10 Questions to Ask Before Hiring App Development Company

22 Oct 10 Questions to Ask Before Hiring App Development Company

Mobile apps are everywhere and they have touched almost every industrial sector. They have changed the face of business. It is kind of imperative today to have an app developed for almost every business. Do you also wish to launch your brand new app or improve the capability of the one you already own; but you don’t have the time or skills required to do so? Probably, you don’t know anything about coding or have a little knowledge in the matter. And so, your next step would be to hire someone!

While you are on the journey of choosing developers for your app, make sure your investments are going to get a good return. Not being sure on this can be devastating. For example, the CEO of Where4Events, Caroline Woodhouse lost $500,000 to her developers in an attempt to build her app. The lesson she learned- Being sure that you are outsourcing your project to the right app developers.

It can be quite daunting to choose the right app developers for your app provided you don’t have much knowledge in the field. You don’t know what parameters you should be judging. Worry not, because there are some questions that you can ask and steps you can take to be at the advantage.

Things to Consider Before Searching the App Development Company

So, before you even start the process of searching and hiring the app development team, you must be very clear on certain things about your own project. And this requires a self-work.

• Know what kind of Platform you want for your app:

You can choose any platform Android, iOS or both. But be sure you stick to your decision. Cross-platform apps are good for multiple platforms but native apps provide the best user experience. Ask your developers what they are good at, but stick to your choice.

• Make sure your developers understand Your Project:

This is critical because if they haven’t gained enough understanding about your project; it will be difficult for them to achieve what you are really looking forward to. This will also hamper their creativity and the result might turn out what you expected.

• Make sure to approach a trusted app development firm:

A trusted app development firm means they have successful projects completed in the past and they must be accessible to you. You can even download some of them and test their functionalities.

Questions to Ask Before Hiring App Development Company

1. Where Can We Find the Previously Developed Apps?

You will be able to look through the portfolio of the app development company except for the one where the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) is signed. You can ask them to show you apps that they have developed for other clients. And, also download a few of them and test yourself to be certain about this company for your next app project.

2. Can I See a List of Current and Past Clients?

You can approach the app development firm and ask them to show a list of clients they claim to be working for or had dealings with them. In some cases, you might also be able to see a client testimonial or have a conversation with them to know that you are choosing the right app development company.

3. Which Platform Are You Comfortable with?

Make sure that your app developer is comfortable with the platform you have chosen for your app project. Ask them which programming language they prefer and why?

4. Which Smartphones Do They use?

There’s some logic here. If a firm is claiming they are good in one particular platform, it is evident that the developers must be using smartphones based on that platform or at least having sound knowledge of its working environment. So, it’s kind of a tricky question to validate their claims.

5. What is Your GitHub Repository link?

GitHub is used for version controls. However, developers use GitHub for saving codes that are sharable among clients and their team members. So, you can always ask for the developer to share their GitHub repository. There you can find the apps they are working on and the ones they have worked in the past.

6. How Long Will It Take to Add Google Analytics to My App?

If the answer to this question is one week, one month or anything more than that, then probably they don’t have much expertise in these areas. None of these takes more than 45 minutes to fix it on your app.

7. Do you have a Developer Account?

This does not mean you are going to use their developer account. This is just to ensure that they have a developer account for an app store. And if they do not have one, it probably means they haven’t published an app. So, you can take your decision of choosing the company or not; provided they haven’t published any app in the store.

8. Do you provide documentation for the Apps?

Documentation is an important part of your app. Consider you have a requirement for making an update in your app at some point in future. What if you don’t have an access to the existing app scenario? You are sure not going to develop a documentation again from scratch. Make sure your app development company provide you with the documentation.

9. What do your Payment terms look like?

Have approximate budget estimation ready for your app project. Ask them for their payment terms. It is good to have some prefixed milestones set with the company and you pay only when a milestone is completed.

10. Are you going to develop App yourself?

There are several companies who outsource their projects outside the company or parts of them. In that case, you need to be sure of the outsourcing party as well. You don’t want to compromise on the quality and so this must be ensured.

Conclusion

Mobile applications have changed the way of business operates and the engagement with their customers.  If you have not caught up this opportunity, then you might be losing a great marketplace and a lot of money.

Hiring the right app development company for your app can be a major challenge for your business. But you can always count on these questions to provide you a fruitful guidance before taking your next step of hiring.