How And Where to Find App Developers in 2022?

Today, it is difficult to imagine a world without applications. Every client has a smartphone, which means they can carry your business in their pocket or purse.

No wonder the business is growing and developing by leaps and bounds:

• American users spend more than 5 hours using their mobile devices. 92% of this time is spent on different applications.
• The global app revenue is expected to reach $935 billion by 2023. 
• There are 2.57 million apps available on the Google Play Store and 1.84 million on the Apple Store.

The future of app development is very promising, as the industry is growing rapidly, and organizations are looking for new ways to grow their business. When you have an excellent app business idea and are ready to move on with the custom application development, your first dilemma will be “How to find the right app developer”?

There are several options available, each of them has its own pros and cons, but you need to be aware of how each solution works. You must thoroughly weigh the market’s possibilities to build an app that will attract new clients and make them stay with you. 

This guide is intended to help you with this challenging decision. Here, we’ll talk about how to find an app developer that can help you maximize your business’s revenue.

What are the main types of hiring an app developer?

One of the critical decisions you need to make when searching for an app developer is the model of employment. It mostly depends on your business requirements. As you might guess, each available approach has its pros and cons, so let’s talk about each in detail. 

Hiring in-house

The most common option is to recruit an app developer as a team member. In-house development (insourcing) is the model of delegating software tasks to IT professionals who work full-time in your company. It so happens that this has been the most common approach to app development. Team members work under your control and are deeply immersed in your organization’s life and business processes. 

Nevertheless, in-house development also brings some additional headaches since you will need to employ, onboard, and supervise app developers as well as manage their growth and retention.

Pros:

• Deep understanding of your product or service.
• Streamlined communication and reduced cultural risks.
• The team is likely to be more motivated to achieve the best results.
• More control over the development process.

Cons:

• The hiring process takes a lot of time and effort.
• It has a limited talent pool.
• Scaling the team up and down is really challenging.

The bottom line is that you should go down this path if your project fuels your core business, and it is critical to accumulate product knowledge within your company.

Hiring a freelancer

There are a lot of freelancers ready to help you at any time, and among them are many developers and testers who can help you turn your app idea into a product. In most cases, it is quite easy to hire talented programmers from anywhere in the world since there are many sites on the Internet where you can find freelancers.

If you need a team, and you are hiring 5 different freelancers, then managing and coordinating all these people who have never worked together can be a very challenging task. It will take a lot of your time, so you need to be prepared for this. The risk of misunderstanding the business needs and values is also very high due to the lack of commitment to the company for which they are performing app development.

Pros:

• Utmost flexibility – you hire only for the tasks you need and kick off the project fast.
• Access to talented developers across the globe.
• You can easily find an expert for your specific technologies, such as a blockchain developer, data analyst, etc.

Cons:

• More efforts to control and manage freelancers’ tasks.
• Lack of communication (you may not be answered for hours, unlike your internal team, which is always at your disposal).
• Hiring a freelancer can create higher confidentiality risks (no one wants their business information or users’ personal data to be leaked). 

Hiring an outsourced team

Outsourcing development is the model where you delegate all or a part of software development activities to IT professionals from external agencies. IT outsourcing is an approach that is prevalent among many companies today. Fortunly predicts it will grow by $98 billion from 2020 to 2024.

Outsourcing is designed to be flexible and allows you to expand and downsize the team on demand. You can adjust the size of the team according to your project plans and attract part-time or peak resource specialists. One of the major disadvantages of outsourced development is that you may have slightly less visibility of how tasks are tracked and completed. Nevertheless, this challenge can be easily tackled by talking to your supplier about the visibility and control you want over your project and how to achieve it.

Sigma Software has been providing outsourcing services for 20 years, and we have had many opportunities to make sure that outsourcing brings great benefits. We are constantly expanding our offerings and mastering new advanced technologies to solve business problems.

Pros:

• Extended delivery capacity and shorter time to market.
• Guarantee of timely delivery. 
• Access to a larger talent pool.
• They are scaling up and down on-demand.
• Simplified hiring process and smooth people management.

Cons:

• Less visibility over the team. 
• Confidentiality and security risks.
• Team integration challenges.

Useful tips for finding an app developer

Finding the right person or outsourcing partner is crucial regardless of which path you choose. That’s why we have compiled a list of tips to help you hire an app maker.

Take a look at the portfolio and check testimonials.

Before employing app developers, check out their portfolio to see how well they have done on other similar projects. You can learn a lot of helpful information just by looking at their former job files. The portfolio helps you determine if the specialists have the necessary experience and skills in building applications for your particular industry, how they approach problem-solving, and the design principles they follow.

If you are unsure if the app development team is good enough, ask their previous client for a recommendation. Testimonials can help you understand the credibility, responsiveness, and how result-oriented the specialists are. In addition, enquire if the client is happy with the final product if the developers met the deadline, how good their communication skills were, etc.

Ensure clear communication

Another important aspect to consider when hiring an app development team is their communication skills. During the screening process, evaluate how you feel when talking to potential developers. Check if they take the time to explain their feedback to you and if they share enthusiasm for your business ideas. They should listen carefully to your requirements, but it’s also essential that they provide honest, straight, and detailed feedback.

Be sure to ask how often they communicate with clients and what communication methods & project management tools they apply. Ensure that the time zone difference will not affect your communication because no one likes to have an important meeting at night. Thus, we recommend finding out if the developers have a history of successful collaboration with clients in your time zone.

Discuss the timeline and budget

The price is an integral part of any app development project. When considering a project budget, keep in mind that the key objective is to build an application that will bring value to your business. The app creator company frequently makes an estimated cost, including the development part, design, quality control, and testing.

If you have budget and time constraints, be sure to discuss them at the beginning of the cooperation. This will at least avoid unpleasant surprises in the middle of the project. Ideally, your supplier will help you evaluate your budget cap and find a solution that meets your expectations.

Where to find a developer to build an app 

The next question that may arise is, “How do I find an app developer?” Here are some places where you can search for an app developer:

Freelance websites 

If you decide to hire freelancers, we recommend you to check out freelance sites like Toptal, Hired, Upwork, and Fiverr. The benefit of hiring through these platforms is that candidates are vetted and do not need to conduct reference checking. These websites have clear pricing, so you can browse easily to find the candidate that will suit your project.

Tech communities and B2B directories 

Designers and developers upload their portfolios and work sample on tech communities like Dribbble, Stackoverflow, or GitHub. Through these communities, you can contact candidates and talk about their experience and skills. Suppose you made up your mind to hire an app development company. In that case, we recommend you browse B2B directories where companies have their portfolio with detailed information, reviews, case studies, and ratings. Sites like Clutch.co, GoodFirms, TheManifest, and Businessofapps are excellent options to look through.

 References and networking

Word-of-mouth recommendation is also an effective way to find dedicated mobile app developers, as you can get feedback from your business partners. Ask around and check if anyone you know can recommend you the app developer they’re in contact with. 

Local colleges and universities

If you are looking for a junior developer or intern, a great solution would be to contact local colleges and universities. Reach out to computer science professors to see if they know any brilliant students.

Search engines 

Last but not least, you can look for app developers on search engines like Google, Yahoo, Baidu, etc. You can start your search by using the keywords, e.g., “app developer near me,” and you will be redirected to the most relevant app developers for hire or outsourcing development companies. The only problem with search engines is that you must verify the developers or companies you find here. 

Bottom Line

A mobile app can boost brand awareness and deliver great value to customers. Of course, a mobile app is only as good as the team that created it. In any case, whichever employment model you choose to hire an app developer, it is vital to maintain an open dialogue and transparency throughout the product development project.