“You’ll never walk alone.” This is how Liverpool football fans say it. Going in for sports or building a skyscraper, you need a powerful companion that shares your vision and focuses on the same goal. At the same time, you never know if this person you work with is planning to ditch your project.
Working in the IT industry, it’s the same. Constructing a high-tech software product powered with the latest technology, app development partners can be your lifesaver or ruin your businesses in a blink of an eye. Hence, you may or may not be a huge fan of Liverpool, but if you are an active player in a modern business world, we bet you’d like to feel confident about your partnership.
Although there are so many companies that promise sky-high results and the most trustworthy cooperation that has ever taken part on Earth, most people can barely precisely explain the perks and features of an app development partnership. All they need is to know the cost of the web app development in advance. So here we come with our in-depth answers to the questions that bother you so much:
- Where can you find a reliable partner for software development?
- How can you make sure developers are worth your trust?
- What matters the most when deciding to sign a deal that would change your company’s life?
… and many, many others!
Follow our lead! You’ll appreciate the time you spend here.
3 sayings about app development partnership that may take you to the wrong place
You may have come to this article with some concerns. Really, it may seem risky or even unreasonable to engage someone in the business you have spent your entire life building. At the same time, you may refuse to share your prominent ideas with someone else. We understand it; however, these concerns won’t help you to reach the heights you’d like to reach. And if one of the below-described thoughts has come to your mind, let us get rid of them together as fast as possible:
“I don’t need any help.”
If you are a skilled software engineer, this thought may have come to your mind. But at the same time, if you have a teamwork experience, you know how significant it is to delegate a part of the routine tasks and focus on core functionality development. It is not a piece of cake to develop a revolutionary product from scratch, and it’s hard to be a one-man-band. Even if you are a professional developer, you may miss something due to the lack of experience in testing or UI/UX design. This is why you need a dedicated partner.
If you are a non-tech-savvy person, we’ve got some bad news for you. Even if you spend months on services like Udemy doing your best to obtain knowledge in IT engineering, this won’t help you to build a mobile app all alone. Users’ expectations for software tools are as high as never before; in order to meet them, large experience and proven skills are needed. To save your time, nerves, and money, you need to work with a partner.
“I’ll hire trainee developers and that’s enough.”
Working with students and unexperienced employees is good: you give a helping hand to young developers and start a company with minimum budget. But there is a MUST to have someone to show them the right way, to guide them through dangerous tropical forests of an application’s back-end, to take them aboard and save them from the sticky swamps of JavaScript and similar difficult programming technologies. Otherwise, these jungles will kill their willingness to grow as software developers. Oh, by the way, they will kill your app, too.
“Freelancers rock. I don’t want to build a partnership with a company.”
Many developers on web services like Upwork sell their minds (we’re still not sure about their souls) for extremely low prices. For instance, you can find web developers who work for $6-8 per hour or even less. It is cheap, it is easy: you just log in to a certain web page and build a partnership with freelance developers.
A pretty risky intention though.
Cooperation with freelancers doesn’t give you enough reliability and guarantees.
These types of developers won’t become your partners for app development; they may come and go without telling you they’d like to stop contributing to your project. Besides, your app may not be the only product a freelancer works on. He or she dedicates skills and attention to several apps simultaneously; thus, the quality of code and speed of development may suffer.
Fruitful cooperation is something you should opt for to make your app idea thrive. In an app development galaxy, options like solo work, cooperation with freshmen, or hiring a freelancer won’t work for you.
Things to do before starting to look for a partner
First and foremost, you need to set your goals clearly. You need to know for sure the answers to the following questions:
- What services do you need to launch your app in the best possible way?
- What tasks would you like to delegate?
- How do you see the outcome of this deal?
Once you’ve answered them, define exactly what your partner can help you with:
App development from scratch
In this case, a development partner will help you with every stage of a successful programming solution creation. The team will provide you with:
- A comprehensive strategy of product growth
- UI/UX app’s design
- Prototypes and MVP development
- Full development lifecycle services
- Thorough functionality testing and bug fixing
- Mobile app production and further support
According to our experience, this is the most popular and the best option possible. You tell your partner and developers about your needs and wishes, as well as share your plans and ambitions. In turn, a company you start working with understands your business in a better way and gets an opportunity to deliver satisfying results on each stage of cooperation.
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Design and creative tasks
Depending on your business specifics, you may need to look for a creative agency. This partner will deal with creative tasks like product, slogan, logo design, etc.
This option is nice for large corporations: in case you already work with mobile app development partners, an art agency will give you a hand with catching users’ attention, rebranding, implementing extraordinary design changes, and similar tasks.
Testing and quality assurance
Here’s a use case: you have already built a software application but your former partner didn’t provide you with testing services. The reasons may vary: a team may lack the testing department in general or something went wrong during your cooperation. But the output is the same: you need someone to make sure your app works well. This is when you sign a contract with a QA/QC company.
Product maintenance and customer support
A similar situation may occur if your app is up and running and you need someone to:
- Support the functionality or
- Answer customers’ questions and help them to use a mobile app with a maximum profit
Take note that these may be two separate teams you build cooperation with. However, according to our observations, it is nice to have a support center and developers working in the same location. Letting them discuss all the things in person, you can improve the user experience significantly.
Marketing and brand promotion
In case your purpose is different, and you look for someone to kickstart a new successful period in your business lifetime, the number of options is unlimited.
Sometimes it seems like once you’ve reached business prosperity stage, you need no one by your side. Well, the founders of world-known businesses like Uber and Spotify don’t think so. Recently, they’ve employed brand-new tactics of engaging new users. Now, Uber passengers can use their Spotify app to become DJs of their rides! This helps to persuade Uber riders to install the Spotify app; at the same time, Spotify music fans turn their heads to Uber instead of any other transportation company. And last but not least, this partnership improved both services’ user experiences.
A clear vision of your goals will help to find the right partner and generate the Uber-like revenue once.
Where to find that one and only partner?
In 1975, the Lakeside Private School was nothing special but an ordinary school somewhere in Seattle with ordinary students and ordinary educational programs. Now we know this school as a place where Bill Gates and Paul Allen, co-founders of Microsoft company, met each other and made friends so many years ago. A love of computers made them partners-in-crime at school and added their names to the list of the most famous IT people of our times. The childhood friendship grew to a lifetime partnership.
This story is one of the answers to the question that bothers you: Where to find the great business partners?
Analyze your network
You are surrounded by creative, mindful, intelligent people, both online and in the real world. Take a closer look at their talents and let them contribute to your app idea development. Probably, this is the easiest way for you to reach the Microsoft-like success.
Ask for recommendations
People from your network may have already had experience with offshore web app development partners. To minimize time-consuming tasks, you can simply ask them for contacts and skip reading our next points.
Go online
Whether you need to 'rel="dofollow noopener" 'rel="dofollow noopener"outsource app development or just find app partners, Google can help. It always knows an answer if you only ask correctly. Focusing on the specific resources, don’t miss our suggestions:
Unexpectedly, this service may help you to build cooperation not only with freelance specialists but also with a reliable outsourcing team. Upwork provides convenient functionality for time tracking, payment, etc.; each of the features simplifies cooperation with a partner overseas.
This website helps talented app developers to find partners who plan to launch a great startup. High-level filtering system simplifies this task greatly for both sides of cooperation.
On this web channel, entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts discuss a variety of significant topics. Ask questions, start new discussions, or even post a job; do everything to collaborate successfully!
Here, you get an opportunity to meet a co-founder for your app idea or find out more about a business world with expert advisor’s tips.
This is a global professional network connecting business owners and specialists from all over the world. Log in, grow your network, and build collaboration with a mobile app development partner you already know.
Waxidea is built on a convenient algorithm. You just enter your skills, skills of a partner you are looking for, and request a search. This Tinder-like system provides you with information about specialists whose profiles match.
Visit an event
IT events and conferences are the most fascinating and informative places you can go to meet partners for web development. To find an event nearby, use the Startup Weekend website. One more actionable tip is to keep a hand on IT market trends and events following our blog.
Key factors to pay attention to when starting app development partnership
You are halfway there: with full awareness of where to look for your partners, it is time to find out how to make the right choice. Consider the importance of the following factors:
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Substantial portfolio and testimonials
These are the very first things you should pay your attention to.
- Estimate the visual design of the app
- Analyze UI/UX
- Install some of the apps on your device and try the functionality yourself
After that, look through the testimonials and make sure you are ready to study the next factor.
Impressive experience
Huge experience is good. Deep experience is better. Thus, you should consider not the period your potential partners have spent in the market but the specifics of developers’ work during this period. For example, if you are looking for an agency to build an AI-powered app, ask whether they had any experience with AI solutions. If a team has spent the last 15 years building machine code on C++ or simple websites on Wordpress, they may fail in this mission.
Seamless communication
Each message, sentence, or emoji is a bottomless source of information for you. If you notice things like delayed answers, an inconvenient time when your partners are able to talk, weird jokes, or lack of professionalism, you had better go back to your searches.
Online presence
As well as the communication, the way your potential partners act online gives you a good vision of their business, too. Poorly designed business profiles on social media, questionable reposts, or no information at all may be red flags for you.
A vision of a common goal
Taking your first steps towards fruitful collaboration, make sure your potential partners understand your opinion and share your plans and dreams for success. Ask questions like:
- What keeps you in this industry?
- How did you start your development company?
- How do you choose professionals that join your team?
Brief answers to these and similar questions will help you understand if this team is exactly who you are looking for.
Successful IT partnership: what’s next?
Now, when you have shortlisted the businesses to work with, set out for the next stages:
Use as many communication channels as you can
Let’s say you have established seamless and fast communication via emails. A text message is a good way to share information but it may be not enough to get to know a person better, explain your intentions and goals, and get used to your potential associate. Thus, we would recommend you set up Skype calls, discuss casual topics, and extend the borders of your communication. This will help you to make sure the person is honest, easygoing, and reliable.
After you’ve met top management of an agency you’d like to start working with, meet the developers. Their behavior, English skills, and work attitude are the things you need to pay attention to.
Evaluate the soft skills
“What do you mean talking about developers’ behavior?”, you may ask after looking at the previous point. Taking the first steps towards lucrative cooperation, you should evaluate the personal qualities demonstrated by developers you’d like to work with. Here are some of the most important ones:
- Flexibility
“Stick to the one technology. This is the best way to never succeed in anything.” This saying has become a proverb in our developers’ team.
In a rapidly growing IT world, software developers ought to be open to new technologies and methodologies; they must be aware of every update and keep a hand on a pulse of their industry. Otherwise, they are not the ones you should work with.
- Commitment
Ask your development team how long they have been working as a part of your potential partner’s team. Four months? Six years? This matters a lot. The longer people work together, the better they know each other. The more they have gotten used to working together, the better web products they are able to deliver.
Besides, the period of working at one position may open your eyes to how responsible and dedicated a particular specialist is.
- Positive attitude
No, we don’t mean that a person needs to sprinkle the day with jokes. Evaluating a positive attitude, you should pay attention to everything from a smile to the way a person reacts to a stressful or complicated situation. Toxic people poison the entire project so don’t let such people join your team.
Always consider more than one option
Choose wisely. Always have several options to compare them and pick the best.
Prepare yourself for a partnership
The collaboration means working together, so the person you are discussing the details with evaluates your brand and soft skills as well.
- Develop a brand
A good name is more trustworthy than a no-name. So first of all, sketch your brand, slogan, logo, and company’s social media profiles and proceed with the steps described below.
- Prepare a presentation
Basic info about your story and your idea are essential. The better and more precise you present it, the bigger the chance you get to attract a talented team.
It shouldn’t be an in-depth explanation of each stage of your product development. Basic steps and approximate numbers would be enough. However, the business plan canvas is significant for your partner to understand what you would like to achieve.
- Talk about the financial part
They say working for an idea isn’t as efficient as working for money. At the very beginning, provide at least the minimum information about what profit an associate company can make.
- Be honest
Mutual trust is the cornerstone of any relationship; its failure is one of the reasons businesses die. Always tell the truth and provide access to non-confidential documents and facts your potential partners may request.
Think for a while
After discussing critical details, you both have much to think about. So take your time and don’t hurry up with the decision: 5-10 days are okay for such an important step.
Prepare an agreement about your app development partnership
Once you are confident about your positive choice, prepare a draft of your agreement and establish a powerful business together.
Bottom line
A prosperous partnership is crucial. Due to these 3 primary reasons, you should start looking for reliable app development partners right now:
- It saves your time, energy, and resources.
- It opens new opportunities for viable business growth.
- It allows promotion of your business.
Several simple steps, great attention to detail, and our tips on how to make the right choice will take you to the top. The process may take time but it will bring you the precious results in exchange.
And you’ll never walk alone.
