Don’t get us wrong, outsourcing has been around for a long time and there are some great companies who do some great work on an outsourced basis, however, we are a development partner, and we work in tandem with our partners helping to deliver some of the best websites out there. The reason we look at this in this way is that ‘outsource’ can be seen as a dirty word and some companies have had awful experiences when it comes to outsourcing.
We work with so many different agencies and a lot of them have a favourable outlook when it comes to outsourcing, but one of the main concerns we hear is that a lot of the time an agency will brief an outsourcing company on a project and then *poof* nothing heard for weeks. The good thing is, a lot of the time the agency will receive some brilliant work and there was never any need to worry. Sometimes, they get something back which is miles away from what was briefed in, could you imagine? You’re close to a deadline with your client, you get back something that needs to be rebuilt and you don’t have the time or budget to get it done! Nightmare…
When should I look for a development partner?
When you face a situation where you need to find development resource and fast, you can quickly find yourself in one of two positions; with a startup that has just entered the market or an established company that competes with big players.
We work with both startups and larger agencies and figured out that in both cases the goal is the same – to get your website built, but the motives are different. Let me explain..
For startups
Lack of in-house web specialists
Initially, the request from startups sounded familiar: “Hey, we have an idea but lack human resources to support it.” So they basically looked for a partner to provide them with specialists to cover the web development scope of work.
Lack of time & money
The next popular question was: “We need to build a website fast and within the budget. Can you help us?” It’s still the most common request, and we’re happy to dig in. It’s well known that the main reason for outsourcing is cost reduction.
So chances are, outsourcing will save you some money. The time part depends on the company you choose. We’ll explain later how to ensure that expectations are met on both sides.
Lack of tech expertise
Lack of the right team has been mentioned among the top reasons why startups are not as successful as they could be. It means that having a diverse team with different skill sets is critical to a company’s success. So if you feel that you lack tech expertise, and need a technical advisor, finding a development partner is an option that could prove to be very beneficial.
For Established Companies
Need to expand an in-house web team
This one is pretty much the same as the first one for startups. The difference is that established companies usually look for a separate specialist to expand on their current resource.
Launching a side project
One more cause for using a web development partner is when you want to experiment and test a proof of concept. It’d be wiser to use a web development partner that will tackle the full process instead of involving your in-house team. Most likely, your team are busy and won’t be able to fully support the project.
In addition, the cost of failure is low, it’s an experiment, and as they say, “It’s better to regret something you have done than to regret something you haven’t.”
Looking for advisors
The third reason why established companies approach us is they lack expertise in some domains. For instance, custom API development, Laravel, server support or any skill set you may not have on your internal team
At href, we pride ourselves on end-to-end product development. We take big ideas and turn them into websites people love and can use right away. Our cross-functional team of project managers & developers is a group of remarkable people who do their best to build fantastic websites to satisfy our partners and their clients.
No matter what your reason to partner with an external web development team is, project success depends on both sides. From our experience, to deliver a great website, there should be a place for respect, open collaboration and conversation between you and your development partner.
Benefits of using a development partner?
With the fact that 67% of UK companies outsource, it’s easy enough to understand that working with an external development team is not just a cutting-cost technique. Sometimes it’s a must to be competitive. That should give you some sort of idea about how strong the benefits of finding the right development partner must be. So, let’s take a look at them.
Starting fast
Unlike picking up a pre-built template on WordPress, developing a website requires a whole team of professionals, such as backend, frontend developers, QA’s, and project managers.
Building a website from scratch will take effort if you don’t have a full web dev team. First, you need to find these people. Second – to hire them, which is often a challenge because good developers are like hens teeth and are hard to reach. Web developers have always been in ridiculously high demand and trying to recruit the best can be difficult.
In using a web development partner, you save up time on the hiring process so that the project can start faster. The delivery process depends a lot on the team you choose. If you have spoken with a number of white label agencies and found a dedicated partner, you can be sure of the result. The web development team will be fully engaged in your project, and the collaboration will be smooth sailing.
Saving money
Though this benefit is on the surface, if you hire a developer, you have the initial cost of recruitment which could be via a recruitment agency or directly using job boards etc. You then have to consider the yearly salary, onboarding, equipment etc. this could easily creep past £50k very quickly. If you use a development partner, you will only pay for the resource needed to build the project which could be as little as £1600 + vat.
Support it all
We have experience of working in hybrid web dev teams when part of the work was done by us and part in-house. And that is always an option, but the perfect scenario is when the whole web development is done by one team.
One team knows the project from A to Z, it reduces communication constraints and allows to implement changes and fix bugs faster than in a hybrid format. For you as a founder, it means efficient delivery, consistent process and one point of contact.
What to look for in a development partner
When looking for the perfect web development partner, there are things to look for to ensure your project is going to be delivered on budget, on time and most importantly you are given the project exactly as you briefed it in. Let’s see what these things are…
Transparency
Find out what the process is, do you handover the brief & designs and then see nothing until the project is done or do you get full access at the earliest possible stage? The latter is definitely the better option all around as any potential blockers or issues that may come up can be rectified at the earliest opportunity rather than everything being picked up at the end. Ask for a demo of how everything works.
Communication
This is a big one! How fast do you get a response? Can you speak with the entire team or just 1 person? Do you know who is working on your project? Communication is key to the successful delivery of any website. Ask how communication is done, is this just via email or tickets or can you pick up the phone anytime and speak to someone for a progress update? Can you have weekly stand ups with the entire team? Make sure you find a partner who will communicate in a way that suits you and your requirements.
Cost
This one will be unique to you, however, one bit of guidance from us is cheap isn’t the best but neither is the most expensive, find a partner that can deliver what you need within the budget you have, don’t be afraid of spending that little bit more for peace of mind that you have a reliable partner.
Summing Up
Ultimately, a successful development partnership depends on fusing the clear goal (why you need a development partner) with robust preparation (research) and wise decision-making. It really takes lots of effort from your side to make it happen.
But the result you get is totally worth it. With a good web development partner, you will save money, deliver projects faster and get full support from specialists in web development.
We hope this breakdown was useful for you. If you still have questions or want to work on a project together, drop us a line!
