3 Ways to Add Application Development to Your Agency Repertoire

Application development is becoming more important for your business every day. You don’t just need a website and team to build and develop it; having a team that specializes in application development is equally important.

Think of it this way, according to a survey in Entrepreneur magazine, 75 percent percent of Americans check their mobile phones at least once per hour and 90 percent of those users said most of that time is spent in apps. So, application development is vital to your success.

While it can be an intimidating concept, adding application development to your agency repertoire is not as scary as it sounds. Here are three options to get started so you can determine which one is right for you.

1. Hire New Developers

The most obvious solution is to hire a team of new developers. This is a great option that can give you a lot of control over the creative team, but it can be expensive – you need the budget for new employees – and it’s a considerable commitment.

Adding to your team is a long-term investment with the potential for huge rewards. You will have someone in-house that can create the type of apps you wants and keep everything up to date and running smoothly.

Here are a few things to look for when hiring new application developers:

• Look for a developer that’s actually interested in your business. If they only care about apps, the end result won’t be as good.
• Look at their portfolio and check references. Is this developer a good fit for what you see in an app? Does the portfolio include pieces that could be part of your vision?
• Don’t get hung up on price. It can be expensive to add a new employee to the team. Price should not prevent you from choosing the right fit.

2. Train Your Existing Team

Another option when it comes to adding application development to your business is to put resources into training existing team members to do the job. The immediate upside to this idea is that you’ll be working with someone you already know and you won’t have to undertake a job search.

Other benefits of training include:

• No additional expense from hiring another person.
• The team member likely already understands and is bought into what you are doing and why the work (or app) is important.
• They can get started right away.

But there are significant risks as well:

• Finding the right training and ensuring the team member wants to do the job can be a little tricky. It takes the right combination of skills and determination to learn something new to be successful. (And it can still be tough for a one-person team to learn a new skill.)
• Pulling someone from another area could result in another hole on the team. Do you have the resources to make this type of move without harming the current workflow and processes?
• You don’t know what you don’t know. How can you be sure an existing team member is up to the task and can handle app development?

3. Partner with Another Company, Locally or Remote

There’s also an option that’s more of the perfect middle ground for most agencies – partner with another company that specializes in application development. This option can give you the best of both worlds because you can hire a reputable app developer that cares about your success without the risk or long-term investment of hiring a new employee or training someone from your existing team.

Mayven is one of those options if you think partnering with another company is right for you. The on-demand development agency has a team of application developers that can help you create the right solution for your agency. Getting started is as easy as asking for a quote.

The nice thing about partnering with a company – locally or remote – that specializes in app development is you only pay for the services you need, and most of these firms can get your app up and running much quicker than if you have to undergo a hiring process.

Other benefits include:

• You can work with a company that has a track record. They will have more projects for you to see in their portfolio to help jog your imagination.
• You’ll have access to an entire team of app developers. This one is a big deal. You will likely get a better product with more people working on the app design and development. With more creativity and idea generation from a team, you might get an app you never thought possible.
• Your partner won’t be limited by other tasks or obligations. They work for you with a focus on getting your app developed and prepped for launch. They won’t have the other side demands or looming deadlines for other projects that in-house team members could face.

Conclusion

Working with a company to help develop a mobile application is a great way for most agencies to get started in app design. It’s a higher reward, lower risk option than some others.

It’s worth your time to look at Mayven and other on-demand development teams such as TopTal and Upwork (both are freelancer networks). Partnering with the right app development team can help you add this skill to your agency repertoire so that you can continue to create and develop exactly what users demand.

You can’t let this task fall behind. App development needs to be part of your agency’s repertoire right now. Remember all those users that Entrepreneur said use mobile apps? Those same users are 40 percent more likely to abandon an app if they come across a bug. So it is vital you hire the right app developer so that every release will be something users want to interact with.