Mistakes to avoid when outsourcing app development

Mobile applications are now everywhere. In a survey conducted by RiskIQ, it was reported that the total number of mobile apps has now stretched out to 8.93 million. Isn’t it astonishing? Mobile applications are transforming business operations by offering an effective mechanism to connect with customers and prospects. Mobile applications support and promote a range of activities from marketing to building and managing customer relationships. All businesses, be it small or large, are developing their mobile applications. Hence mobile app development is considered one of the fastest-growing businesses around the world.

When it comes to mobile app development, most companies prefer to outsource the task as it can help cut the cost and facilitate seamless team management. The practice of outsourcing mobile app development has gained pace rapidly especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This urge for making an informed and careful decision of selecting and hiring the right outsourcing team as the success of the project depends completely on it. If you hire an incompatible development company, it might result in a higher cost of development and wastage of time & efforts.

Common mistakes to avoid outsourcing mobile app development
It is necessary for all enterprises to cautiously select reliable and skilled developers for their projects. Few companies take decisions too fast and that results in dissatisfaction with the final product. Some of the common mistakes committed by companies while selecting an app development partner could actually cost them the future of their businesses. We have listed a few actions to consider seriously when outsourcing mobile app development:

1- Unclear Goals and requirements:
This is one of the basic mistakes that companies make. Companies fail to clearly explain the goals, product vision, business, and technical requirements of their final product. Choosing an app developer that does not understand you or your business goals is inaccurate. This is a very common mistake that enterprises make simply because it might be their first time engaging an app developer so they do not know how to differentiate the good ones from the bad.

2- Uninformed and hasty decision:
Mobile app development is an in-depth process that needs proper planning and a thorough understanding of product vision. While selecting development partners, you must assess their working styles, previous projects done by them, and level of compatibility. Hasty decisions taken without gathering sufficient information might result in unsatisfied results.

3- Poor research:
If you want a final product that could achieve your business goals, base your decision on proper research and background check-ups. Before taking the final decision to outsource a development firm, it is crucial to compare teams, technical expertise, pricing, and previous work of potential development partners. Hire the development company wisely that rightly fits into your project vision.

4- Lack of proper communication:
Let’s consider you find the right partner for your project, but if you don’t synchronize with the outsource team regularly at every stage of the development process from start it might result in undesirable outcomes. Consistent communication with the development partners ensures delivery of the right product as per the planned schedules and also helps in building long-term relationships. You can also get regular status updates of your project’s progress.

5- Compromising quality over price:
We know businesses always want to keep the budget low in order to get a higher return on investments. So they tend to collaborate with development companies that can provide the services at a cheaper price. But unfortunately, they don’t see the long-term risk of compromising the quality of their final product. They embark on a journey that might cost them more money than saving.

6- People don’t focus on building lean product:
So what is a lean product? A lean product essentially means you build a product with only key features that solve a problem for your end-users. Building lean products costs you less, so while creating a bigger impact you would be investing less. Your final product will be the one that your users need or like.

7- Giving preference to local developers:
It is not advised to narrow down your choice only to local development partners. You must always keep your options open while finding app developers. Your focus must be on the skills and expertise and location restriction should not be imposed. The mobile app market is global and you must leverage this robust feature.

How to outsource mobile application development properly?

Outsourcing can bring in a range of skills and expertise if you take the decision wisely. Following are some of the guideline which we gave outlined to help you through the decision-making process:

1- Preparation:
Definitely, you can have two reasons why you are looking for outsourcing. The first is that you want to reduce cost. And the second one is that you can’t find the right person for the team. You must prepare all your technical and non-technical documents. Also, get your business model ready for sharing. It is also important to decide the length of collaboration with a freelancer or a particular development company.

2- Choose the right location:
Before making a decision of any specific location from where you would like to select development partners, check the staff turnover rate, cultural compatibility, level of education, and geographical position and time difference of that place.

3- Find the right company:
Look for directories to find a list of development companies and check out their portfolio. You must verify the credentials of the potential development companies. You can search for developers online on clutch.co, goodfirms.co, Upwork, or Toptal.

Key Takeaways:
You need to be very careful while choosing app development partners. To start with, set clear goals and requirements to get a satisfactory final product. If you are planning to engage an app developer and want to potentially save yourself from wasting money, make sure you don’t land up making the same above mistakes. We, at Sparklin Digital, can guide you with our skills and expertise through the whole process. We can help you transform your product vision into reality.