So, your product idea is ready, and you definitely believe it’s going to be the next big thing! The only problem is that it most probably won’t be the case, as 90 percent of startups fail within the first year. Black scenario? Don’t worry – there is a solution that will help you find yourself in the successful 10 percent.
Having crunched data from hundreds of failure post-mortems, CB Insights found the #1 reason a product doesn’t succeed is because there is no market need, accounting for 42 percent of demises. Many startups spend too much time and money perfecting their product idea without ever showing it to the prospective customer. When they fail to reach broad uptake, it is usually because they never validated their ideas. And then it’s often too late to change anything, as they run out of money (reason #2 according to CB Insights).
So how can your startup stay lean? One proven way is through responsible and flexible IT outsourcing, just as some of the most popular companies such as Slack, WhatsApp, or even GitHub did. Here are three top reasons you should consider it, too.
#1: More affordable mvp, faster time-to-market
Every little saving helps, especially in the early stages. Entrusting development of your MVP (Minimum Viable Product) to an experienced IT outsourcing company means you can save big on resources you’d otherwise have to spend on building in-house software teams.
Hiring, onboarding, and training staff is costly and time-consuming. That’s why IT outsourcing makes sense, no matter the phase your project currently is in. You can rely on developers well-acquainted with Scrum and other methodologies that guarantee efficient project delivery within the agreed deadlines.
Once you have an MVP, your startup can work on tuning the engine by tracking the right metrics, asking the right questions AND earning first money. The goal is simple: hit the market with a validated, functional product in a reasonable time frame, or reduce time-to-market (TTM) as much as possible. Outsourcing software development helps you do just that.
#2: Reduced risks
Starting up is a big risk, not only financial. Struggling to meet other daily objectives when creating software may delay the development process, leading to a lower quality product, no market fit and even potential losses.
IT outsourcing can significantly reduce these risks for your startup, as it brings in a team that focuses solely on the development process to ensure a timely delivery of a high-quality product.
The service level agreement (SLA) further mitigates the risks by laying out the terms and metrics by which service is measured, as well as remedies if for any reason the agreed upon outcomes aren’t accomplished. This leaves little room for surprises, giving you more insight into the resources you’ll need to invest in product development.
#3: Less hassle, more flexibility
More often than not, startup founders and managers have a lot on their plates. They often juggle responsibilities ranging from sales and marketing to HR, operations and accounting. IT outsourcing decreases the number of your non-core tasks you’d have to tackle otherwise. Outsourced teams usually have project managers who coordinate IT product delivery on your behalf, helping you focus on your key activity areas.
On top of that, you gain more flexibility than when keeping an in-house software team. Good IT outsourcing companies will usually let you scale your resources up and down, adjust technology stack, or modify your cooperation model to match the changing needs of your startup. Not to mention that their engineers normally have far more experience gathered in diverse projects delivered using modern software development frameworks and tools.
The key activity of a lean startup is to turn ideas into products, measure how customers respond, and then learn whether to pivot or continue. This goal is far easier to achieve when outsourcing software development. Don’t wait, check it out yourself.