Software Development for Startups: From MVPs to Market-Ready Products
In today’s fiercely competitive, fast-paced world, all startups wish they could just hit the ground running. Unfortunately, the process is far more complicated and young companies need help translating their innovative ideas into real software products. That’s where custom software development for startups comes in.
Developing an MVP
At the start of their journey, startups are under a lot of pressure to prove themselves. They need to show the world that their products or services are a viable solution to a real problem. To start showcasing their product to potential investors, startups usually develop an MVP (Minimum Viable Product). This is the most basic form of the product (a beta version, if you will) which can be easily reiterated based on research, feedback and market insights.
For MVP software development, one or two developers will usually suffice. They will most likely create several versions of an app, which can be tested, and in the end only one solution will make it to the next phase of development.
At this stage of app development for startups, young companies can get by with a “skeleton team”, meaning just a couple of software developers working on their products. This helps keep costs to a minimum – which is vital for most startups in the early days of their existence – but it also comes with risks. If one of the developers on the team suddenly quits or is otherwise engaged, this can delay or even halt the software development process.
The journey to market-ready software
As the product reaches later stages of development, startups can consider scaling up their development team – introducing project managers, front-end and back-end developers, QA engineers, UX/UI experts and even mobile developers if needed.
Here, startups companies can take one of two paths. They can either outsource their software development processes by working with an external team (or even just one or two freelancers) or hire a dedicated software development company.
Working with freelancers can seem like the easy way out here, but it comes with some unforeseen risks. The development journey from MVP to a finished product is a long and complicated one, and working with an independent contractor means that your project might get abandoned and no post-release maintenance and support is provided once the project is complete.
The safer choice is to enlist the services of a dedicated, experienced software development company that provides a full team of experts. Finding the best software development company can be hard, as there are so many out there. However, there are important criteria startups can track to find and select the right company for their unique needs.
What to look for in a software development company for startups?
Portfolio
Much like in a job recruitment process, a CV and/or portfolio is needed to see what a person – or in the case, a company – has achieved in the past, what projects they’ve worked on, what skills they’ve developed, what experience they have with different platforms and technologies, etc. The larger their portfolio is, the better, of course. But more often than not, quality trumps quantity, so the number of clients in a software development company is not always the single indicator of their expertise.
Technologies
Software development is more than writing code. To pick the right company for their needs, startups can look at all the tools, frameworks and programming languages a software development company is familiar with and their ability to expand their technology stack to accommodate different project requirements.
Shared knowledge
As a developer, and certainly as a software development company, you accumulate knowledge as long as you work. Keeping up with the latest trends in the industry is crucial and having the ability to share that ever-growing knowledge with others is a sign of expertise.
Or simply…work with Mejix!
If you are the founder of a startup company, looking to translate your brilliant ideas into market-ready software products, you can hire Mejix to take care of things for you! Our team of experienced developers is ready to take on your startup project and build a successful product that will match your unique vision.
But that’s not all. We can also help with mobile app development, getting your product ready to launch into the ever-growing mobile market. When you’re ready to take your young business to the next level, you can rely on our digital marketing services to put you on the digital map and build your brand identity, authority and recognition.
Take a look around, explore our portfolio and our full list of services. Then drop us a line and let us help your startup to stand out from the crowd!
