Choosing the Right Development Company

Trusting a company to turn your vision into a finished product is not a process that should be taken lightly. It can be hard enough figuring out whether you want to develop offshore or onshore (check out our blog post on Offshore vs Onshore Software Development), and then navigating through the hundreds of software companies in those areas is an arduous task. Here are 3 things that’ll help narrow down the journey of finding the right company.

Experience & Credibility

Before you go out and buy a new phone, you always go on the companies website, read about the features of the phone, and then go read some reviews on how the phone has been working for other people. You would never think to skip these steps because buying a phone is a big purchase and you want to make sure you are getting one that is the best fit for you. When deciding what software development company to choose, why wouldn’t you do the same thing, if not more research? Something to check out is the experience a company has and their credibility as well. To go about that, see if they have an established online presence and a fully finished website. That should be the bare minimum considering it is a software development company. On their website look for a portfolio of their projects or a case study section (check out Waker’s case study’s) and see if this is the work you and your company are looking for. Finally, check out some external reviews on a website such as Clutch (check out Waker’s reviews on Clutch). Clutch compiles verified reviews from clients so you are able to see the other side of the story as well. These two steps will help you figure out if this company means business and if they are a potential fit for you.

Building an MVP and/or Prototype

Suppose you are hiring a landscaper to take your home or office green space to the next level. This company has an established online presence and good reviews, but you are not ready to fully commit your entire yard and spend a lot of money for something which you do not know what it will look like. So you decide to just get a small portion of green space finished and then if that looks great you will go ahead and finish the yard or ask for something different before you get the entire yard done. When deciding a software development company, this same principle applies. See if the company you are looking into offers to create a prototype or an MVP  (minimum viable product). This way you do not have to commit an upfront lump sum and you can take this process at your own pace (check out our post about prototyping and creating an MVP ). With a prototype you are able to see if this product is working the way you imagined it to work and from here on out you can easily make changes to ensure that the finished product will work how you want it to work. an MVP  will allow you to see the working product, before it is completely fleshed out. Companies that offer to create one or both of these are the way to go because you are not required to fully commit your time and money to a finished product, and you can make sure your software comes out the way you envisioned.

Communication

Communication is key whenever two groups combine to work towards a common goal. When seeking out the company it is best to look at the ones that are very transparent with you and will always communicate if there are any roadblocks or questions. This will allow for you to have ease of mind since you know exactly what is happening with your product and you are sure it is on the right track since the company communicated clearly what they intended on doing. Most importantly, you should be able to see exactly what the code of your uncompleted product looks like whenever you please - at the end of the day it is still your product. Transparency is key to being a good software development company.

Takeaway

To sum it up, when figuring out what software development company to choose from, keep in mind these 3 things: experience & credibility, whether they can start with an MVP and/or prototype, and communication skills. If you are able to clearly see that the company has done good work with good reviews, they are willing to help you with the early stages of the product and not just the final one, and you both communicate effectively, you should have a smooth experience bringing your idea to life.

Where Waker Stands

Waker is a top-ranked user experience design and software development agency. We work with our clients to strategize digital products, design the user experience, and use cutting-edge software development to bring it all to life. We have done work with smaller motivated startups to Fortune 500 companies, and all our clients love our hands-on, partnership-style process.