When the world of your business meets developer reality – is it possible for this to work at all, and can both sides win? Of course.
Prepare for a meeting with a web development company
What’s super-obvious, but often forgotten when attending a meeting with other experts? The information on who we truly are and what we specialize in. Everyone’s an expert at the meeting, but in his own area. Development specialists will not prepare an effective business strategy for your market sector, nor will you become an IT specialist fully aware of the best programming language or framework for the job. Do not exchange roles with someone else. Attend the meeting armed with the best knowledge you have – information on your business and Clients .
Pay attention to your comfort
You will certainly be asked about the strategic elements of your business. At the same time, you will also probably have a lot of questions you would like to ask the web development company e.g. regarding their portfolio. To make it comfortable for both parties, you should sign an NDA before the meeting to protect your unique know-how
Pause for a moment
Often after signing the NDA, but before the first meeting, you may be asked to complete the prebriefing, which will allow the web development company to better understand your business and needs. The information you may be asked to provide – you will find a few major points below
- What sector is it supposed to operate in?
- What geographical market?
- Is platform supposed to be targeting B2C only or B2B as well?
- Stakeholder list – remember that your platform users include your Clients, employees responsible for updating your website, those employed in logistics, and so on.
- What business goals are to be accomplished by your platform?
- What competing companies are the highest threat to your business?
- What integrations will be necessary?
- What number of product groups do you expect (if you are eCommerce)? (an estimate) What reporting will be required?
Make sure you’re talking with the right people – ask as much as you can
Remember that a web development company will be one of the core elements deciding on the perception of your business in the future. With this perspective, it should be easier to understand why it is worth asking a lot of questions and thoroughly investigating your choice before the contract is signed.
A list of useful questions to ask when dealing with a web development company
- The projects they worked on – it’s worth investigating whether the web development company knows anything at all about the natural environment of your business. Perhaps they have worked on projects for your competition or similar companies operating in different geographical regions.
- Ask about the biggest Clients, prizes, awards and references – read what you can find on the internet about the web development company.
- How the company is built and how are projects implemented – remember that developer projects may last from a few to over a dozen months. It is worth verifying if the way your company works is compatible with the web development company.
- Ask for details regarding the entire process of project work, from the moment the contract is signed, through prototyping, development, testing, production and maintenance.
- Ask how the project team is formed – you will receive information on the specialists that will become available to you and what expertise they bring to your project.
The basis for trust is control – compare offers and the information you receive at the meeting
Remember, you present your busienss products only from the best possible angle, and it’s highly probable that the web development company will be doing the same thing. Attend a few meetings with different web development company, compare their offers. Make an informed decision. If you are capable of starting a smaller “test” project with the company of your choice – do it. See how it goes