How to Find App Developers for your Startup?

Most startups, irrespective of what niche they belong to, would need to interact, find app developers and work with them at some point in their business life. Most businesses from all niches have entirely shifted or partly dependent on the internet for managing their business/brand. Online presence is crucial for a business to thrive in today’s time. Be it through a website, or a Webapp and a Mobile app. That depends on the scalability and niche you belong to.

It can be overwhelming and challenging to find the right app developer for your startup requirements. Now, most startups have a technical co-founder known as the CTO to assist the business through this challenge. However, if you don’t have access to someone who has the technical knowledge to join in as one, you can always rely on different channels to find an app developer for your business.

The App Development Process

Before you start your hunt for finding the best app developers for your startup, you should get acquainted with the overall process that goes behind any app development effort, so you know what you are looking for and what all could you possibly need. The basic app development process outline goes like this:

1. Strategy Building

Now you have decided to make an app for your startup. You will have some vision or thought behind this app’s utility, function and purpose. To shape it better, you should note down:

• Who will be the app users?
• What will be the app’s goals and objectives?
• What are the competitors doing?
• What platforms will your app be on – Android, iOS, web or all?

2. Planning and Analysing

Now your app idea can be considered as an actual project. Next, you need to plan and analyze by defining use cases and thinking about detailed functional requirements. If you Find app developers/consultant, they will help you create a product roadmap that would prioritize your mobile app requirements and break them into deliverables or milestones. If you don’t want to go for a fully functional mobile app just yet, you could opt for MVP too for the initial launch. Here you should answer questions like :

• What will be the name of the app?
• Are there other apps with similar names?
• What are the requirements of different platforms to build an app for their market?

Based on your requirements, your mobile app developer should know how to work on the platform of your choice. If you choose to make an Android app, he/she should have the skills and knowledge of tools to make one. Similarly, if you want one for the Apple store or both, you should look for a mobile developer who is well-versed with popular app frameworks like Angular and React JS.

3. Designing

Your mobile app design needs to be built for delivering a seamless and effortless user experience with a sharp and attractive look. Any app’s success is based on how easy it is to adopt for your customers and what essential features it provides that are relevant to your niche. You also need to find app developers who understands the importance of information architecture and workflows. Basically, what permissions will the app need from the users, and how will the user journey flow for a new user when they download your app. Creating a prototype generally helps a lot at this stage to visualize the app design and flow.

4. Programing

This is a stage where most startups/entrepreneurs opt for hiring a mobile app developer. This is where the app development process gets truly technical. For moving forward, you should:

• Define the technical architecture
• Define the development milestones
• Select a technology stack

Now you have a business project with planning and a basic outline for designing ready. To get your hands dirty, you need to get into programming the app by taking care of back-end technology, API and mobile app front-end technology. App developers are specializing in back-end operations, while there are also front-end developers. If you need to choose between one and the other you can manage on your own. Otherwise, if you need to find an app developer for the entire process, you should look for a full-stack app developer.

5. Testing

Once your app is through the programming stage, it still needs to be tested for bugs and fixes. Testing is important for any app; otherwise, all the efforts so far would go down the drain if the app is deployed without being tested. There are different tests you should run your app through. Any app developer that helps you at this stage should know how to conduct

• User Experience Testing
• Functional Testing
• Security Testing
• Performance Testing
• Device and Platform Testing

6. Deployment and Support

Now that you’re done with the entire app development process, you can release your native app mobile by submitting it to app stores – iOS (Apple App Store) and Google Play Store for Android apps. For releasing an app in any app store, you need to provide these essential data points:

• App Title
• Description
• Keywords
• Category
• Launch Icon
• App Store Screenshots

You should also push for support by regular updates and fixes to the app, adding new features now, and keeping the users engaged and interested.

Finding the right App Developer

Now that we have the basics down, we should focus better on finding the right app developer for your startup needs. Let us get started with the process :

 What kind of App Developers do you need?

As you saw from the process above, there are many stages of the app development process. You can either hire an app developer to handle all of your app development processes. If you have the in-house ability to handle a few of them yourself, you can find app developers like freelancers, development labs and talent services.  Depending on your business needs and budget, you should decide which method to go ahead with. For that, you need to understand the pros and cons of opting for each available option :

1. Find App Developers – And Hire them in-House

If you opt to choose this option, you will bear expenses on :

• Office Rent
• Salaries
• Appraisals
• Operational Expenses

But you will benefit from –

• Higher level of communication
• More control over the overall development process
• Flexibility of making changes anytime

Generally, the expenses of setting up an in-house app development team can be very high. You would spend on office rent, furnishing, purchasing hardware and software licensing, and account for sick leaves, vacation, and salaries for every employee.

The average wages for a full-time app developer for iOS is $123,008 annually and $121240 annually for the Android platform.

Pros and Cons of Hiring an In-house App Developer

Pros

• Full control over operations and timeline
• Effective and efficient communication

Cons

• Tedious hiring process
• Indirect and direct expenses of maintaining the team
• Need for team management skills

2. Find App Developers – Hire them as Freelancers

This is a more budget-friendly way to find app developers when it comes to the app development process for startups. Hiring a freelance app developer broadens your perspective and widens your horizon to work with specialists spread worldwide, and they charge lesser than any in-house developer. Some of the best platforms to hire freelance app developers from are :

• Upwork
• Freelancer.com
• Toptal
• Fiverr
• Youteam
• Supersourcing

When hiring a freelance app developer, you should :

• Look in the right platforms for freelancers
• Establish communication with them and see if they’re trustworthy
• Be transparent about your expectations and their availability and flexibility
• Examine their previous experiences

Pros and Cons of Hiring Freelancer Mobile App Developer

Pros

• Lower acquiring costs
• Pay for what you need
• Get access to a large pool of developers with different skills
• Multiple hiring platforms

Cons

• Language barrier
• Difficult to manage and keep up with
• Risk of project abandonment
• Trust-building can be difficult

3. Find App Developers Company – Outsource your Development Task

You cannot keep hiring different freelancers for different app development stages, as it would create a lot of inconsistencies and re-learning on the developer’s end to move your app to the next stage. The result might not even be the best app you could have created for your business. Hence, if you need a full-stack solution for your app development process but can’t afford to pay their salaries in-house, you can rely on outsourcing the work to Development Labs. Development Labs are specialized companies with a team of developers who will work on your requirements and get back to you with an app. They manage their functioning and relieve you from the stress of getting into the intricacies of project management.

You will end up spending more money compared to the freelancer route, but the risk would be significantly lower as they would have previous app-making experience. Development Labs come in all sizes and potential, some of them are small, and others are huge enterprises. Most of them are based in the USA, India or Northern America.

Pros and Cons of Outsourcing to Development Labs

Pros

• Lower acquiring costs
• Enhances quality of work
• Agencies are motivated to work faster
• They have a team of experts
• It helps you keep the focus on other business needs

Cons

• You give away certain control of your company
• Communication can be hindered and slow
• Risk of endangering data privacy

4. Find OffShore App Developers from Talent Services

You can be a startup with some experience in the field and have sustained long enough to gather a team of technical experts to get your app on the road. However, you still have one or two missing puzzles regarding having a full-stack app development team to complete your app. In this case, you can make use of specialized talent services that outsource individual talents to fill in the missing places in your puzzle on a contractual basis. Such companies generally have an array of talents that can help design, develop, or even manage roles to complete a project. The most popular services that entrepreneurs look for are :

• Technical Product Manager (TPMs)
• Product Managers (PMs)
• UI Designers

Pros and Cons of hiring Offshore App Developers from Talent Services

Pros

• Cost-effective and affordable
• You can choose from a large pool of talent
• Eliminates the need to go through the tedious process of hiring proper professionals
• Eliminates the need to micromanage
• Gives you time to focus on your business projects

Cons

• Time consuming to find the right team
• Time zone challenges
• Language Barrier
• Risk to IP protection

Wrapping Up
We believe hiring offshore app developers is the best way to get your app development requirements fulfilled. We mention hiring ‘Off-Shore’ App Developers because there are many benefits of over hiring app developers from your locality, especially if you are situated in the US, UK, or other developed countries. An offshore development company is any app development company situated in a country with a great pool of talent in IT and tech services. You can also hire them at a much lower rate than your local developers.  There are a whole range of services that can be outsourced from such IT hub countries.

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