9 Reasons to Use Outsourced Product Development for Your Startup
BySarah Harris
Sarah Harris takes care of the customer support requests at Workast. She is also an avid writer.
Sarah Harris takes care of the customer support requests at Workast. She is also an avid writer.
You are a startup owner. You are trying to figure out how to get your product onto the market, and you need product development help. Where do you turn? Choose an in-house development team, or get the job done by outsourcing a software development company? This can be a difficult decision for startups.
People delegate their projects to a software product development service for many purposes (I.T. consultancy, business analytics, UI/UX design, minimum viable product (MVP) development, marketing, custom software development, and many other purposes). Even such tech giants as WhatsApp, Skype, Opera (and other large players) are companies that use outsourcing services to reduce risks, save money, access new specialists, etc.
In this article, we will share some reasons to choose product development outsourcing. So keep on reading the following paragraphs!
Why has outsourced product development become so widespread in today's business world? In the next paragraphs, we will cover some of the key reasons.
Outsourced software product development can help you establish control over your budget. You can select the number of specialists (several developers or the whole development team) who will work on your product and for how long they will work (just for MVP or for further support) and fully control the scale of your project.
There are no additional hidden costs. The fixed price you should pay for the provided outsourced services will be specified in the contract. It can increase only if you add new functions to your software product, for example.
When you are about to enter the market with a new, fresh startup, the more you wait, the more market your competitors occupy. If you contract out with an outsourced product development company, this company will be able to get your product to market faster for a bunch of reasons:
You can hire an experienced development team instead of wasting time hiring a specialist for every position internally.
Hiring an experienced team will save you time and money by eliminating the need to train new employees in-house before they contribute to delivering excellent results for your business. Your vendor will form a technical team of professionals suitable for your project in terms of both skills and experience.
The time frames during which your outsourced team will be working on your project will be specified in the contract. Thus, the risk of violating deadlines will be minimal. And even if something like this happens, you will inevitably get compensation.
With outsourcing, you avoid the risk of losing specialists that may quit during your project development process, which will result in a significant loss of time as you will have to waste it while looking for a new specialist.
When it comes to in-house development, there are usually no strict time frames, and even small issues in the design process, for example, may lead to a noticeable delay in the development process.
Thanks to outsourcing, companies lacking specific skills or expertise within their organization can access a wider array of specialists worldwide. There are more candidates than if you hire locally, and you will have more options for finding the perfect candidate.
You will also be able to boost your chances of hiring someone with knowledge or experience in areas of expertise that may not be available locally. For example, suppose you need a developer specializing in developing SaaS applications. In that case, you may not find the right candidate for this vacancy locally, but with outsourcing to a company like DOIT Staffing, you can hire a remote specialist from any country that will be perfect for you in terms of both price and skills.
Advantageous conditions aren't the only reason why many companies use outsourcing services, as they also open new opportunities for both newbies and experienced founders. An experienced I.T. outsourcing company can help you build a software product that will easily outperform all your competitors. That is why many small and big software product startup owners resort to I.T. consulting services on outsourcing to get deeper expertise and get consultations towards their idea, business plan, future of the company or startup, etc.
Outsourcing gives you flexibility when scaling your software product up or down to user needs. With outsourcing, you don't have to spend money on resources that aren't necessary at the moment. You can outsource your project at any stage of the development process, be it a product idea or a ready product that needs upgrading.
Managing your development team independently can be very distracting instead of focusing on business-related aspects, fixing problems, and developing a strategy. With outsourcing, you can focus on your core business while retaining control over the development process. Just make sure to regularly communicate with someone who manages your project on outsourcing (project manager) to monitor the process and track the progress.
Software product outsourcing allows you to minimize risks by working with experts who have broad experience with projects for different industries and have built, launched, and supported numerous products of their previous clients. Outsourcing service providers can share valuable insights and help you succeed with your project.
By relying on the solid experience of an outsourced software development company, you have more chances to create a successful product than when trying to launch a project on your own.
As a startup owner, you don't have excessive resources for experiments, rework, bug fixing, the final steps of the development process, etc. You must carefully allocate financial resources to each aspect of the development process, avoiding extra costs and costly technologies/services. One of the main benefits of outsourcing is the opportunity to save money in many ways.
First, you gain access to a wider pool of specialists, so you have more chances to hire the ones that suit your budget perfectly.
As per Silicon Valley Bank's U.S. Startups Outlook, more than 30% of companies that use outsourcing services are from the USA. The reason for that is simple: the development costs in countries of Eastern Europe, India, and Vietnam are much lower than those in the USA and countries of Western Europe. So, when outsourcing your project to a remote development team from another country, you can save a lot of money.
Building an in-house team requires a lot of time, energy, dedication, and money. Outsourcing services can free you from spending money on forming an onboard team for your project. Besides, you won't have to pay your outsourced team members salaries: you pay only for the job done. Besides, most internal workers usually get a fixed salary that doesn't depend on how much and how well they work, often resulting in additional expenses.
When cooperating with an outsource software development company, you don't need to extend an office space and buy new hardware and software. Your remote development team is already provided with everything necessary for their job.
Hiring experienced specialists with outstanding skills to work for you as in-house employees will cost you an arm and a leg. But, with outsourcing, you can access the expertise of top professionals in your sphere for an affordable price as you don't have to pay them their salary; you buy their expertise as a service.
Your outsourced software development partner is interested in your success, and no company can be successful if it develops low-quality products. Besides, as you sign a contract, the vendor satisfies your needs. Thus, as you see an intermediate result you won't like, your team will make changes to improve the product until you like it.
Most outsourced software development companies use an Agile methodology nowadays, allowing them to make incremental improvements during the software product development lifecycle. Thanks to this, there will be no need to rework the end product if something goes wrong during development.
If you are a small business owner, you probably have limited resources, practical knowledge, and expertise. In this case, outsourcing is a perfect option for you for several reasons. First, outsourcing allows you to save money (as we have already mentioned). Secondly, you don't need to be a tech-savvy person to outsource your software development project. Your outsourced team will help you conduct the discovery phase, validate your idea, understand how everything works, and take care of the technical side of your project.
The reasons for outsourcing product development are clear. You can meet market demands more easily and access a broader talent pool. But the decision to outsource is ultimately up to you. This cooperation model has a lot of benefits, but it should also fit into your overall strategy. Many other factors may influence your decision (like whether or not you have enough capital).