Alongside with many challenges awaiting for a future app owner, finding the right software development team is the most important one. The task complexifies if you are a non-developer and have no experience in building applications yourself, so you have no idea what aspects to pay attention to when choosing a team. It’s ok. Relax and take time to read this article. Below we will provide practical tips for finding the right software development company for building your app.
Steps to take
First of all, you need a job description. Make it as detailed as possible covering the requirements and describing the benefits from cooperation with you for your future provider. Try to be honest and if there are no special bonuses or no fixed budget for salary, make it clear in the proposal.
If you are ready to share the future revenue or offer certain percentage your development team, state it clearly in the description. If someone finds your start-up perspective and agrees to work on a certain condition, you will get the response.
Things to cover in the job description
- Local team or outsourcing.
- Period of cooperation.
- Programming languages, frameworks, additional skills.
- Developer’s experience: junior, middle, senior.
- Language skills.
- Working schedule, peculiarities.
- Salary, revenue or additional bonuses.
- Post-release support, ongoing maintenance required.
- Special requirements.
If you prefer to work only with local teams, make it clear in your job description. If you are ok working with outsourcing companies overseas, write that everybody is welcome to apply. Narrow down the search by writing the thing you are not ok with.
Social networks power
Post your job offer on special job search websites. Do not neglect the power of word of mouth, posting your job description on your Facebook page. Some people in your connection may have what you are currently looking for. Someone in their connection may be looking for the project like yours. So, let your Internet community know you what you’re looking for and let its power work on you.
Shortlisting the candidates
After you shortlisted the teams that meet your primary requirements, pay attention to the following things:
1. Portfolio and Previous customers. The more experience your team has, the more times it will be reflected in their portfolio. Pay attention to works shown in the portfolio. Download the app and test them. You can also ask for references to make sure your potential provider worked with other clients before. Contacting clients can tell a lot about the development company.
2. Team size. Make sure there are several developers of the same level of expertise in the team. Do not ignore the human factor; if someone is on the sick or vacation leave, there should be someone to change them.
3. Tracking tools. It is always a good idea to be involved in the development process as if you were one of the team members. Make sure your team uses online tracking tools to share the results of their progress with their clients. Besides, it gives you access to the developer’s actual working hours, online payments or invoices.
4. Payment model. There are two popular payments models. Fixed price and Time and materials (hourly rate). Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but many software development companies switched to hourly rate payment as it has a more extensive range of benefits for both sides. It allows you to be flexible and move by small steps implementing small pieces of work especially if you do not have the exact technical specifications. Discuss possible options with your team and make your decision.
Interview and Preliminary estimates
Reading CVs and looking at portfolios can turn into real fun. If you have ever hired before, you know what I mean. Choose the ones who cover your primary requirements, and the rest will be discovered during the interview. Give a chance to those, who you hesitate about. Set up a Skype conversation with several teams.
Meeting in person can give you more insight into your future team than endless Skype interviews. If you have stopped your search on the local team, arrange a personal meeting. If the company has nothing to hide, you can get an invitation to visit their office and meet those people who will be working on your project in person.
If you stopped your choice on the freelance company, arrange a Skype interview with CEO or project manager and ask if other members of the company can join the conversation. Apart from clarifying the project details and variants of cooperation, your task is to define whether the company policy and the personalities you are going to work with, fit your own vision of cooperation and development process.
IDAP Ukraine software development company has a transparent policy and is always eager to meet the customer’s requirements and share their vision of the project.
Ask the shortlisted candidates for a rough quote of your project. Every team has their approach, so clarify what is included in the price and what should be paid additionally. Do not try to find the cheapest company as it is not a good idea at all. Some companies do not show the real costs left behind to win the contract. Consider all variants and choose the most optimal for you and the project.
Clarify all the moments with source code ownership after the project is over. Usually, when the last payment is made, and all issues are closed you receive the source code and become the app owner.
Follow Up
If you feel there is no one to meet your needs at the current moment, do not push yourself and agree to work with an unsuitable company. Trust your intuition whatever funny it might sound. There are thousands of software development providers, take time to find the right team instead of investing your time and money in the wrong one. The competition is high, so if you have an interesting project and corresponding budget, your team won’t keep you waiting.
