Before looking for an app developer, remember that the most ideal option is that you build your own ideas. If you haven’t given programming a try, it doesn't hurt to do so and see if you like it. You might fall in love with it. Or you might completely hate it. But, of course, you just don’t know until you give it a try.
Ok, so, you tried it and maybe programming isn’t your cup of tea and there are other things you can better spend your time on to get this thing out there.
Before even reaching out to anyone, you wanna show you have your stuff together and you know what you are doing.
A couple things to take care of:
- Make sure you already decided on a name, something you really like
- Put together a super basic logo, you can use a tools like this
- Put together at least a one pager wireframe, you can use a service like moqups.com
- Make sure you have a decent budget set aside, of no less than about $10k (don’t waste your time trying to pitch developers to work on your idea for 50%, it will almost never happen)
Now, there are a couple paths of finding the right developer:
- Try to go through your contacts list and think of whether not you actually know any developers in your close circle
- If you don’t know anyone directly, start asking around
- If you haven’t found someone in your close or far circle, start going a web hunt. Look online on forums like HackerNews, search on Twitter, Github, StackOverflow, Linkedin, etc.
Once you think you’ve found a few good candidates, here is some criteria to judge them by:
- How do you feel about their past work? Do you have a slight emotional connection with it?
- Do you feel like you share the same taste in design? Are they someone that might build an over-engineered product, or someone that has good taste?
- Did they provide a solid roadmap before signing any contract? Is the roadmap easy to understand?
- How much do they charge? You have to be a tad bit weary of folks that charge way less than anyone else. Some of them are great. But more often than not, you will get what you pay for. On the other end, do they charge too much? Take a look at this quick read to get a good idea on how much is a fair price for what you need.
- Do they have any reviews or testimonials?
- Do you like their personality? Are they awkward to talk to? Or do you get along with them? Are they someone that could eventually become your co-founder one day?
After thinking about all of these points, the most important thing is to go with your gut. Go with someone that feels right. Give it your best effort. Give them everything they need. Make sure to communicate well. Make sure you let them focus on building something awesome. Let them build everything you agreed upon. Make sure to be decisive and not change too many features as they are building it out, as you can overwhelm them and this can affect the quality of the end result.
But most importantly, trust them. Trust your gut. Trust that amazing days are ahead. The development process will take some time. It may be a tad bit tricky. There might be a couple roadblocks. But, in the end of the process, you will have something more than just an idea. You will have your first product. Something you can test your hypotheses with. You will be one step closer to taking over the world! 😃🌅
Have a good app idea you wanna build? Get your product roadmap.
