In the modern world, startups factor big into the health and growth of the economy. In fact, the startup is a young fast-developing company, which is based on an innovative business idea and technology. Startups typically prioritize rapid growth, scalability, and market share over immediate dividends and ROI. Generally, startups offer unique solutions. The downside of such innovation is a higher risk, which can be exacerbated by inexperience, a lack of leadership, or not truly understanding their target audience.
To be competitive in this market, companies require strong technical skillsets. One option many startups consider is finding a trusted software development outsourcing firm. By partnering with the right outsourcing agency, a startup can positively impact its performance and funding opportunities over both the short and long term.
Click here to read more about the ins and outs of outsourcing your software development.
Before we address the pros and cons of outsourcing, let’s first discuss the stages of software development.
1. Concept
Usually, the software moves from ideation into development in one of two ways:
1) A general meeting of the company where everyone’s opinions will be heard and the most marketable one will be selected based on an analysis of pros and cons.
2) A marketing analysis of competitors, which allows you to identify the competition’s strengths and weaknesses. Based on these indicators, it will be possible to identify the best and most promising option.
There are other methods companies may employ when considering development, but one of the most effective means is to combine the two above approaches.
2. Product UI/UX design
A startup team must develop the design of a future software their developers can bring to fruition. At this stage, your business plan will come in handy so that any designs will reflect your product and vision.
It will also be necessary to articulate the particulars of your desired user interface and any feature you want to include. For further guidance on crafting effective UI/UX designs that align with your business objectives, you may read more here on product design.
After that, the developers will be able to tell you if your ideas are feasible or if they need to be modified.
3. Choice of working technologies
Together with the team, you will need to determine what technologies your site or application will be based on.
The technology stack may include programming languages, software development environments, database management systems, compilers (translating text written in a programming language into a set of machine codes), and so on.
The choice of one or another stack depends on the project architecture, the complexity, and functionality of the site, system requirements – such as your operating or database management system – as well as web servers and programming language. Your selected technologies will determine the functionality of the product and its scalability. Your choice of the stack will also impact your development time and how much you will spend on specialists.
To make things more interesting, all these decisions will depend on the resources you have available.
4. Testing
At this stage, you have the opportunity to test your application and eliminate all the shortcomings. Consider all of the components and modify your software or its design based on how you think they can be improved. How thoroughly you test your app or site will determine the number of issues you encounter down the road and how your product performs post-launch.
5. Software deployment.
You’ve identified your product’s flaws and errors, and you’ve optimized its design and performance. Your engineers are confident the program is ready for its first group of users. Your deployment must now be flawless.
When properly deployed, your program will run on any computer that has the correct hardware and operating system.
6. App launch
This marks the point where the rubber meets the road. With a successful app launch, you will be able to distribute your product to the target audience.
It’s better to use a beta version in the beginning in order to test consumer reaction and user adoption. Here you need to collect user opinions so you can make informed changes to ensure your product is convenient and popular with your target market.
7. Making a profit
Before launching a product, you’ll want to consider the ways you can monetize it. These may include a combination of means. For example, you might try:
- Advertising sponsors
- Subscriptions
- In-product sales
Each of these can be used in different ways. For example, you can provide a free app but with sponsored ads, or if users want to disable ads, they can buy a subscription.
However, be sure you’ve included benefits for your users. People are willing to pay for a product if they can see the benefit, but if you don’t offer them any benefits upfront, users will abandon your product for free options.
8. Innovation
Development does not end with the release of an application or site. You will need to monitor its performance, at least periodically. It is also necessary to identify possible areas of growth and improvement. You should conduct surveys with your users in order to understand the advantages and disadvantages of your product.
Creating software for your startup can be a long and difficult process. Therefore, it is important to take into account each step of development while always keeping in mind the needs of your consumers. If you approach this correctly, you can achieve great and long-lasting success.
And if you’re serious about success, you need to choose a software developer like Emphasoft that will work with you to craft a product best suited to your market that has been thoroughly tested and optimized. This decision just might be the most important one your business makes.
