Guide for Choosing a Software Development Company for Startups

18 February 2022 • 14 min read

Co-Founder at Softermii

Many entrepreneurs and startups believe that they can only outsource their software development processes if they have a large, long-term project. They also believe that outsourcing can be costly, but this is completely false.

Outsourcing, in reality, can aid business owners in their company’s growth and optimization. This can then result in a successful market entry. They can also save money because outsourcing is less expensive than hiring in-house developers. However, the true challenge is choosing the right software development company. With tens of thousands of technology companies, it can be difficult to know how to choose a software development partner.

As a result, in this article, we will look at whether it’s better to hire freelance developers or a software development company, how to find and hire technology firms, what to look for in a software development company, common hiring mistakes made by startups, and why Softermii is a great choice for your company’s project.

Should You Hire A Freelance Developer Or A Company?

Hiring a freelancer is less expensive than employing a software development firm. However, it generally ends up costing more in the end and can overinflate your budget.

Most freelance developers are experts in a single field or specialization. As a result, if there are any unanticipated challenges or issues throughout the development process, they will waste time and resources trying to find a solution. Furthermore, if they make a mistake, you’ll almost always need to employ another freelancer to fix the issues. However, that is presuming that your new developer can read or decipher the code that your original contractor wrote.

When you employ a software development company, you are hiring a complete team of professionals. As a result, if one member is unable to resolve an issue, another can readily step in to help. Furthermore, hiring a dedicated software development team eliminates the possibility of a project being abandoned or neglected. If one of the members were to leave or become unwell, another would step in to fill the void. This would be something that a single freelance developer would not be able to do.

Most significantly, once a project is completed, freelance developers frequently leave without providing post-release maintenance and support. Companies, on the other hand, look after every customer and continue to work with them even after the project is finished. They always offer their services for software maintenance and bug fixing. This is because they are focused on building long-term relationships with their clients. Furthermore, as they were the ones responsible for creating the product, they will be able to provide high-quality maintenance because they will know exactly where to look and how to fix any issues.

As a result, startups should consider choosing a software development company. Despite the higher initial costs, business owners will save significantly more time and money in the long term.

Where Can You Find Software Development Companies?

Clutch

Clutch is a well-known and reliable source for choosing a software development company for startups. Before being listed on the site, each company is thoroughly investigated and vetted. This is done with detailed applications, customer reviews, personal phone calls, and portfolios. Additionally, when you search for a company, you will be able to see their ratings as well as vital information, such as their area of focus, employee count, contact information, hourly rates, location, and minimum project expenses.

Goodfirms

Goodfirms is a comprehensive research and review platform that ranks software development firms. They are ranked by their experience, market penetration, portfolio, and verified customer ratings. It helps users identify organizations that best meet their demands by using an innovative filtering system.

LinkedIn’s talent pool reports reflect the supply and demand for a specific type of talent in a given area. This enables startups to identify the best locations to search for top specialists in a particular sector. This platform also includes thorough profiles of each software development firm, allowing users to learn about its area of expertise, employee count, contact information, and location in seconds. This makes it easier to decide on how to choose a software development company.

Upwork

Upwork employs sophisticated algorithms to identify candidates who are the best match for a client’s needs. Each agency’s page includes its experience, portfolio, and reviews, as well as a detailed profile. Clients can ensure that they are getting exactly what they paid for as this platform counts keystrokes and takes random screenshots of the developer’s screen on the customer’s behalf.

Criteria For Choosing A Software Company

Blogs

A frequently maintained and updated blog illustrates that the organization is committed to sharing its expertise. It is a great approach to see how well-versed they are in various specializations and how well they communicate with the community. Even if you don’t have the time to read through every blog post in detail, you should at least skim through the titles and topics. You should also look at the publishing date to check if new content is produced regularly, as this indicates whether they are active and current with technology and trends.

Client Feedback

When looking at customer reviews, keep in mind that some feedback on a company’s website could be fabricated. To avoid this, you can either directly ask customers about their personal experiences with the organization or look for verified reviews on outsourcing platforms. It is strongly advised that you use the latter technique because these reviews must be approved by the platform’s administration, ensuring that there is no danger of them being fabricated. You will also be able to locate disadvantages that aren’t stated in the reviews on the company’s website, such as problems that the customer may have encountered while working with the organization.

Portfolio

You can see a company’s knowledge and experience with different technologies by looking at its portfolio. You will also be able to discover if there are any cases that are similar to your project. When reviewing prior cases, pay close attention to the company’s work processes, specialties, and whether their products are user-friendly and well-designed.

Services

A company that offers a diverse set of services will be able to help you with your project in more ways than one. During the development phase, they will be able to provide solutions and suggestions, as well as a product with several competitive advantages. When evaluating a company’s services, look for preliminary market search, post-release maintenance, regular quality checks, and risk assessment and mitigation.

Technology Stack

Different projects necessitate a variety of approaches and solutions. Even if a company excels at writing code, it may lack the necessary technological expertise for your project. In addition, a team must stay current with new technologies, such as frameworks, programming languages, and tools. It is crucial to speak with the company and see if their technological stack can be customized to your project’s requirements.

Common Mistakes Made By Startups When Selecting A Technology Vendor

Inadequate Research

Some startups make the mistake of exclusively relying on recommendations when selecting a technology vendor. Although recommendations are an excellent and important source of information, each project is different and will necessitate a unique set of skills and techniques. As a result, businesses should conduct comprehensive research on the necessary talents and technologies for their projects. Following that, they can search for organizations with the experience and expertise in those disciplines, and browse through portfolios for projects that are similar to theirs.

Read also: How to Pivot Your Startup

Miscommunication

It is critical for startups to describe and thoroughly set out their vision to the technology vendor. After all, if the organization does not comprehend your business’ needs and specifications, it will be unable to produce the proper product. As a result, simply stating a concept or idea is insufficient. Before beginning any work, have a thorough discussion about approval methods, goals, milestones, required content, and solutions.

Startups should also begin with a minimum viable product (MVP) to analyze their project, identify issues, and test it with real users before devoting their complete attention.

Outdated Companies And Technologies

When a company employs outmoded interfaces, technology, and workflows, it can have a significant impact on how end-users interact with the resulting software. It can also lead to difficulties in performing effective updates and finding a new development vendor to take over or continue the project. As a result, if a startup begins with an outdated firm, it may end up costing them more time and money in the long term.

Price Over Quality

Most entrepreneurs make the mistake of focusing too much on the price and not enough on the quality of service. They may not be aware of the full extent of risks that they are taking by accepting proposals with the lowest price and shortest competition conditions. Low prices are frequently connected with inexperienced development teams that lack the necessary skills and knowledge, which can cause the budget and timeline to balloon by three to five times what was originally planned.

While it’s understandable that startups want to keep expenses low, they should recruit developers who are up-to-date on the latest technologies and have the necessary skills to avoid low-quality results.

Quality Assurance Is Undervalued

Software development should include quality assurance as a standard procedure. After all, it is uncommon for a project to start perfectly successful and error-free. As a result, it is critical to hire a company that can conduct regular testing both during and after the project’s development.

Read also: How to Set Up Software QA Process

Why Should You Outsource To Softermii?

Softermii has over seven years of expertise in delivering projects of various sizes and complexities for a variety of startups. We offer high-end software development services and place a strong emphasis on long-term collaboration to ensure that our clients are happy with their projects, even long after the development process is finished.

We recognize that startup owners have a wide range of obligations and activities to focus on, including management, marketing, public relations, and sales, in addition to software development and maintenance. As a result, our team of specialists relieves startups from some of these responsibilities, allowing them to concentrate on what matters. We will handle the developmental responsibilities and tasks, leaving you free to focus on project management and company growth.

We are proud to report that our clients have put their trust in us with over 70 successful projects for both small and medium-sized businesses. Cryptocurrency exchange and trading, e-commerce, enterprise, entertainment, fintech, healthcare, ICO service packages, real estate, sports betting, and video conferencing are some of our most successful initiatives. The following are a few of our most noteworthy accomplishments.

DogVacay

DogVacay is an online community that links pet owners with over 30,000 five-star pet sitters around Canada and the United States. Complex functionality is used to ensure a smooth booking and rating system, as well as continuous online communication. This pet sitting software has a user-friendly layout and includes geolocation to allow users to identify the closest available pet sitters in their area.

Over 50,000 people have downloaded DogVacay, and it has received over 1,000 top-rated reviews. It has been dubbed the “Airbnb for pets” by TechCrunch, Adweek, AppAdvice, and TravelandLeisure. It is also widely regarded as an app that can provide peace of mind to down owners across North America.

Dollar Shave Club

Dollar Shave Club is a monthly subscription service that sends high-quality razors for one low price. Users are given complete control over their orders via the app, as well as the ability to learn more about the products they are receiving. Online payments, rapid credit card scanning, one-touch purchases, order tracking, and account management are a few of the features available in this sophisticated retail mobile app.

Dollar Shave Club has approximately 500,000 downloads and has been featured in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store for several weeks. Furthermore, the company was acquired for over a billion dollars as a result of its tremendous success, and the mobile app now receives over 400,000 recurrent orders.

Hollar

Hollar is an online discount retail platform with useful features such as customer service integration, predictive search, and real-time-updated product collections for convenient at-home shopping. The platform allows users to buy dollar-store-style bargains online. It has also been credited for redesigning the online market for the smartphone age.

Hollar’s website receives over 700,000 monthly visitors, and its Google Play Store app has been downloaded over a million times. It has a market capitalization of more than $200 million and has attracted more than $80 million from venture capital firms such as Index Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Lightseed.

Locum App

Locum App is an employment solution for the pharmaceutical industry in the United Kingdom. It is cutting-edge software that streamlines and automates the hiring process. By employing two unique user flows and admin panel features, both pharmacists and pharmacies can easily identify employment and employees based on geography, experience, and working hours. Users are also able to talk within the app and book interviews and meetings with ease thanks to an integrated messaging network.

Locum App was the first online mobile community of pharmacists and pharmacies in the United Kingdom's market. It was also the first to staff a specific industry. It pioneered a new optimized and automated way for recruitment and staffing, and it was well-received by the industry.

Polyfish

Polyfish is a language studying and practising tool that uses video chat. Users can not only practise their English with native speakers, but they can also select the topics that they want to learn about. Our main goal was to mix video conferencing and text messaging while maintaining a high data transfer speed so that users could learn without being interrupted.

We exceeded our client’s expectations by designing a user-friendly interface and completing the project in less than two months. Users were able to meet people from all over the world and have interactive chats by using fluid video messages.

RadPad

RadPad is a rental marketplace that connects landlords and tenants through an end-to-end application. Renters can seek new residences by using a sophisticated search engine with a map component. They may also use the app to find roommates, pay rent, request maintenance, and even purchase insurance.

RadPad has received widespread acclaim and has been named one of the Top 10 Best New Apps for the past two years. It includes a robust backend that allows for a big property database, extensive search and filtering, an interactive map, and real-time chat. By conducting a thorough user experience analysis and usability testing, we were able to create a rental search software and transform it into the sophisticated end-to-end tool that it is today.

… And More

You can see more of our successful cases by checking out our expansive portfolio.

We help startups with software development expertise

When you choose a software development company for your startup, it is a crucial decision that should not be taken lightly. It can determine whether your startup’s market penetration succeeds or fails, thus it is critical to make the right decision. However, by utilizing the tips for choosing a software development company as mentioned within this article, you will discover that the hiring process can be easier than it seems. You will also discover that Softermii is exactly what your startup needs.

Softermii provides a wide range of custom development services, allowing us to create one-of-a-kind products using a combination of multifield technologies. Over $250 million has been invested in our partnered startups, and $1.4 billion spent in unicorn acquisitions. With over 100 qualified and talented developers and IT specialists, we are motivated to work with you to create the next top product.

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Written by:

Andrii Horiachko