In part 1, we looked at how the complexity of your app project is likely to affect the build cost. In this second part, we’ll look at the other key factor: who you hire to build it.
From a client’s perspective, broadly speaking you have four options:
- Build it yourself
- Hire a developer via a freelancing website
- Go to a high-end agency
- Find a small development team
Each option has its own pros and cons, so the best one for you depends on your individual circumstances and priorities. Let’s look at each option individually:
Build it yourself
The obvious advantage of building your own app is that it’s free: zero development cost, if you’ve already got a computer to code with (a Mac for iOS; either a Mac or a PC for Android). If your budget is tight to the point of being non-existent, that’s a huge plus. If you can manage to pull it off, you’ll also find it very satisfying to have done it by yourself, and you’ll have learned some useful skills along the way.
But is it realistic? It’s certainly possible, even if you don’t have any prior programming experience (for some advice about where to start, check out our post on how to build your own app). You definitely don’t need a degree in Computer Science to able to make a mobile app. However, it will take significantly longer than hiring a professional, because the learning curve is pretty steep (all the more so if your app is complex.) You’ll have to teach yourself all the knowledge you’ll need to build the app, and that takes time. This means that building the app yourself is probably not the right option if you want to get it to market quickly.
Realistically, you should also acknowledge that the quality of your code probably won’t be as good as a professional’s. That means your app will be more likely to have bugs, and it will make it harder to maintain in the future if you want to add new features or change existing ones.
Hire via a freelancing website
If you’re on a tight budget but you don’t want to build the app yourself, then you might want to consider hiring a developer through a freelancing website. There are many such websites out there: Freelancer.com and Upwork.com are two of the most popular.
The big advantage of this approach is that it offers the potential for great value for money, if you can find the right developer. Many freelance developers are based in parts of the world where the cost of living is much cheaper than it is in North America, Western Europe, Australia, etc. For that reason, you can hire a good developer at a fraction of the price that would be needed to hire a U.S. developer (say) with comparable skills.
The drawback, however, is that this option comes with a degree of risk. Not all developers who work through freelancing sites have the skills that they advertise themselves as having. So the danger is that if you’re unlucky with the freelancer you hire, you can end up wasting time before having to restart your project with a new developer (who may or may not turn out to be better than the original one).
Furthermore, if your project has complex design requirements, you may need to hire a designer as well as a developer. That might lead to communication issues between you, your designer, and your developer, particularly if you don’t all have the same first language and/or you live in different time zones.
High-end agency
If you don’t want to take the risk of hiring via a freelancing website and you have a big budget to play with, the best option might be to approach a high-end app development agency. These agencies employ large teams of experienced developers and designers, and they tend to have a wide portfolio of clients which often include big businesses.
The upside of taking this route is that you can be confident that your app will developed and designed to a high standard. Given the agency’s track record, you know they are going to do it properly. This option is also likely to represent the fastest way to get your app to market.
The downside, however, is the cost. Getting a ballpark figure from a high-end agency can be an eye-watering experience. Unless you have a big budget, therefore, the high-end agency option might be unaffordable.
Small development team
If your budget closes off the option of the high-end agency, but you don’t want to take your chances with hiring via a freelancing site, then another alternative would be to approach a small development team of the sort that might be composed of around 2-4 people.
Teams like these usually offer more affordable prices than bigger agencies, and one of the main reasons is because they don’t have the same overheads. For example, whereas the natural habitat of the high-end agency is the fancy city-centre office block, smaller development teams often work from home. Furthermore, the big agencies will often have various non-technical departments (HR, sales, legal, etc.) whose salaries need to be covered in addition to those of the technical staff. By contrast, the smaller team will often just comprise the technical staff themselves. As regards technical competence, however, the smaller team’s skills are often just as good as the big agency’s.
The downside of approaching a smaller team is that they may not have developers available who can take on your project: it depends on what else they have on at the time. Since their teams are smaller, they’re less likely to be able to find a spare developer who can take on your job. If you can find a smaller team who can take on your project, however, you might well find that that’s the best option for you.
We at Oxford App Development are a small team based in Oxford, U.K. Our developer and designer have worked with each other for years and they’re both experienced professionals and great communicators, whether you’re a tech-savvy representative of a big business or an individual with no particular technical background. Email us at info@oxfordappdevelopment.com or use our contact form and we’ll get back to you within 24 hours.
