Whether you are a business with a lean budget or a scale-up with more room for investment, enlisting the expertise of a seasoned professional can accelerate the development and growth of your app.
Perhaps you’re thinking: should I hire in-house or outsource?
If you’re starting a new project, or perhaps you’ve done trials and errors and now you’d like to reach success, perhaps hiring a mobile app development agency is the answer.
App development partner selection, however, is not that simple.
But through this article, we’ll simplify the process for you as we go through the list of factors to consider when hiring a mobile app development agency.
1. App Development Costs
App development cost is probably the first factor business owners consider in their app development partner selection.
While app development costs can be a constraint, they shouldn’t limit you.
A simple app can be made with an investment as low as £8,000 – £20,000.
Even when you’re working with a seasoned mobile app development agency, you can always negotiate how their services can fulfill your tech requirements.
The most common app development pricing models you’ll find usually fall into these categories:
- Fixed Price, which means a strict cost structure with specific technical and business requirements that will be delivered in a certain timeline.
- Mixed Model, or also known as “custom services”, that can be tailored to your budget availability while not compromising the deliverables
- Dedicated Team, which gives you full control in the outsourcing process; ideal for large-scale projects or if you have a thin timeline.
2. Reputation
While there are plenty of mobile app development companies in the sea, there are a lot of scammers as well.
Worse, they’re getting even better at scamming, such as setting up a website that seemingly establishes their authority.
While a website is the first place you can go to for a background check, it’s always important to ensure that the materials there are not made up.
Try to see actual user reviews.
If a website is trustworthy, they won’t be shy to link the forum or review page to their actual site.
Here are other signs to look out for in the process of mobile app development partner selection:
- Experience – how long has the company been operating and how many clients have they handled?
- Ratings – what is the average rating they receive across different review pages and what do customers say?
- Portfolio – what industries have they worked with and are the results satisfactory?
- Accolades – have they ever received any awards?
3. Professional Expertise
As you’re producing a high-tech app, make sure to work with a team that truly understands the tech ecosystem.
A bespoke mobile app development agency usually consists of a team of front-end, back-end, as well as full-stack developers.
They will also employ UI/UX designers to improve the accessibility of your website, as well as marketers and business consultants to grow your business.
Next, understand what app development tools and languages they master, such as Java, Kotlin, and Objective-C.
This is to ensure that your mobile development partner is ready to build an app that can integrate a range of tech stacks, increasing functionality.
Further, think of scalability.
Do you have plans to implement deep tech such as artificial intelligence (AI) or other innovations?
Find out if your mobile app development partner will accommodate this.
4. App Development Project Management
When working with a mobile app development agency, your project will not only last for one week or two but can extend to months or years.
Moving forward, it’s important to understand how the company will handle your project, including the timeline, prioritization of tasks, and the assignment of responsibilities to the team members.
Experienced mobile app development agencies usually follow the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) framework.
They usually incorporate this with other methodologies that are usually agile, such as Scrum and Waterfall, to reduce complexity while enhancing output.
5. Communication
As you’re working with a partner, make sure that you’re looking for a company that is responsible and accountable.
Assess their app idea communication strategies.
The most reliable way to do this is through client reviews.
If customers say they enjoy working with the company, that’s a green light.
However, also look for the red lights, such as criticisms from customers.
Gathering customer reviews will help you make a well-rounded decision and build an expectation on how you will collaborate and communicate with the mobile app development company.
For smooth coordination, make sure to settle with one communication platform.
Whether through WhatsApp or Slack, you can set up a channel for daily updates and discussions.
Schedule meetings whenever needed as well as regularly.
Professional mobile development agencies will usually present their performance report in a monthly meeting.
Wrapping Up
Selecting an app development agency should not be hard, especially if you have come across a potential mobile development partner that checks all the boxes.
London App Development Company is built on reputation – over 12+ years of experience developing high-tech apps for startups, SMBs, to tech giants like Microsoft and Oxitec.
Whatever niche your industry is in, whether it is healthcare or food delivery, we know what it takes to propel your app to success.
