Why Hire a Professional Developer for Startup MVP Development

Why Hire a Professional Developer for Startup MVP Development

Table of Contents

1. 1. Introduction

1. 1. Why MVP development is vital to a start-up’s success

1. 1. What you can expect from an MVP development agency

3.1.  An outside perspective

3.2.  Time taken to finish the task

3.3.  Professionalism and reliability

4. 4. The process of hiring professional developers for creating an MVP

4.1.  Get into an ideal state of mind

4.2.  Narrowing down your search to the best possible candidates

4.3.  Getting on the same page

5. 5. Wrapping Up

Introduction

Every idea needs legs to go the distance – and obvious as it may sound, so is the case with start-ups as well. What we mean by this is the fact that there are many start-ups that end up hitting a glass ceiling. Especially when the time comes to bring their product to the targeted consumer. 

According to Siya.tech, this isn’t even to say that there’s anything deficient about the business model of such start-ups. It is simply the inability to create a product that works and can be rolled out to the masses for the feedback necessary for further development.

What is an MVP?

Here is where a Minimum Viable Product comes into play. An MVP in startup terms is essentially an early iteration of what the entrepreneur is trying to achieve. MVP development conceptualizes the central idea into a version of a product (be it an app, website, etc) that is no-frills and only contains some basic features. 

These are features that its developers can afford to include in the early stages of funding for the start-up. Having said that, it is ideally not so barren that it falls short on providing the targeted customer with an experience that is in the ballpark of what the final product is supposed to be.

Why MVP development is vital to a start-up’s success

We have tried to understand what an MVP in essence is and what it should look to achieve. However, in this section, we’ll try to get into the nuts and bolts of what making one entails.

Before we dive in, we must remember that the whole point of developing an MVP is to gather as much substantial information as possible. By substantial information, we mean the kind of feedback about the MVP that is hard to refute given that it comes from actual consumers using a service. 

How an MVP helps

Now, the experience being offered in an MVP might be preliminary in nature and only used by early adopters. Early adopters are consumers who have a more lenient approach to the MVP’s user-friendliness. They have an awareness about the stage at which they are using the product in its development process. 

Despite this, the feedback being provided by them is without a doubt very useful to developers. This is because the improvements made in response to such feedback is not based on theoretical knowledge but practical usage. This last bit is key, and this is why a lot of resources are allocated solely for MVP development for startups.

Changes made to the product after gathering feedback from early adopters are regarded as being more likely to succeed. This also helps developers work on the more important aspects of the product. This can happen while developers get a clearer understanding of how subsequent development should take place.

What you can expect from an MVP development agency

This is one of the easier questions to answer in this blog – because creating an MVP is not easy!

Well, perhaps you are the person who formulated the idea for the start-up. Besides everything needed to bring your idea together, you are also good at coding. You might be inclined to avoid spending money on a professional developer when you can do it on your own. However, this is where many start-up entrepreneurs end up making the mistake of playing down the importance of what we are discussing.

Here are some of the reasons why it might be a good idea to outsource the task of creating an MVP to industry professionals:

1. 1. An outside perspective: 

Sometimes your idea might sound appealing to you, but it may not capture the imagination of your intended audience. The best way to prevent this from happening is to get the views of someone who has worked on a variety of projects to a varying degree of success. 

This gives them a fair estimation of the idea you have conceived and how it might catch on. If the developer you have outsourced the task of creating the MVP to agrees with you and believes in the idea as much as you do, chances are they mean it.

2. 2. Time taken to finish the task: 

Companies specializing in the creation of an MVP for startups generally have a dedicated team of developers who work in tandem with one another.

It goes without saying that this will greatly reduce the time taken to churn out a working product. The time saved here can prove to be the difference between success and failure of your enterprise.

3. 3. Professionalism and reliability:

This point might seem a bit too elementary, and it is, but it is equally important to consider. 

If you let a bunch of your coder friends carry out the task of creating an MVP, there always exists the possibility of missed deadlines and roadblocks that aren’t possible to be overcome with limited know-how.

The same could be the case with freelancers as well. With a whole team of professionals at the helm with dedicated project managers making sure all deadlines are met, you can at the very least count on them to turn in a functional MVP on time and without you having to watch over the whole process, and waste energy that could be well spent focusing on some of the other aspects of the vision you have.

Going down the route of getting a company to do the startup MVP job for you will bring a lot of other factors into play. These include the insights you would get from such a team of developers that could mean so much for your future endeavors as well as for the project being worked upon. 

Also, going down this route will probably mean your chosen MVP developer will have to sign a non-disclosure agreement. This will protect you against any potentially malicious attempts to leak the valuable information about your idea and the insights gathered to a third party. 

So this option is not just advisable for all the reasons described before. It is also the safest avenue you can take in taking your start-up idea to the next level.

The process of hiring professional developers for creating an MVP

So you have convinced yourself that a professional approach is the one you’re going to take, but what next? How are you going to go about finding the right developers for your specific needs? What is to be expected? And how will the whole thing go down? These are questions that need to be asked and we are here to answer them.

Get into an ideal state of mind

The first step to closing in on your ideal development team for the creation of MVP for startups won’t need anything but your own vision for how your project’s development should end up looking like.

One must be clear on what kind of product they are looking to put out. At the same time they should also understand the amount of changes they would be willing to make on the recommendation of their chosen MVP development team. 

There exists a fine balance between having tunnel vision and being able to make compromises. This means being able to see the immediate requirements for the good of the project.

Narrowing down your search to the best possible candidates

Having realized the above, you must now begin your search. Perhaps you have already made a shortlist of potential candidates. If so, you should ideally speak to them in person to see if they align with your vision. If you have not begun your search, we will lay down a few pointers that might be of help.

1. 1. Start scouring the developer forums: 

Go through subreddits on Reddit or any other threads or forums on Slack or Discord for developers to see what the consensus on a good agency is, MVP startup-wise. 

2. 2. Visit popular start-up communities: 

You can also visit websites such as Cofounderslab.com, Angel.co (Wellfound) or Indiehackers.com. When doing so, don’t settle for any one immediately. Try getting ideas on how reputed agencies and companies present themselves.

3. 3. Run ads or pitch your needs on social media: 

This step needs to be one of the latter ones as you need to understand beforehand who you should spend time interviewing and communicating further with, as you might come across plenty of potentially good but ultimately sketchy options.

Getting on the same page

Once you have an inclination on which developer firm you are going to go with, the most important bit is to make sure that you communicate well, so that either party shares roughly the same idea of what the roadmap to success for your enterprise looks like. 

Be sure to listen carefully and understand what their requirements are for the execution of the task. This is as important as stressing on conveying your own demands. If you are on the same page, it will only help further down the road.

Wrapping Up

We have taken a brief look at what MVP is and how vital it is for the success of a start-up. We have also touched upon the things that make hiring an agency worth more than all of the other options out there, which includes a higher degree of reliability and a shorter turnaround time.

Despite the obvious plus points, it is probably a good idea to weigh up all of your options before committing yourself to a firm of professional developers. This is because such an agency or firm could possibly be quite an investment to start with. You don’t want to have reservations halfway through the project’s completion, thinking the job could easily have been done by a freelancer. 

All of the arguments made above in favor of a professional team of developers for developing your MVP hold true, but doing an exhaustive research on all of the available options will only serve to ease your doubts which could possibly occur later down the line. Not to mention it will also help you understand the scale of what’s needed to be pulled off.

Once you do decide on hiring a firm, communicate your ideas clearly and take their ideas onboard as well. Always remember that the stronger the connection between both parties is, the better will be the MVP and the subsequent development of your intended idea.

FAQs

1. 1. Why is an MVP important for startups?

A Minimum Viable Product allows a start-up to gather plenty of insights into how to improve their final product with the help of actual users of the MVP. An MVP can also open up possibilities for further investment. It can also increase the scope of hiring the people that you need in particular for your start-up.

2. 2. What does an MVP development agency do?

As the name suggests, an MVP development agency will create a minimum viable product for the idea that you have, besides which they will also handle many of the other technical aspects of the process of upscaling your business further. Once enough feedback has been generated from the MVP’s launch, they’ll use them for creating the best version of your product.

3. 3. What are the benefits of professional full-time developers over freelancers for MVP development?

If a start-up is committed to developing a product in a way that avoids any potentially harmful circumstances for your start-up’s future prospects, such as not disclosing any data gathered during the product’s development or missing key deadlines, then looking at full-time developers is the way to go from the outset.

4. 4. How can I find the ideal developers for creating an MVP for my start-up?

Do a lot of research in comparing the options you have out there for you. This will allow you to find an agency or firm that is suited to your needs. You can do so by going through developer forums such as CoFoundersLab, Wellfound, and Indie Hackers, or Reddit. You should also meet them and check out their portfolio once you have narrowed down your options to a few.

5. 5. What steps should I take after selecting a developer for creating my MVP?

You should make sure that the developer agency or firm you have hired for creation of your product shares the same vision as you do. In order to do so, make sure that the lines of communication are open at all times between yourself and the team of developers. Also, as discussed before, make sure that they sign a non-disclosure agreement to protect your intellectual property and the data gathered in working towards the final product.