8 things to consider before hiring a custom app developer

A mobile app is the flawless tool to connect your small business and product or services you offer to the consumers to excel and stay competitive in the 21^st century.

There are 3 options for you to choose if you really want to execute your vision by utilizing the correct technology and create the right app.

• Do it yourself
• Hire custom app developer
• Form an in house team

Here’s some breakdown and estimation of the cost for building a custom app.

1- Custom apps are very expensive

It is definitely terribly wrong to say apps are easy to make, even though many tools are free to use via online. The fact is that if you want to hire a good team to make an app, they don’t come affordable.

• Basic professional app can cost up to $100,000.
• Developers, designers and other experts will charge you hourly.
• Multi-platform options can cost around $50,000 extra
• The cost will be double if there is integration with enterprise software platforms
• Prepare to fork out $200,000 if there are compatibility problems, licensing, legal fees and performance problems.

2- Costly app revision is inevitable

Like most apps, it will be buggy in early stages and users will suggest features that they desire. If you want to keep your users, you will be needed to revises the app to fix problems and add features. Expect to spend extra income and time for it. If time is not a luxury for you, you can hire professionals with the help of a recruiting service.

3- Additional cost to have an app that reflect to company’s brand

Making app cost a ton of funds, reflect it to your company’s brand will require more time and work from the app development team. Ultimately, costing more due to additional work and time.

• The average cost to develop an iOS app is $150 per hour
• The average cost to develop an Andriod app is $168 in North America

4- Customization is time consuming

Rome wasn’t built in a day, same goes to all professional apps. Making an app is no simple task and it requires a lot of time.

• On average it will takes 18 weeks to build and publish a standard app
• It is possible to build an app in few weeks but it will be a mere simple app
• Basically, bigger and more sophisticated app will need more time and resources

5- Routine upgrades are mandatory and not free

Every app runs on a device that has an operating system such as Windows and Andriod. Those operating systems will have updates occasionally that might cause compatibility and security issues. Therefore, routine updates and upgrades will be needed to optimize the compatibility and integration between the app and operating system.

• The people that you hired to handle the updates and upgrades are extra cost
• Outsourcing might even cost more in the long run because you will have new people dealing with other people’s code

6- Functionality is important, same goes to the design

Functionality is important but we cannot ignore that everyone like pretty things. It will be a huge bonus if the app have a stylish design. Therefore, designers are needed and their services are expensive.

7- Developers might not share the same ideas and vision

Developers are the engineers that builds the app. They are man for hire that does not necessary have the passion to achieve and follow your vision for the app. They can be a mere typical white collar worker who only wants to get paid by following orders.

8- You will have control on your own security but it is costly

When you have an app that is linked to money and many personal data, it is guaranteed that there will be people trying to steal it.

Therefore, your app must be secured and safe to use to prevent data breaches that can be extremely expensive to fix or it can jeopardize the relationship with clients.

Conclusion

As conclusion, app development is not cheap because of the costly manpower, maintenance and upgrades. Make you do sufficient research before you start the development to ensure you will see a profit or good return on the investment.