Mistakes That Startups Must Avoid While Outsourcing Software Development

Every startup faces its own challenges and struggles while getting their businesses off the ground. From deciding the time period for the development to the money needed for the software development, business founders of the startups have a difficult task to balance investors, business execution, development flow, target customers, etc. We know that it’s normal for every business to look for the shortest ways to help them complete their tasks faster and efficiently. However, this approach should only be followed by high-range companies or enterprises, not the ones that don’t have extra funds to invest. Talking about startups, many feel that outsourcing their software development process is the best idea. But due to financial constraints, it usually turns out to be a disaster, leading towards a huge loss in development cost. In this blog, we will find out the most common mistakes that can make startups fail while outsourcing software development.
Startup businesses put lots of effort and hard work into bringing their ideas to life, which is why they deserve the best when it comes to software development. The best way is to take the help of a reliable custom software development company in California and build software tailored for unique business needs. Before we proceed towards the list of mistakes that most of the startups deal with, here are some of the worst situations faced by many small businesses worldwide-

• Software development could not be completed due to tight budgets
• Loss of productive hours while creating and finalizing contracts
• Quality of work hampered due to lesser technological expertise
• Development was completed but doesn’t need the desired expectations
• Project delivery was successful but could not scale to the larger audience base
• Disagreement Issue with development team leading towards product abandonment

Common Mistakes to Avoid by Startups

If you are planning for a startup business and thinking to outsource the development, we suggest you look at the common mistakes listed below that must be avoided as a startup to attain business goals faster.

1. Wanting Everything Too Early

One reason why most startups fail is that they want to achieve everything too soon like focusing on perfect user experience instead of making the product usable first. The best thing is to find out about the business model with minimal software to provide the value that your startup business is trying to provide through your product. It’s better not to spend too much effort and time on how to support thousands of users in the later phase, instead you must focus on building the proof of concept first.

2. Working with the Wrong Technology

Another mistake by startups is choosing the wrong technology while developing their software product. Many business founders prefer to choose the particular technology in such ways like-

• Working with the technology that they have used in their past career, which is not the right decision since every project need may differ from one another.
• Some select based on their perception like choosing Ruby for their first version of development because it makes prototypes quickly.
• Choosing the latest technology or framework can be a mistake, as technology updates are quick and without proper expertise, one cannot speed up.

The final choice of picking the technology should be based on your business goals, not your preferences or past experience.

3. Not Documenting Requirements Clearly

Many small businesses often neglect the most important step i.e. documentation of requirements, as they are more focused on business execution. Instead of relying on discussions for new ideas with developers, create a proper requirement document to realize the implications fully. Finding out a bug after the development stage takes five times more effort & cost than finding a defect in the requirement stage. The best takeaway to avoid such mistakes is to build a mockup version without its functionality to get feedback from users.

4. Not Adopting the Agile Spirit

Undoubtedly, using the agile approach in the software development process offers many benefits like reduced costs and chances of failures. Agile practices are not just about scrum meetings and sprints. Even after implementing the agile process, it is not enough if you are not adopting the agile spirit, which means incremental and verifiable functionality. To build a successful product, one must always insist on product demo to ensure the functionality is working correctly in that demo. Timely demos are very important to keep your development process transparent and avoid costly mistakes.

5. Working with a Fixed Cost/Scope

It is understandable that most of the startups are afraid to risk their money, which is why they insist on fixed cost projects to protect their downside. However, one cannot achieve the desired outcome with fixed cost and scope. Development cannot be completed overnight, and it takes time meaning your vision may update/change as the product evolves. Your startup ideas will be interrupted and may need an update with the customer feedbacks. Following the fixed scope and cost in the software development process can charge you a lot for the additional changes. The best way is to choose the development partner, trust them and pay according to the time they invest. Discuss your budget with the developers to see the possibilities.

6. Not Building Relationships

To make your development team understand the business clearly, it is important to engage them emotionally in what they do. Sharing the insights about the business context regularly and building relationships with the development team you work with is the key to success. To avoid any mismatch in the requirements, one must keep viewing the product with them, how it will work, all the necessary features have been implemented or not. Startups should not limit their interactions between their development partners to just development status updates. To be successful, ensure that you build relationships with developers to the point where they start thinking about your tasks as a part of theirs.

7. Not Planning for Product Updates

The last mistake faced by startups is not planning updates on the software product. Every startup should plan the support and maintenance services, which is necessary after the development of the software product. With less budget, business owners close the project once the development is done just to save on costs. However, most of the bugs are discovered only after the product is live and when customers start using it. You can either hire an in-house developer to see any updates/issues in the product or have a support contract with the developer team to fix the issues at the soonest time possible.

Closing Statement

We cannot deny the fact that entrepreneurship is on the rise and for good reason. Though it’s impossible to find a single solution that can solve all the mistakes faced by startups, they can keep the focus on the above-mentioned mistakes shared by startup founders while outsourcing their software development. It is true that the quality of outsourcing services largely depends on the specification of the service provider. As startups usually don’t have much money to invest in code, outsourcing is more beneficial for big brands. If you have a new idea for your startup business, talk to the experts of a software development company in USA that can help you attain a tangible business value.