You understand what you want from your software – more or less. What you don’t understand is that mysterious coding thing developers do that makes it work. So how are you going to choose the software developer who’s going to help you make your new business fly? Won’t the charlatans run rings around you? You know it’s a fiercely competitive market out there, so how will you even know when you’re looking at the answer?
We’ve put together a handy step-by-step guide to software outsourcing to help you make possibly the most crucial business decision you’ll ever make.
1. Clarify your needs
A good developer is not going to blind you with .net or c#, but you’ll make the communication between you much more effective if you’re able to accurately articulate what your business needs. Sit down, think it through, and talk it over with someone else if it helps. The two basic questions to ask yourself at this stage are “Do I want an interactive site?” and “Will there be a mobile aspect?”. If you need your site to interact with users, rather than passively presenting information, you should at least consider involving a developer. If you’re planning to target smartphones and tablets, make sure you find one with demonstrable mobile experience too.
2. Get a second opinion
Background research will help you to sort the wheat from the chaff. If you know someone whose job is to hire coders, ask them to help you to vet any applicants. Network, whether that means in the bar after work or online. Word of mouth recommendations are so much more reliable than an overblown CV. If there’s really no-one, try attending a developers’ meetup in Costa Rica and you should soon get a feel for who genuinely knows their stuff.
3. Speak their language
Good software developers are coders because they love both the puzzle of the code and the creative potential in mastering it. This is what gets them out of bed in the morning. If you want to really communicate with a developer, try to avoid sounding too obsessed with business and your bottom line. Present them with your ideas and ask them how they would go about making them work, improving on them, and pursuing related ideas you hadn’t even considered. Once you have them inspired by and thinking practically about your project, they’re almost certainly hooked.
4. Treat them as professionals
Be realistic about what you can offer in terms of both remuneration and career development. If you can demonstrate the potential of your new venture, through evidence like a prototype, secured venture capital or good industry connections, share this information. If they’re any good, they’ll have options too.
Contact Us, we would be happy to hear about your project and provide advice.
