Should Startups Outsource Their MVP Development In 2021?
Startups are rich soils for trail-blazing concepts. A single idea can change the course of economic history and become a new business model.
However, in their infancy, most unicorns are scrambling to get someone, anyone, to sign their first term sheet. They are rife with ambition, but short of resources. And they also need to test their business idea before investing in the full gear.
That is why forward-looking start-ups choose to start small and build a minimum viable product first.
An MVP is the first version of your product that contains just enough high-quality features to attract the first set of customers. It also helps to gather valuable feedback from real users to perfect the solution to the customers’ needs.
Outsourcing MVP development process is even a smarter move that entails lots of benefits. Read on to find out why you too should outsource MVP web development.
Why Outsourcing An MVP Is A Good Idea?
Faster turnaround
If you farm out your early product version to a dedicated development team, you can take your product to market faster. Since the work gets divided efficiently among the outsourced specialists, they fetch valuable insight, hone the product to the highest degree and get into building a full-fledged solution much quicker than your in-house team.
Therefore, instead of loading your internal personnel with work, you have the help of professionals who can start the ball running. Wastage of time is no longer a problem and you have a market-ready product within a couple of months.
Access to expertise
A seasoned service provider comes in set with proficient software engineers with hands-on experience in the field. The long-standing background helps them pinpoint practical problems that may pop up during the development process and eliminate weak points.
Hence, outsource MVP web development enables you to liaise with first-rate professionals of any domain. You will get a high-quality product much needed in your early stages and actionable insights to act on later. The hired team will also help you see your MVP from different perspectives and provide stable technical support.
Cost reduction
The costs of landing a developer abroad are significantly lower than recruiting local resources with the same skills. For the price of employing an in-house specialist, you can outsource the whole MVP development process with rich features.
Therefore, tapping into the global workforce allows your startup to drive down the expenses without sacrificing quality — especially if you take the time to pick the right outsourcing vendor.
Established workflow
Another benefit of outsourcing a dedicated workforce is the ability to follow and implement a systematic approach throughout the creation of your MVP. You bring your concept to the table, the vendor brings its expertise and time-tested processes.
The flow is seamless and continuous, right from the initial discussion to the final MVP delivery. Startups can definitely benefit from this peace of mind since brand new businesses often have to manage the inevitable chaos of freshly baked processes.
Moreover, communication plays the role of glue that keeps the development process seamless and hassle-free. And a reputable MVP development company always keeps you in the loop at every stage of the process. Thus, you gain a better vision of the project timeline and the status of step-by-step development.
Shared risks
One of the success factors that can either make or break your MVP web development is risk-analysis. Outsourcing a minimum viable product helps fresh businesses to hand over certain responsibilities to the outsourced partner.
And since technical partners have a proven record of services rendered, they can plan the risk-mitigating factors better. In the end, you enjoy a reduced risk of budget overrun and overuse of internal resources.
What Can Stop Companies From Outsourcing?
It is hard to come up with a business name that does not outsource at least some of their software services in this day and age. However, there do exist some interference factors that stand between companies and outsourcing vendors. They are as follows:
Investors do not support the outsourcing model
According to popular belief, most economists support the outsourcing of business functions to foreign countries. Giant enterprises give their support to this hiring model as means of boosting productivity and corporate earnings. However, some investors are not big advocates of outsourcing MVP web development and software development in general.
Thus, according to April’s UBS/Gallup Index of Investor Optimism survey, the majority of shareholders strongly oppose this business practice for some or other reason. This may include the general disinclination towards lower entry barriers or assumed adverse effect on the local economy.
Ban on data transfer to third parties
The transfer of personal data to recipients outside the country may be partially or completely prohibited according to some regulations. In this case, the outsourcing destination must be deemed to provide an adequate level of data protection that is comparable to the local standards. In all other cases, startups won’t be able to outsource the MVP web development process.
Some industries prohibit outsourcing of services
Although shifting jobs offshores has become a widespread practice, some sectors still steer clear of outsourcing to third-party providers. Thus, anti-outsourcing legislation is common in outsourcing mission-critical banking functions. For example, Swedish legislation prohibits outsourcing of board functions as well as core functions performed by the management of a financial institution. Therefore, if the industry practices reject externalisation, you will have set the MVP up internally.
The Bottom Line
We don’t enter the waters without testing them. This comes for software development as well. The MVP development process is what helps companies to verify the market demand and get a shortcut to the customers’ feedback. But while giant players can afford to fork out for implementing an MVP internally, startups may need a more cost-affordable option.
By outsourcing this development stage, new businesses get technical expertise and consultation from top developers, while also cutting back the input-money. Therefore, if your internal regulations greenlight this business practice, find your perfect outsourcing vendor to bring your product to the market.