Table of contents
Like all business ventures, startups are usually born out of an idea. On paper, everything sounds fresh and exciting. You start out, bright-eyed and full of hope for the future. But when it comes down to execution, it is where things can start to get tricky.
According to Small Business Trends, only two out of five startups become profitable in the long run. Meanwhile, one in three startup companies will eventually break or lose money. The study cites many factors that can contribute to such an end. However, the most common is how these startups have handled their product. This refers to the application development process itself.
This goes to show that having an idea is not enough. You should also consider the actual software development process for startups. This process is crucial in ensuring that your startup will be able to thrive in the long run.
Fortunately, you don’t have to do this alone. You can choose to avail the services of application development software or company to help you turn your ideas into reality.
With that, here are some things to consider when choosing the best application development software for your startup.
Identify Your Needs
Before you start looking into different software development services out there, you should first identify what your company would need. In this way, you will have an idea of what kind of software developer sites that would be perfect for your startup.
You can start by creating an outline and discuss it with your team. Identify possible issues you may encounter during the application development process and come up with solutions for them.
Determine the complexity of your intended product to know what kind of tools and support you would need. Emerline takes care of the entire process of startup product development. You should also consider the sustainability of services to ensure that you won’t immediately deplete your resources in this process alone.
This first step might be simple, but it plays a crucial role in your software development life cycle. It ensures that you are well-prepared. By knowing what you need, you will know what to look for.
Read Reviews from Other Customers
With the number of options out there for your startup, you might find it hard to figure out the best place to start your search. Reading reviews on various software developers for startups can help you narrow down the list.
Firsthand accounts from customers can give you an idea of what to expect from the service provider. Just make sure that you read the comments from third-party review websites or forums instead of official websites to ensure that these feedbacks are unbiased and honest.
Simply scrolling through a software developer’s website isn’t enough to know how their service can fit into your business. Thus, reading customer reviews can fill in the gaps and point out the pros and cons of a certain developer.
Keep Track of Cost
One of the most common challenges during app development for startups is the budget constraint. Limited resources can quickly cut back your options when it comes to finding the best software to help you develop your own app.
However, that doesn’t mean you won’t find one. An expensive software doesn’t always mean it’s the best out there. What is more important is finding out whether the price is worth its value to your business. In short, what you need is the most cost-effective option out there.
Likewise, starting out means you won’t need anything fancy yet. Take it one step at a time and look into smaller or medium-sized software developers with more affordable prices. After all, you don’t need to pay more to have all kinds of unnecessary software developing tools, services, and features. Paying for what you need would be enough.
Inquire About Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
Having a minimum viable product (MVP) has several benefits. It ensures that your product satisfies the requirements of your customers before you can actually start developing it. This helps you receive feedback during the development stage, so that you can easily iterate or improve the product before you can fully commit to it.
MVP allows you to test the idea with real users before you start spending your resources on your app’s full development. In this way, you can save up time and money in the long run. It also lets you study your target market’s behaviors, demands, and needs and have it reflected on your product immediately.
This is a good way to have your product released to the market as quickly as possible. Based on the data from real users, you can continue to add features and develop your app along the way while also minimizing potential losses if ever something goes wrong.
Ensure Reliability and Security
Cyberattacks, data breaches, and leaks are still major threats in the digital world. One can never be too careful when it comes to protecting their businesses. Hence, you must make sure that the services you choose are reliable and secured. After all, it plays a large role in your startup’s success.
A reliable software developer would provide you with some legal protection of your product and the partnership itself. This includes client agreements, non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), code warranty, intellectual property ownership, and more. These documents ensure that there is 100% transparency on both sides.
Likewise, you would want to make sure that the app development software itself is secure and private. After all, they might have some of your data stored into their own system. If your provider is attacked, you can be affected as well.
Don’t Forget to Test
An app can never be complete without getting tested first. In fact, it can never be deployed into the market without prior testing. This ensures that everything is in the working order to avoid complaints or issues with customers upon its launch.
Testing is one of the most crucial parts of app development. This is why almost 23% of most software development budgets are allocated towards quality assurance and testing. This is when you find errors made by the programmer or bugs in the system which may pose as a problem later on.
With the information you derive from this last step, you immediately fix glitches or issues with your application before it can even reach your customers. In this way, your app launch will go smoothly, and it won’t leave a bad impression on your target audience.
Check for Support
Of course, developing software is just the start. It still has a lot of processes to undergo afterwards. This includes maintaining and keeping it updated to avoid encountering issues along the way. All of which would need close support from not only yourself but also from your software developer.
Hence, you must also consider the services it offers after sale. You can do so by looking up their maintenance policies and warranties. Likewise, you can also check out their accessibility and their responsiveness in terms of customer service.
Whether this is in the form of consultations, technical assistance, or mentoring, long-term support is the key to ensure that your application remains sustainable in the long run.
Before You Start up
Just as how a seed cannot grow into a plant without proper nourishment, an idea alone is not enough to ensure your startup’s success. It’s largely dependent on the actual process of developing and sustaining your app. Without a working application, there’s no way for your startup to be successful.
To avoid such a fate, you need to find an effective application development process for your startup. You can check out this application development software guide from FinancesOnline to give you an idea on how to approach this process in the best way. Likewise, you would need the best application development software services out there to help you along the way.
