If you run a business that has a digital side, having a mobile application is one surefire way to increase your reach, conversions and revenue, but you already know that.
Finding a skilled mobile app expert to help bring that mobile app to life, though, that’s where most business owners struggle.
Well, struggle no more. In this guide, I talk about all you need to know to hire your first mobile app expert with ease.
But first, how do you know it’s time for an app
Most businesses will need a mobile app eventually provided they continue to grow and expand. But more specifically, it’s time for a mobile app for your business when;
1. You need a new source of leads and/or customers
With mobile phones being the consumers’ preferred digital media device, not having an app cuts off a significant chunk of potential consumers from your audience base. Just ask IKEA; after debuting their IKEA Place app, number of new app downloads for the business jumped by a whopping 8.5 million.
2. Your competitors have a mobile app with active users
This ties back to the earlier point – if you don’t have an app, you’re missing out on a huge segment of your target audience. And if your competitors have an app, then it’s safe to say they’re larping up all of that prime business.
3. You want a better experience for your mobile users
There’s just so much customization and personalization you can integrate into websites and web apps. If you want the real deal for mobile users, your software needs to tie in with the mobile architecture, and for that, you need a mobile app.
4. You want better data tracking and insights
Data is valuable, and any forward-thinking company will have it in their plans to actively collect data (of course in an ethical way, not Facebook-style) from its user base. With a mobile app, you can get granular with the amount and kind of data you collect and track. This data can open up valuable insights that could be the difference between you and the competitor.
Fall into any of this group? Yeah, that’s confirmation that you need a mobile app. Let’s get down to the business of finding a mobile app expert.
Defining what you need in an app
The first often ignored step in trying to develop a mobile app for your business is to define what exactly you need that app to do. Obviously, this is business-specific. So the mobile app needs of a restaurant owner will vary significantly from that of start-up Netflix.
To define your business-specific needs answer these questions:
🤷♂️ What is your business about?
🤷♂️ What is the target audience?
🤷♂️ What does the target audience want from your business?
Why is all of this important? Well, let’s conceptualize. I’m the owner of an online digital marketing business.
My business is about marketing services online to people who need them. This means I’ll need an app that’s more oriented for marketing than anything else. In searching for a mobile app expert, I want someone who has experience creating marketing related apps.
The target audience is business owners, entrepreneurs and every layperson. My app has to have the professional look and feel that appeals to this target audience. Compare it to say building a gaming app for kids, in which case I’ll want all the funky colors and wacky design elements that scream fun!
My target audience wants a selection of services that are applicable to their needs. So, in addition to having maybe a knowledge panel, I’ll want a segment for service listings. Knowing what your audience wants basically allows you to define what features will be integrated into the app.
Answered the questions? Good!
What kind of app can you build?
Mobile apps are built different, and any worthwhile mobile app expert would know. But it’s also a good idea if you have an idea (pun intended) about the various forms of mobile apps you can get. At least that’ll keep you in the loop when your mobile app expert starts yammering on with the technical details.
Mobile apps can be broadly divided into three categories:
- Mobile apps for Android devices
- Mobile apps for iOS devices
- Hybrid apps
- Cross-platform apps
📌 Mobile apps for Android devices are mobile apps built specifically for Android smartphones.
Programming languages used: Kotlin, Java
📌 Mobile apps for iOS devices are those built for iOS devices, including the iPhone, the iPad and the iWatch.
Programming languages used: Swift, Objective C
📌 Hybrid apps are web apps packaged into what’s called a container allowing them to function on different platforms (Android & iOS). Web apps are apps hosted on a browser like Google chrome. So with a hybrid app, what you have is a web app that can run on both Android and iOS phones using platform-specific ‘containers.’
Programming languages used: Ionic, Cordova
📌 Cross-platform apps are designed from scratch to work on multiple platforms. So the same version of your app will work on both Android and iOS devices.
Programming languages used: Flutter, React Native, Xamarin
Which is the best?
The first two types of app types are called native apps, and they’re the most popular option for both developers and business owners like you. However, building a native app means you have to create two different versions of the app – an iOS version and an Android version.
This means twice the budget, twice the number of mobile app experts and usually twice the development period.
Hybrid apps are pretty much phased out with current app development best practices, so that leaves you with Cross-platform apps as the other alternative. Because they combine compatibility for two platforms in one app package, cross-platform apps usually use up a lot of processing power on user devices.
The good bit is that they’re cheaper and faster to make. Even though there’s a performance concern, it’s usually not significant if you’re dealing with the typical mobile app – nothing like the Call of Duty game or Reddit’s buggy mobile app.
✅ If you want the absolute best experience for your users and have the money to back it up, you should stick to native apps.
✅ If you have a modest budget and you want nothing out of the ordinary in a mobile app, you should be fine with a cross-platform app built using something like React Native.
Finding an app expert
Okay, now you know the necessary tidbits about making a mobile app. Let’s address the problem of finding a mobile app expert.
Things to look out for when hiring a mobile app expert
1. Their skillset or ‘tech stack’ as it is called
The tech stack is the programming language your mobile app expert will use to create an app for you. From our discussion to this point, it should be obvious that the language sort of determines the app type. An app expert who uses Swift, for instance, will develop native apps as opposed to hybrid or cross-platform apps.
But that’s just a general rule of thumb anyway; most app developers create apps with more than one tool; that’s why they have a ‘stack’ of programming languages they use. In any case, make sure to inquire about what tools they use, so you understand exactly what type of app you’re getting.
2. Their expertise and experience
Experience and expertise matter a lot when it comes to mobile app development. Developing a mobile app can get very technical, depending on the type of app and its feature list. If your selected mobile app developer lacks the skills to properly ‘codify’ the app, you’ll end up with a buggy, botched app or even worse an app with security vulnerabilities – all things you don’t want if you’re a serious business.
There are two ways to assess the skill and expertise of an app development expert:
- Their case studies and technical portfolio
- Their list of past clients
Case studies
Case studies are documentation of past Android development projects by the developer. They give you an idea of how the app developer handles the process of making mobile apps for clients like you. A detailed case study will include everything from the consultation, conceptualization, design, actual app development and review phases.
The best case studies are those related to your business. If a developer has developed an app that’s similar to yours, then it’s safe to assume they’re better adapted to succeed with your project. For each case study, who was the client; what was the scope of the project; what was the app feature list; Did the developer describe the app creation process; was the client satisfied with the end product.
Answering these questions will help gauge the skill and experience of the mobile app developer. For instance, if there’s a detailed description of how the app was coded into place and a verifiable positive testimonial from the client, that’s an indicator that the developer understands the app development cycle and how to deliver on clients’ requests.
Their list of past clients
A list of past clients, including top brands like Apple and Shopify, tells you you’re working with a top-class developer. Those companies have a stringent hiring process, so any developer making the cut is probably qualified enough to handle your next mobile app development project.
That said, most of the developers you’ll meet won’t be exes of Apple, Amazon and the likes. Some would have worked with less notable top brands. So what defines a top brand;
- A distinctive business and an established customer base generating revenue
- An established social media presence
- An established team of employees
It’s easy to tell apart businesses that meet these criteria from ‘shell’ companies. When a developer has worked successfully with one or more top brands, then you can go into a contract with them with some added layer of confidence.
3. Country of residence and language spoken
As you try to hire a mobile app developer, you’ll get to find out that many mobile app developers (with a lot of them being highly skilled) don’t reside in your country. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. As I said, foreign devs can be very skilled, maybe better than your local devs and usually cheaper too.
But here’s what you should do. Find out if you can communicate clearly and fluidly with the mobile app developer. Communication is important because if your ideas are not understood, there’s no way they’ll be implemented properly.
Where does the developer live? What is their time zone, and when are they available to talk?
Do they understand English, or are they working with a third party who acts as a bridge of communication between you two?
The ideal mobile app developer for you should speak English and live in a country with time zones where office hours overlap with yours. You don’t want to keep a late night out to talk to your dev for a simple feature integration.
I’ve intentionally left out the whole bit about ‘soft skills’ since there are very few objective ways to assess soft skills for someone you’re probably going to hire over the internet. Most times, mobile app developers who meet the above criteria, especially that of having worked with top brands, will have all the soft skills to complete your projects, so no worries here.
Where to find mobile app developers
You can find mobile app experts through three means:
- Scouting for in-house full-time mobile experts on professional sites like LinkedIn and GitHub.
- Hiring an Agency which staffs mobile app experts – that is a mobile app development agency.
- Hiring a freelance mobile app developer on sites like Fiverr and Upwork.
Except you’ve supervised the development of an app before now, or you have some technical knowledge, I wouldn’t recommend going the LinkedIn or GitHub route to hire in-house mobile app developers.
✅ Using an agency or a freelance site is much better for the flexibility and ease of hiring a mobile app expert they offer.
Hiring a mobile app expert through an agency
Agencies like Toptal staff mobile app developers available for hire on a contract basis. Most agencies will take over the job of supervising and managing the app developer. This is an especially nice arrangement if you’ve never hired a mobile app developer yourself.
All you’ll need to do is provide a detailed description of the kind of app you want developed and maybe hop on one or two Zoom calls, settle the bill, and your project kicks off. These agencies will typically have dedicated project managers that interface between you and the app developer.
The job of the project manager is to make sure your project is being executed to specification and in line with app dev industry standards and best practices.
On the flip side, app development agencies staffing app experts charge a hefty sum, usually more than 40% of the cost of developing the same app through the freelance route. The added cost is mostly a function of the additional managerial and supervisory services they provide.
Should you go with an agency when hiring a mobile app expert:
✅ Yes, if you’d rather take a hands-off approach and have the project managed for you.
✅ Also yes, if you’re not quite sure what you want in-app. Overall, agencies provide better consultation services to help iron out the minor details
⛔ No, if you’re on a tight budget. Agencies charge a pretty penny for similar results as skilled freelancers.
Hiring a mobile app expert on freelance sites like Fiverr
Freelance sites like Fiverr host mobile app developers in their literal thousands. You’ll want to be careful, though; many so-called professionals on these platforms are not half the word, which is why I outlined all the steps you need to take to weed out the hacks.
For Fiverr specifically, I have a guide to hiring freelance Android developers that shed more detail into what you should do when hiring someone to build a mobile app for you on there, so check that out.
The main selling points of freelance sites over agency sites are the cheaper costs and the bigger pool of mobile app experts. If you have a specific need in app development, you’re more likely to find a mobile app developer for that need on freelance sites than on agency sites. And when it comes to costs, as I said, there’s about a 40% markup on prices for app development on agency sites compared to freelance sites.
With mobile app experts on freelance sites, however you handle all the business of managing and supervising the development process yourself. This can be a little bit tricky if you have no prior experience. The good thing is if you use the guardrails I’ve described in this guide, you should land in the hands of a professional mobile app developer, in which case supervision and management won’t be too much of a chore.
Should you go with freelance sites when hiring a mobile app expert
✅ Yes, if you want better pricing for app development.
✅ Yes, if you have special needs.
✅ Yes, if you want to be more involved in the process.
⛔ No, if you’re not capable of managing and supervising an app development project.
Extent of app development – one time or continuous hire software development lifecycle
Notice how you have to update your favorite mobile apps every now and again? Building an app is one thing; maintaining and updating it after launch, that’s another thing entirely and one you should be prepared for from the get-go.
The usual arrangement is that the original app developer handles all future maintenance and app updates. When you’re hiring an app developer, it’s important that you set up this arrangement before signing off on the contract. Most apps will need updates over their lifetimes, and it’s usually an easier proposition to have the original developer handle updates.
Alternatively, you could sub-contract app updates and future maintenance to another mobile app developer or firm in the future. It’s usually harder to go this route since you have to renegotiate rates and define a new contract, but it’s a set-up that frees you from any possible retainer fee some app developers can charge.
Note, however, that new app developers taking up an existing project might charge more since they have to work with a third-party codebase. And those charges can go higher if the codebase is unreadable or hard to work on, underscoring the importance of hiring not only a skilled mobile app developer but also one who’s professional and dutiful enough to create standardized mobile applications.
Why is all of this important
Developing your mobile app is only the first step in your journey to tap into the mobile market segment. After release, you will register bugs, complaints and performance issues unidentifiable at the time of development that must be resolved if you want your app to succeed.
When you sort out the maintenance and updating part of the contract early on, you’re sure to get timely updates and maintenance fixes for your app when they do come after rollout.
What are your next steps?
I created a guide to hiring app developers on Fiverr, so check that out if you want to go the freelance site for hiring an app developer route. I’ve also reviewed the best agencies for hiring mobile app developers if you prefer the agency route.
But to summarize, the whole process of finding and hiring an app developer can be distilled into three basic steps.
📌 Defining your needs
📌 Knowing what to look out for in skilled mobile app experts
📌Defining the extent of the app development cycle – just a one time contract or an extended one where the original developer is responsible for maintaining and releasing apps.
Once you know how to navigate these steps, which is what this guide is for, then you’re set to hire your next expert app developer.
