How to successfully outsource your app development: 7 steps to reduce risks

In today’s competitive market, time is of the essence — if you’re a little too late, someone else may pick your idea and create the perfect app… all while you were just thinking about how to create it yourself. Hence, it is important to act fast.

Outsourcing the development of your app is a good way to get started immediately. A lot of entrepreneurs and companies that choose to outsource are able to save time, reduce costs, focus on core competencies, and have good talent work on their project.

However, outsourcing isn’t always a piece of cake. If outsourcing isn’t done right, it can cause many problems. More often than not projects that are not outsourced carefully result in failure. However, that should not discourage you.

Why?

The primary reason for the failure of outsourced projects is the lack of proper research about available outsourcing vendors. Given the ever-growing global landscape of outsourcing, it is not just confusing, but also daunting to find the best people to develop your app, especially if you are a startup.

Since a lot of projects are outsourced to offshore locations, It is easy to fall in the trap of incompetent agencies. Working with such agencies can put you in a situation where you spend a lot of time and money on a project that you cannot back out of, leading to the loss of thousands of dollars and immense delay, all for a substandard product.

Hence, proceeding with caution is important, especially when handing over such an important part of your business to someone else. Thus, this begets the question, “how can one find the right people to outsource to?”

How to find the right people to outsource to

Finding the right people to outsource your app development to isn’t hard, as long as you have got a tried and tested, fool-proof process in hand. If you’re planning to outsource to offshore destinations, the below chart shows a simple way of finding the best companies to outsource to, in 7 easy steps:

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7 important points to follow for finding a better agency, teams or freelancers to work with.

1. The first thing you need to do is define the scope of your project, create a good spec. Basically, what it needs, what your product must look like, etc.

2. Based on the scope, you can now look for companies that suit your requirement. But beware of agencies with lots of awards and certificates! Agencies usually lure clients in with awards and recognition that mean nothing. The awards are given out by companies that usually sell the awards. If you see a small agency with a LOT in their portfolio in a short span of time, or if you see them working with various technologies, or working across multiple fields — it’s cause for alarm.

3. Now comes in a very important part of the process. Check the agency’s portfolio, and talk to at least three of their previous clients, preferably those with similar requirements as yours. This is a necessity as it will give you a clear picture about the agency’s work ethic.

4. It is also very important that the person who created the portfolio is still a part of the company, and will definitely be assigned to work on your project as well. Otherwise, you’re going to get something you most definitely have NOT paid for.

5. Once you’ve ascertained that the person is still in the company and is definitely available to work on your project, ask for a quotation and establish a timeframe for the app development project. Once you get the quote, compare it with the salary of the employees of the company, to ensure you are not getting ripped off. Get quotations from different sources and try to get around 10-15 quotes then go with the best one.

6. You can also check the profiles of the agency’s employees on LinkedIn to get a clearer picture. Try getting the employees’ salary details on Glassdoor and Payscale. If there is not enough information, compare the prices of their developers with the industry average. Software development is a competitive industry; the higher the talent is paid, the more qualified they are. If you feel the reviews are fraudulent, you can always compare it with the industry’s average. The reason for this is to differentiate the good agencies from the bad ones.

7. Beware of agencies that say yes to everything, and refuse to recognize and establish their limits. You also need to check how responsive the agency is. Communication isn’t just about speaking the language — it is also about understanding each other. Where there is communication and comfort, there is a streamlined work process.

Keeping these points in mind, you can find yourself a great company to outsource to, and create the app you’ve always wanted to!