Building an MVP! Here are 8 Easy Ways To Reduce its Custom Software Development Cost
Your MVP, or Minimum Viable Product, leads the difference between failure & success when getting started in software development, marketing, or another high-risk industry. We shared in this blog 8 easy ways to reduce its custom software development cost.
As the development of your Minimum Viable Product(MVP) proceeds and you make decisions about which features to include and exclude, it’s essential to consider cost as well.
When you try to pack too many features into your first version, you might end up wasting time & resources on aspects of the product that are ultimately unnecessary or don’t work as expected. You waste even more time & money trying to fix them later.
However, with the right strategy, you can easily get rid of these issues and errors and save costs simultaneously.
Here are Eight Easy Ways to Cut the Cost of Your MVP
1. Decide Fundamental Features of the Software
A minimum viable product is a tool for testing hypotheses about your business. But when you’re just getting started, it can be tempting to try & build a complete product that does everything you want your final version to do.
The problem with building an all-in-one solution from day one is that it usually comes at a high cost. For you to even get close to making a valuable minimum viable product, you’ll likely need more resources than you’d ever want for an early-stage startup.
Instead of trying to incorporate tons of features into your first version, create a barebones prototype that lets users experiment with whatever part of your idea is most important. Later you can add other elements to prove useful or start gaining traction.
2. Leverage Open-Source Technology Stack
Using open-source technology will ensure that you don’t reinvent any wheels. And since there are thousands of developers already familiar with it, you’ll be able to find plenty of support and help if issues arise.
Google Trends is an excellent tool for finding potential technologies for your project. Over time, it provides an index of search popularity for various programming languages and development frameworks.
Do you know the top development tools preferred worldwide? The infographic below offers insights into what developers worldwide use during custom software development.
Source: Statista- Top Development Tools
Just look at what language people are searching for in your target market and start doing some research.
Note: Sites like GitHub, StackOverflow, and Quora are great resources.
3. Prefer Cross-platform Solutions for Reaching a Larger Audience
If you don’t have dedicated resources for mobile development, consider creating a cross-platform mobile app. Cross-platform development is supported by companies like Google, Facebook, etc. the prominent frameworks include Flutter, React Native, Cordova, etc.
These tools let you develop web apps that developers can port to native devices with minimal effort. Using one of these solutions could cut your costs from $10,000 to $20,000 or even higher.
The infographic below offers insights into the most preferred cross-platform frameworks developers prefer worldwide.
Source: Statista- Most Used Cross-Platform Frameworks
Another benefit is leveraging your web app for new devices when they become available. PhoneGap, for example, supports more than 30 devices and 15 mobile operating systems (including Amazon’s Kindle Fire).
It means it can keep pace with Apple’s constant stream of new devices. And as part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud, PhoneGap also gets regular updates that enhance features and fix bugs.
4. Outsource the Project to Asian/Eastern-European Nations
Deploying a software project offshore is a great way to cut costs, only if you’ve found the right people. Ensure they’ve experienced professionals and not overseas agencies that don’t know much about custom development.
It’s no secret that hiring talented programmers in big cities can be expensive. In contrast, handing over the project to top outsourcing nations like India and Indonesia are proven methods of reducing custom development costs of the project.
The table below offers information on the standard developer charges in the top outsourcing nations worldwide.
| Outsourcing Nation | Developer’s Charges in Dollars Per Hour |
| India | $20 to $40 per hour |
| Ukraine | $30 to $50 per hour |
| China | $40 to $60 per hour |
| Indonesia | $20 to $50 per hour |
| Poland | $40 to $60 per hour |
Notably, India’s custom software development company can deliver their projects at lower costs, while their work is just as good as their western counterparts.
5. Look for At Least Three Months of Software Maintenance
We strongly recommend that you agree on at least three months (longer if possible) with your vendor for software maintenance. It will give you enough time to carefully plan out your first iteration and ensure that everything is working correctly before handing over maintenance duties.
It is tempting to get in touch with your vendor as little as possible (after all, they’re getting paid either way). However, consider how amazing it would be if you had a reliable partner who could help guide you through problem areas or care for them during development.
Moreover, when something goes wrong in production, service level agreements are much more effective when they’re already established. So, don’t leave yourself in a situation where paying exorbitant hourly fees becomes necessary.
6. Follow Continuous Integration & Continuous Deployment Approach
Using automated approaches to development and delivery is an excellent way for a small team to leverage economies of scale and bring code into production quickly. However, as organizations grow, it’s more complicated—and more important—to develop and deploy code efficiently.
Adopting continuous integration (CI) and continuous deployment (CD) practices will allow you to keep up with your growing demand while keeping costs down. It also creates a healthier overall environment because they help reduce failures due to your codebase or infrastructure issues.
Simultaneously they also lower risks because they make it easy to spot issues before they become big problems. So please take advantage of them early!
7. Choose an Agile Development Methodology
Source: Statista- SDLC Followed Worldwide
If you are looking for a quick & scalable way, then Agile methodologies will be a good choice. Agile frameworks assure high-quality & they do help in developing quickly. Apart from all these things, it also guarantees an early delivery of your Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
The project management techniques like RUP(Rational Unified Process) can help manage things in order. Like other principles or models, following them won’t bring you success.
Instead, you need to understand them properly first and then use them effectively to get better results for yourself. Besides that, nothing makes a difference between any two types of Agile methodologies like Scrum vs. Kanban, which have various pros & cons when compared together.
Following are the top 5 agile development methodologies. Have a look:
Scrum: Scrum was born out of an evolutionary process that included several methodologies like Kanban, itinerary, etc. Scrum, too, has evolved into many different variations on similar lines. Unlike Scrum, though, there is no formal process or certification associated with Kanban.
Kanban: The idea behind Kanban is that if you can visualize your workflow, you will see where your bottlenecks are. Kanban boards are designed around several columns. These columns indicate different stages in a process and help remove blockages, avoid overproduction and reduce waste.
Extreme Programming (XP): XP is both a methodology and a collection of practices. Most importantly, XP places a strong emphasis on creating high-quality code, testing that code thoroughly, and ensuring that you can support all code easily over time. It also emphasizes communication between all members of a development team and with users.
Crystal: This methodology is much more lightweight than others. With Crystal, you can choose a set of practices and tailor them to your specific project. For example, while some developers will use approaches from Scrum, XP, and Agile methodologies, others may also adopt agile planning techniques such as rolling wave planning.
Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM): DSDM was created by IBM. It follows an agile approach and takes a formal and systematic approach to requirements gathering, planning, and risk management. In DSDM, teams are of business analysts, developers, and testers. Teams work together on user stories in sprints that last three weeks and one month. Each sprint has a planning phase, a development phase, and a testing phase.
8. Choose a Right Team To Work With
The development team for your project is one of its most essential parts. Having a great development team means that you’ll have fewer issues along the way, and you’ll be able to achieve your goals much more quickly.
On top of that, it also means a better-quality product in general. The tools that you use are also essential. These can range from simple things like document templates and business software packages to content management systems and web frameworks.
By hiring dedicated developers, you can reduce costs & time—and increase productivity overall!
Final Words
When you lack knowledge, understanding, and attention towards the development process, these mistakes lead to high custom software development costs due to delays in project kick-off and extending the time frame.
In contrast, there are many modules that developers can integrate with minimum customization and cross-platform solutions. It ultimately reduces the overall cost by leveraging such technologies and choosing them over customized ones that include more bugs than benefits. I have tried to cover them all in this article.
Thus, you don’t end up wasting time on these activities.
Related Post – https://www.thepostcity.com/improve-your-companys-reputation-and-get-a-digital-advantage-with-custom-software-development/
