The catalysts to raise your business graph.

The extensive use of smart phones has brought mobile apps into prominence. From buying your grocery, to making important financial transactions, everything is done over simple mobile apps. That’s why according to LinkedIn mobile app developers are the most sought professionals on this Microsoft owned professional network.

There is a huge importance of having a mobile phone app for your business and the mass availability of professionals in the field, makes hiring mobile app developers more critical. In order to find the best, a lot of precision is required while hiring.

Well, let me take you through the few important points to be discussed before hiring app developers.

Do You Really Need a Mobile App Developer?

Generally, the option which you should consider depends on your objectives and the size of your business. A partner doubling up as an app developer or a freelancer are fine for those for small or budding business.

However for a large scale business venture, whose primary domain is not IT, or their major revenue share does not come from an app, hiring a mobile app development agency is ideal and preferred over hiring an in-house team. Although, it stands true mostly for the SME segment, there are great benefits harvested by using this approach. The agency not only works on the allotted project, but they also bring in its solid experience on the table.  Hence it is important to chalk out whether to hire a freelancer or an in-house team. Hiring in-house app developers is challenging, and you might not quite get the candidate you want unless you are yourself an expert in the field.

Know the Basics

You should know what languages app developers use for creating mobile apps. At the same time, you should be aware of your target audience. The complexity of your app determines the language of the code you use. iOS requires a different code than Android and there are coding languages that work on both, so that is something you need to be sure about. You would also want to know the wages of mobile app development of different sorts in the market.

A good mobile app development agency would be there for help. While discussing your project with them, they will be in a position to tell you which language and style would work for you,

Understanding the Mobile App Development Project

Mobile app development takes place in phases. There is a stage when you design the layout of the app. Then you would shift to coding it and then you need to do all the back-end integration. Finally, it will come down to testing. And mind you, testing must be intensive. So, it is a combination of skills that gives shape to a perfect app.

While planning your project, go into as many details as possible. This will not only lead to more accurate processes but will also help in estimating the budgets for hiring a developer more realistically. Details that are needed would be forming a creative brief, design style, specifications, additional requirements, and technical specifications. Determining all this would give you more clarity on the kind of developer you would really need.

Creating a Job Description

All the information you have gathered while you tried to understand the project holistically will come into use here to create a detailed job post. A good description here will help you get a better match.

There are three things that should clearly be mentioned:

• What do you expect from the app and the developer?
• Clarify the project duration or the deadlines.
• Specific skills and experience that you think are a must to do the job well?

Right job description and matched skill set describes the ability of the developer to turn your dreams into reality. Hence be patient and await for the perfect match.

Top 4 chief principles for Hiring Mobile App Developers:

Ask for the app developer’s portfolio:

It will give you an insight into the app developer’s clientele. You can directly phone up one of the past or present clients and obtain feedback. Usually, app developers have their websites. Check out their sites, primarily to gauge the UI/UX aspects. User experience is a vital aspect of any mobile app.

Know the basics.

Learn what programming languages are there in use for mobile apps. Find out what the platforms are and what would be your target platform(s) to make an app. Check what the rates are and how much it would cost you to hire an app developer (even approximately). Who would be users of your app? These types of things.

Look for creativity and experience:

You would like your app to stand out from the others. Therefore, creativity plays a vital role in selecting app developers. Your interpersonal and communication skills come to the forefront here. If you hire someone, you’d better hire a developer who knows the stuff. Developer does not necessarily need to be a top-expert, though should be able to provide the portfolio of past works. You can even ask for samples of their code. Choose an app developer who is ready to walk the extra mile along with you. It helps in building up a tremendous rapport.

The flexibility of working:

It is possible that your app developer might be living in a country having a different time zone. Therefore, your communication tools like Skype, email, phone, and so on gains importance. The time difference can also be a defining factor.

Payment terms:

You would have a budget in mind. Now, you have an idea of how much these app developers charge. Does it synchronize with your budget? It is better to clarify things beforehand. There can be issues like additional costs for developing security systems. Remember that the cheapest option is never the best one. As you need a decent product, be ready to shell out decent money as well.

Maintenance of the App:

Once all is said and done and your perfect mobile solution was built on time and on budget, what happens next? Find out what the maintenance of your app may involve. Will you have to pay every time Apple rolls out a system upgrade? What if your needs change slightly and you need your iOS app transitioned to Android as well? Some app developers offer free system upgrades as operating platforms evolve. Find out what services are including and what may come at an additional cost.

NDA: Non Disclosure Agreement.

Pay in intervals for every stage/iteration done. That way you have better control options as your development progresses. A good way to go to build positive relationship would be announcing a bonus for nice results, why not? If you feel your project requires NDA, make the developer sign an NDA contract. Don’t let anything slip.

NDA is a legal contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties.           

Now let’s see the pitfalls where business owners tend to ignore.

Common Mistakes while hiring an developer :

• Considering cost as the main factor
• Hiring someone not familiar with your business
• Not establishing a budget and time frame
• Hiring a developer who wants to code right away
• Hiring a cheapest rate candidate
• Not considering user experience
• Not considering post launch stage

“Assess the requirements, Explore the opportunities and Implement the changes and Succeed – Sky is the limit”.