Prior to delegating your app project to any mobile development agency, you should ask for a detailed free app quote. In today’s discussion, we highlight some key benefits of asking for such app quotes from companies.
If you have a viable app idea, getting it developed is not a tough ask. There are hundreds of good mobile app development companies in practically every country – who can handle your project, do the necessary coding, share prototypes and wireframes with you, and submit the app in its final form. However, the first point of interaction between you and any app developer (from a company or a freelancer) would be when you ask for free app quotes. Why do you need to get detailed quotes at the very outset? Here are some reasons:
- To get an idea about the overall expenses – Depending on the type of Android or iPhone app you wish to create, companies will give you estimates of the total app development costs. This is essential for you to determine whether your idea is indeed worth spending the quoted amount, or whether you should put it on the back-burner and think up some other, simpler app concept. Unplanned expenses are never good, and mobile app development is not an exception to that.
- To compare and select – Wherever you might be from, do a bit of online research – and you will find several local mobile app companies proclaiming themselves to be the best. What’s more, most of them would promise free app quotes as well. It would be a smart option to collect quotes from, say, 4 different companies – compare among them (proposed features, estimated project completion time, costs, etc.), and then select the one that seems the most suitable. Hiring the very first app developer you come across would be too naive.
- To make sure that you do not pay unnecessarily – Okay, now let’s focus on the ‘free’ part. When you visit the website of an app development company/get in touch with a freelance developer and ask for online quotes, you are seeking information only, and not any service per se. Only when you select a company and delegate your project to it, does the question of making payments arise. Think of it this way – you have to come to a bookstore and have asked the price of a new novel. Does the store assistant charge you for giving you that information?
- To fit app development plans within your budget – One good thing about the online free app quote forms of most companies is that, they let clients take their pick from alternative budget options. Chances are that, you will also find details of the services available corresponding to the different budget slabs. That way, you can proceed with your plans to make a custom mobile app, without having to go overboard with your expenses.
- To avoid payment confusions in future – The last thing you want to worry about while your app is being developed are uncertainties about the payments that have to be made. Asking for a detailed free app quote is the smartest way to avoid such concerns. The total cost figure will be clearly specified in the response that your chosen company(ies) provides. If you find that the expenses are spiralling upwards, simply notify the developers about it. Chances of quabbles over payments after the app project is complete will be minimal.
- To confirm ownership of intellectual property rights – Nearly all leading iPhone app companies provide a non-competing agreement along with the free app quotes. This is vital, since it establishes that you retain the sole ownership of all intellectual property rights of your application (i.e., the company cannot pass off the app as its in-house product). In case you find that a company is hesitant about signing such agreements, it would be advisable to stay away from it.
- To stay involved with the development process – Many people plan to create an app, delegate their project to a company, and wait for the time when the latter finishes the task and the app is submitted to the store. This often results in the app in its final form turning out to be quite different from what you had initially envisaged it to be. At the end of the day, the app developers are working on your idea – and it’s only fair that you should have a say in how the software would be developed. When you ask for a free app quote, you can also share wireframes (if available) with the professionals of your selected firm. Other specific instructions can also be given.
- To avoid undue delays – Perfectly good app ideas might come to nothing, if there is too much delay between the thinking and the implementation stages. Almost every good mobile app company responds within a few hours of your contacting them for free quotes on apps. This, in turn, ensures that the actual development starts as soon as you have finalized which company to hire, and signed on the dotted line. When you think up an app idea, you should always look to implement it as soon as possible.
- To find out about advance payments – No mobile app developer in the world would agree to take his/her entire payment after the creation of your application is complete. Conversely though, you will come across many companies that demand hefty advance payments – even before any work is started on your project. At the time of asking for free app quotes, you should inquire about the timings when payments would have to be made, and how much has to be paid in advance. Ideally, a decent app company would never ask for more than 30%-35% of the total quoted development cost as advance payment.
- To ensure that app upgrades in future would be free too – This is a point where shady app development firms really become active. At the face of it, they give out free app quotes – but they also specify that app upgrades in future would involve additional payments. This somewhat defeats the very essence of getting app quotes for free. You need to make sure that the company of your choice would upgrade your app (if and when required), without charging you anything extra. To create an iPhone/Android app, recurring expenses should not be necessary.
- To avail the services of truly the best app companies – There used to be a time (even 3-4 years back), when clients used to look for local app development experts to handle their projects. Thanks to the proliferation of internet across the globe and the provision of free app quotes, getting in touch with, and availing the services of the best multinational mobile app company has become easier than ever before. You might be a resident of, say, Australia, and delegate your app project to a good European, or even Indian, app firm. Geographical boundaries have ceased to really matter.
- To give companies a proper launching pad to start brainstorming – The time when you request for app quotes is the best to highlight the precise type of mobile software you wish to be developed. The description and proposed features you provide would give your chosen company a reference point to start brainstorming on how the same can be implemented and what, if any, tweaks would be necessary. Consider this: if you mention that ‘I want an IM app’, the developers would be at a loss about what new features to include in it. However, if you specify that ‘I want an IM app with anonymous chatting features and real-time audio/video sharing’, the company gets a fair idea about the type of application it has to create.
The terms of usage documents provided at the time of getting app quotes should be scanned very carefully – since there are several companies that take up projects, only to re-delegate them to other, third-party firms (not something you would like). If you want to make an app with cross-platform compatibility, you can state that at the outset as well. When you find a mobile app company whose services seem to be good enough, ask for a detailed free app quote from it first. Go through the given details, compare the quote with that provided by at least a couple of rival companies – and then take a final decision on which app company you should hire.
Hussain Fakhruddin
CEO at Teknowledge Software
Hussain Fakhruddin is the founder/CEO of Teknowledge mobile apps company. He heads a large team of app developers, and has overseen the creation of nearly 600 applications. Apart from app development, his interests include reading, traveling and online blogging.
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