew higher for either type of agency if your app is particularly complex or requires a very high level of expertise. In that case, the agency may need to put their most experienced (and most expensive) personnel on the job.
Pros
- Team of experts: Agencies provide an entire team of experts. For apps that require intense design, strategic feature development, and multiple developers, they’re a good outsourcing option.
- Established processes: Agencies often have more established processes, milestones, and touchpoints. In most cases, this means less guesswork and less management required from you.
- Faster problem-solving: Because an agency assigns a team to every project, you get stronger and faster problem-solving capabilities than if you were working with one person.
- Lifelines: If one person on the team gets sick or needs to step out, other team members can cover them; your project doesn’t derail if someone misses a week.
Teams are a big agency benefit. They mean you have more minds working on your problem, faster delivery, and plenty of lifelines.
Cons
- Costly: Agencies are more expensive than freelancers; they need to cover multiple salaries and overhead like office space, employee benefits, and other standard business expenses.
- Slow ramp-up: Many agencies have a more formal sales, onboarding, and scheduling process. On the one hand, this ensures you both are a good fit for each other. On the other hand, hiring agencies can be a slower process than hiring a freelancer.
When to hire app development agencies
If you’re looking for some help thinking through your idea, planning out the development process, and building a robust version to put in the hands of customers, then an agency is probably right for you.
7 factors to consider before you outsource your app build
Whether you choose a freelancer or an agency to outsource your app to, there are 7 major factors you need to consider:
- Project type: Do you need a prototype or an MVP?
- Scope: What needs to be in the app?
- Pricing structure: Hourly, daily, or project-based pricing?
- Timeline: How quickly do you want to get to market?
- Skillset: What kind of expertise does your app demand?
- Location: Should you work with someone local, domestic, or international?
- Trust: Do you trust your potential partner?
We cover each of these in detail below.
Project type: do you need a prototype or an MVP?
One of the first decision-points you’ll face is: prototype or MVP?
Prototypes are great for entrepreneurs who are:
- Looking to demonstrate a core concept
- Convincing stakeholders that they’re serious
- Raising seed capital to build an MVP
If you’re looking to demonstrate a core concept, we’d actually caution you against outsourcing. There are more ways than ever to build a no-code prototype, and it’s very likely you can test a key assumption without hiring anyone. Check out our five examples of no-code prototypes and our list of no-code tools for inspiration.
The one instance where you may want to outsource a prototype is when you’re raising funds. One of our partner founders and CEO of Case Status, Lauren Sturdivant, credits the prototype we built as a reason she was able to raise a friends and family round.
She says, “When I showed the Case Status prototype to friends and family, their eyes lit up. I explained the problems, and they saw and understood how Case Status solves those problems. There is something about having a working prototype that brings legitimacy to what you are doing.”
Clickable Prototype
The clickable Invision prototype Lauren Sturdivant used to raise funding and build the first version of Case Status. InVision makes the prototype feel like a real application, even though there's no code behind it.
MVPs, on the other hand, are much more robust than prototypes and serve a different function. Whereas a prototype is often scrapped, MVPs serve as the basis for the long-term product. You do want to outsource these.
MVPs are great for entrepreneurs who are:
- Testing the product to get user feedback
- Signing up early adopters to verify the market
- Gaining early revenue before investing in a team
- Raising seed capital at a higher valuation
Whether you need a prototype or MVP depends on the stage of your business and your goals moving forward. Do you already have a clear idea of exactly what you want to build? (MVP) Do you want to start onboarding users and generate revenue? (MVP) Or do you want to show something basic to investors to convey an idea or concept? (Prototype)
It also depends on your budget—expect MVPs to be more expensive than prototypes.
If you need a polished prototype for fundraising, you could hire 1-2 freelancers. If you need an MVP, you’ll want to consider either a team of freelancers or an agency.
Overall scope: what actually needs to be in the app?
As we mentioned earlier, the “scope” of the project is what you agree to build. If something is “in scope,” it falls within your current agreement and you are not charged more. If something is “out of scope,” it is outside what you agreed to, and you can expect an additional bill.
Most founders are tempted to go big on the scope—to include as many features and items as they can afford—even when they’re building an MVP. We understand the temptation, but we strongly caution against this. The bigger and more complex a project is, the harder it is to scope, and the more likely everyone’s estimates are wrong.
In contrast, leaner projects and apps are more straightforward to estimate. They’re cheaper and faster to build, get you to market more quickly, and are less expensive to maintain over time.
There are other benefits too. If you’re still learning a lot about your customer base and niche (as most early-stage startups are), a leaner app will be easier to course-correct than a feature-packed one. Since every app changes once it’s in customers’ hands, this is very important to keep in mind.
As Andrew Morris, one of our clients and the founder of Greynoise, pointed out, “you can always come back. Perfect is the enemy of good. You need to get something in people’s faces as soon as possible.”
To nail down the minimum scope you need to solve a customer’s problem, we recommend going through our roadmapping process. We’ve publicly shared the step-by-step process and templates we use in our own Roadmapping Sessions, so you can replicate it wherever you are.
Pricing structure: hourly, daily, or project-based?
Freelancers and agencies use a few different pricing models. Each of these models has benefits and drawbacks. Here’s what you need to know about each one:
Hourly pricing
This is the most common freelancer pricing structure and is common in agencies as well. With this pricing structure, you pay a set fee for each hour the developer spends on your project.
- Pros: It’s easy to calculate and you’re only charged for the time the freelancer or agency spends on your project. It’s also easy to adjust the scope of the project in this billing structure. Want to build more stuff? Pay for more hours.
- Cons: Hourly pricing results in more frequent conversations about money. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it can quickly turn relationships sour. What’s more, hourly pricing is also the most likely to sneak up on you; founders often make big requests without realizing the time that request will demand. Only the most seasoned freelancers and agencies will handle this well. Also, developers who charge by the hour are incentivized to draw the project out and to agree to more features. After all, the more time they spend building, the more money they earn.
- What it means for you: You’ll pay as you go for the hours your project demands. For most freelancers and agencies, this includes the time they spend in meetings and on the phone with you. If you choose this route, keep close tabs on your invoices so you know how much of your budget you’ve spent.
Hourly pricing results in more frequent conversations about money...it can quickly turn relationships sour.
Krit
Occasionally, you’ll see hourly rates packaged into “retainers.” In these agreements, you purchase a set amount of hours per month. Some freelancers and agencies pitch this option because it helps them manage their workflow and time. This arrangement works well in the maintenance period (after the app launches). However, it can be a slow way to build the app from scratch; once you’re out of hours for the month, you’re out of hours, and development pauses until the next month.
Day or half-day pricing
You’ll most often see this pricing structure for UK freelancers and agencies, though some US-based workers have adopted it as well. With this pricing structure, you pay a set fee for each day or half-day the developer requires to complete your project.
- Pros: You get the developer’s full, uninterrupted attention for the day or half-day you purchase. This is beneficial for the developer and your project because writing code demands intensive periods of deep work.
- Cons: This pricing structure is less intuitive and a bit more difficult to discuss. There are also more gray areas. What if the freelancer has an appointment one morning? Do days roll over for emergencies? Does a half-day include you paying for their lunch break?
- What it means for you: You’ll spend less time micro-managing invoices and give developers the atmosphere they need to do good work. However, you’ll still need to monitor how much you’re spending. Most freelancers and agencies who use day (or even week) rates will estimate how long it’ll take, but not set the number of days in stone.
Project-based pricing
In most cases, project-based pricing means a set price with regular payment installments. You know exactly what and when you’re paying before the project starts.
- Pros: This route produces the least amount of invoice anxiety and helps you plan ahead financially. This method also keeps both the founder and the developer focused on deliverables; both of you prioritize what is being built over exactly where time is being spent. What’s more, the developer is actually incentivized to finish your project more quickly. The faster they complete your project, the more money per time they’ll wind up earning. Lastly, because you’re discussing money less often, your relationship with the person you hire has a better chance of flourishing.
- Cons: Once you set the project scope, adjusting it is more difficult here than with hourly or daily pricing. That because scope changes mean adjusting the contract. It’s also common for agencies and freelancers to underbid using this model. Some developers and agencies will do the bare minimum and then charge for all items beyond the agreed-upon scope.
- What it means for you: It may be exciting to receive a cheap bid here, but be very wary of any price that seems too good to be true—it probably is. More than any other pricing model, you’ll want to spend time defining a set scope, budget, and timeline. Project-based pricing also means more upfront negotiation than hourly or day rates. Many developers won’t negotiate rates; what you see is what you pay. But because project-based quotes incorporate more factors, there’s often more room for negotiation.
When choosing a freelancer or agency, it’s very important you understand what pricing model you’re “getting into.” Which option is best for you depends on your cash flow and how you’d prefer to manage your budget. I.e. do you want to set the price once and then forget about it? Or would you rather revisit your budget each month?
...it’s very important you understand what pricing model you’re “getting into.”
Krit
We use a hybrid of project-based and hourly pricing at Krit that blends the best of both worlds. And we’re able to do that because we carefully define every scope in a Roadmapping Session and meticulously estimate the number of hours that scope will take us.
Timing: when you do need your app?
While outsourcing is much faster than building an in-house team, there are a few steps most founders tend to forget. These are:
- Researching and interviewing potential partners
- Discussing and negotiating the project
- Scheduling the project and onboarding
Researching and interviewing partners can take as little as a week or as long as a month. Likewise, negotiations could take anywhere from 24 hours to a week or more (especially if you need legal review). This means it could take you a month or more to vet and sign a potential partner.
Even then, if your preferred partner is in high-demand, they may not be able to start work immediately. The best freelancers and agencies are often booked out for at least a few weeks.
While it is possible to quickly hire someone off a freelancing site that can start tomorrow, it’s important to weigh the pros/cons of doing so. Is getting to market 1 month early worth the repercussions of a hastily built and poorly functioning product? (Keep in mind you’ll pay for bad software twice: once to build it and again to fix it!)
Skills: what kind of expertise do you need?
Most entrepreneurs assume the best developers are those with the strongest technical abilities. Founders see tech giants like Google establish notoriously difficult interview processes to ensure developers know the ins and outs of complex technical problems...and are certified geniuses.
So, why shouldn’t your startup demand the same level of expertise?
The simple answer is that smart technical people tend to over-engineer solutions. They enjoy building an optimal product more than they enjoy bringing a product to market.
For example, they may be drawn to the latest and greatest cutting edge technologies rather than selecting the most practical and affordable solutions to your problem. Using the latest and greatest frameworks that have the fastest runtime is great...until you need to hire more engineers and can’t find anyone with experience to join your team. (Also, geniuses are very expensive.)
All of which is why it’s often a good idea to work with a generalist or an agency with multiple skill sets. That way, you can solve the problem in the simplest and most elegant way possible without over-engineering a solution.
Location: is local, domestic, or offshore ideal?
So far, we’ve mainly focused on domestic talent. But the fact of the matter is, you can hire developers from all over the world.
If you want to meet with someone in person and often, your best bet is to look at outsourcing options in your city or region.
But if you don’t mind communicating via video and text, your options get much wider.
There are professional developers all over the world. Source: insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2019
Offshore companies have a reputation of being cheaper...and they are. Many offshore freelancers and agencies are ½ to ⅓ of domestic prices. But keep in mind a lower price rarely correlates with higher quality.
There are few other things you’ll want to consider as well:
- Communication challenges: As a remote team, we know communicating across time zones is no joke. It takes a lot of effort, scheduling, and intentionality. This is doubly true when the timezone difference is a half-day or full day ahead. Conversations that should take minutes now take days due to communication lags. This can be especially tricky when it comes time to launch and/or fix a major issue.
- Reputation: Does the agency or freelancer have any completed work you can verify is working well? Are they known for hitting budget and timeline...or for missing it by months and thousands of dollars?
- Team structure: If you’re considering an offshore agency, who is on the team and what is their history? Are they junior, mid, or senior level? How many projects are they balancing at one time?
It’s not impossible to work well with an offshore team, but you’ll trade some notable challenges for a low price. Make sure you’re up for it!
Trust: can you confirm they regularly do good, repeatable work?
Although it’s not always feasible, we do recommend you meet your outsourcing partner at least once in person. Yes, it’s an added cost and inefficient. But the cost of airfare is much cheaper than the cost of a bad hire. It’s much easier to interact with someone you’ve actually met in person, not to mention assess whether you’re a good fit.
For the sake of your app (not to mention your sanity), it’s crucial you trust whomever you contract.
Krit
What we’re getting at here is evaluating trust. If you’re contracting someone to build your MVP or app, you’re putting part of your business in their hands. You’re also committing to interact with this person every week for at least 2-3 months. For the sake of your app (not to mention your sanity), it’s crucial you trust whomever you contract.
Here are three key questions to ask when evaluating potential partners:
- What have they built? Do they have a portfolio of reputable companies or are they all out of business? Can you see a live demo of products they’ve created (either by Skype or a demo site)? Successful past clients and strong demos are both good signs that the agency or freelancer is capable of executing on your vision.
- Who are their clients and what do they say? Do they have any specific client success stories they can share? What kind of return on investment did these clients see? Did the clients share any raving testimonials? Good freelancers and agencies should be able to point to happy clients benefitting from successful products.
Make sure you check out what clients have to say about your potential partner.
- What is their approach? What development processes do they use? What kinds of things do they care about or value? Are they listening to you as much as they’re pitching to you? Good development shops should share the same values as you and work in a way that makes sense for your business.
Yes, you want to listen to their pitch and what they say they can do. But even more than that, you want to evaluate what they have done. As the trope goes, “actions speak louder than words.”
5 tips to ensure outsourcing your app goes really, really well
Any project can go sideways. That’s true whether you’re making a meal, remodeling a kitchen, or building an app. We’ve had more than one client tell us about outsourcing gone wrong, and you’ve no doubt heard some stories yourself.
Here are 5 ways you can work well with your vetted partner and safeguard your project against a downward spiral:
Pay for quality
Software development is expensive, and it’s tempting to accept the cheapest proposal when your options are all pitching a similar result.
However, the “you get what you pay for” mantra applies to software development just as much as other areas of life.
If you want a high-quality result, you should be prepared to pay a proportionate price for it. That doesn’t mean you should overpay for a project, but it does mean you should be prepared to spend a fair market rate. And if you don’t have the budget, you’re better off narrowing your scope than hiring lower quality developers.
Understand where you fit into the picture
There’s a fine line between participating in a project (very helpful) and micro-managing a project (very unhelpful). As the founder, you wear an incredibly important hat..but you don’t wear every hat.
When you outsource app development, active and helpful participation looks like providing:
- Rich insights on who the customer is and what they want
- A detailed map of the industry and your competitors
- A clear vision for how the product delivers value
- Solution-based feedback at every step in the process
- Outcome-based ideas and inputs
Whereas unhelpful micromanagement looks like:
- Over-frequent communication (e.g. multiple time a day)
- Nitpicking invoices and visuals
- Directing design or development
- Providing shaming, negative feedback
Generally speaking, you want to bring customer and industry knowledge to the table in a way that strengthens and guides overall development. You also want to provide helpful, outcome-based feedback. Both are critical.
...you need to let the developers do what you hired them to do—namely, design and deliver an incredible piece of software.
Krit
A counterpart here is, you need to let the developers do what you hired them to do—namely, design and deliver an incredible piece of software. You know your customers and the features they need to reach their goals. Developers know how to design and build applications to maximize the user experience. Play to your strengths, and let them play to theirs.
Hold weekly meetings to measure progress
So how do you provide developers with enough input, but at the same time, let them do what they do best?
Weekly calls are a great way to strike this balance.
They’re an effective way to hold developers accountable, ensure everyone is on the same page, and supply input the team needs to keep moving.
The three most important topics to cover are:
- What did you accomplish over the past week? Developers should discuss, and sometimes even show you their progress over the past week. Catching errors early on can save a lot of time, money, and re-work over the long run.
- What are you working on this week? Developers should have a clear idea of where they’re headed next and what’s a priority.
- What’s getting in your way? Answer any questions that may be holding them up and provide any feedback.
These three questions tell you where the project stands and helps you identify any ways you can help things along by removing bottlenecks. And if there have been any visible updates, the developers may also walk you through a demo during these meetings.
Review your invoices to stay on budget
Especially if your project is billed by the hour or day, we recommend looking through invoices to ensure that the project is progressing on budget.
If there is a risk of running over budget, you should immediately inform the developers and have an honest discussion about how to manage the budget and scope throughout the rest of the project. Oftentimes, this means reducing scope or removing a feature. What you really want to avoid here is running out of money when the application is in the middle of development. It’s better to cut scope and finish a minimal version of your product than have a partially completed app that’s entirely useless to the customer.
Of course, the ideal scenario is starting with a small scope and begin developing the app with a conservative budget, then focus on adding features down the road!
Build your audience and research customers while you wait
If we asked you whether you believe, “if you build it, they will come.” You’d probably say no. You know there’s more to launching a business than that.
While the product should stay a priority, there are other areas that need your attention too.
Krit
While the development team is doing what they do best, you want to focus on talking with customers, exploring marketing channels, and building your audience:
- Talk with customers: Interview customers every week and record what you learn about the problems they face and the outcomes they want. Plus, involve customers during the design process. One of our founders asked his audience for feedback during designs, and the responses provided valuable insights we wouldn’t have otherwise found.
- Explore marketing channels: You need a way to launch your product. But way before then, you need to find out where your customers hang out (Twitter? Email? Instagram?). From there, you can build a presence and start connecting with them.
According to research by First Round Review, your community is your secret weapon. https://stateofstartups2019.firstround.com/
- Build your audience: If you anticipate ongoing customer research, beta testing, giving early-access trials, and building a competitive advantage, an audience is going to be crucial for you. An audience is relationship-based and building relationships take time, so don’t wait to start on this.
Outsourcing your app doesn’t have to be overwhelming
Building a business isn’t easy...and probably never will be. But that doesn’t mean every step should have you stress-eating Doritos at your laptop.
While outsourcing is a big decision, it’s much easier to navigate when you understand your options, pros and cons, and important factors like pricing (and how that even works).
Have more questions? Schedule a free strategy session!
If you have a prototype or a scoped idea but aren’t sure where to start, book a free strategy call with Andrew.
He’ll help you think through what to do next and what you can expect moving forward.
