How do you translate that software development idea into a startup solution? Ideas are easy to form but implementing them can be cumbersome. Without implementation, your software idea is just another thought.
You could be planning to build a software service. Or looking to have a software marketplace for your business. Whatever your solution may be. There is no better option than building it with custom software development. Here, Emphasoft brings you 7 smart ways startups can build brilliant custom software.
Let’s go right in
1. Make A Comprehensive Market Research
Yes, you have the idea and the funds to translate it into the software. Have you bothered asking whether people need the service? You have to do comprehensive research on your customers’ needs. You may have to answer questions like
- What are my customers’ challenges and does my proposed solution solve them?
- Why would they choose my services over competitors?
- How much impact would it have on their lives and businesses?
- What is the potential market size? How much customer base can I draw with my solution?
- Who are my competitors? How much market share can I command?
A brilliant market analysis helps you determine your business needs. You know whether your proposed idea is viable. You can identify your potential weaknesses and competitive edge. Thus, you’re better placed to create a business strategy that optimizes the strengths.
2. Create A Foolproof Plan
After conducting market research, it’s important to create a good plan. A good business strategy guides your startup company through the whole software development process. Thus, you won’t risk neglecting important details when building your solution. The template must include the following
- Startups key objectives
- Problem and solution
- Target audiences
- Product goals
- Financial goals; costs and revenue
- Competitors strengths
- Competitive edge
And lots more…
Your strategy makes you identify performance indicators that matter. Key performance indicators are those metrics that you use to measure whether your startup is growing. Key performance indicators may include
- The daily usage rate of the application
- Monthly recurring revenue
- User retention rate
- Consumer acquisition costs
- The attrition rate of customers
Etc.
3. Make Project Requirements As Lucid As Possible
No, setting vague project requirements won’t help. The more clear you are on your requirements, the better. Why?
Clear project requirements help software development companies for startups understand every detail of the project. Thus, they can make a more accurate cost estimate. They understand the project better and know what right tools to use for them. It also makes them avoid mistakes during the project.
An ambiguous project requirement gets the development team confused. They may create the wrong solution as a result. Thus, they will have to redo such a project which will cost you extra money and time. For a startup with a meager budget, that’s not what you wish for. Right?
4. Create An MVP – Minimum Viable Product
You’ve just discovered a loophole in the market. And you’re racing to create software to solve that challenge. But do you know that many competitors could have found the same problem? And they racing to release their solutions too. How do you get ahead of them in the market? An MVP might be what you need.
A minimum Viable Product is a minimal version of the whole product. It only has the key functionalities of the software. So, it takes minimal time to build. An MVP can make you a trendsetter and get early adopters for your solution. Thus, giving you a competitive edge against your rivals
Sometimes, you don’t know how a product will fare. And MVP makes sure you test the product to know whether it is viable. Then, you will realize whether the solution is brilliant, needs tweaking, or is a horrible idea. Creating a failed MVP is a lot cheaper than developing a full-fledged but failed solution.
5. Test The Solution Early And Regularly
Do you want to create efficient software that saves time, money, and resources? Then, there is no shortcut to continuous testing.
Never wait till programmers complete the project before testing. Otherwise, bugs accumulate in the software. Upon completion, the bugs could be so much that you’d have to get the whole project redone. This will force you to shift the launch date further by weeks or months while you spend extra costs.
But early and regular testing makes sure you fix every coding mistake as soon as discovered. Only when the code is clean can another code be built on it. This will ensure a bug-free code upon project completion. You show your project to audiences sooner and have a better shot at creating a loyal customer base.
6. Use Agile Development Methodology. Why Is it Better?
Software development methodologies are systematic steps by which software is developed. It entails the whole software development lifecycle. There are many software development methodologies including
- Waterfall
- Prototyping
- Spiral development
- Agile development.
But here we will only examine two and why agile development is the best choice
Waterfall Development Model
This is the most traditional development model. It classifies software development into processes. These steps include requirements analysis, system design, implementation, testing, deployment, and maintenance. In the waterfall model, each step gets done one after the other.
Agile Development Model
This model is a newer but more effective development strategy. It ensures projects get created quickly without reducing quality. The methodology sets milestones and completion dates. Once the milestone gets completed, new milestones are set. This brings a more robust way of development.
Here are reasons why it’s well appreciated.
- Cost Saving: The model ensures that you spend your resources on important functionalities. You can assess your project progress regularly and identify important and useless features. You won’t have to pay extra for what is not needed. Besides, it introduces a faster approach to development. As a result, you pay for fewer development hours.
- Flexibility: Custom software could take months to develop. Before project completion, a lot could have changed. New opportunities or features may have emerged.
The agile development model ensures that you can tweak project requirements and add new and innovative functionalities before project completion. You can also develop the app to meet varying scalability demands.
- Risk Mitigation: Agile development model also deals with risks better. The waterfall model handles risks and bugs after project completion. Agile doesn’t. Rather, it fixes glitches immediately after they are discovered.
This gives you a unique and high-quality solution that costs less time or money.
7. Outsource To A Software Development Company For Startups
You have three options
- Outsourcing the development task to freelance developers
- Utilize in-house teams
- Outsource the task to software development services for startups
Fine, all three options have their pros. But outsourcing to software development agencies has advantages that far outweigh others. Let’s take a look at the three.
Freelance Developers
The most affordable option of the three but also with lots of perks. You can get freelance developers on freelancer sites like Upwork, Fiverr, and Indeed. But, you may risk wasting time and money on the wrong developer.
Not every developer is as proficient as you want. Besides, you’ll miss out on the collaboration that a development team may provide. Except when building low-end solutions, don’t consider hiring freelance developers
In-house Developers
Using an agile development model for in-house developers is the perfect combo. You’ll need a team of in-house developers. The pro is that you’ll have a team of developers who will focus exclusively on your project.
Meanwhile, you have to pay for their working hours. They will also receive allowances like every other staff. Thus, this method may not be a cost-effective option.
Software Development Company
For obvious reasons, this is the best outsourcing that every company adopts today. Having a development partner agency saves you cost without risking development quality.
Development companies have enough expertise in IT. These professionals work non-stop on delivering the best solution for you. You will receive the best project possible. Besides, you can contact them for upgrades and support in the future.
One Of Such Company Is Emphasoft
Emphasoft listens to your idea and develops it into a full-fledged application. Here you have access to lots of expert developers who work non-stop to create the perfect solution for your business. Contact Emphasoft here to start your software journey.
