Agility is a startup’s competitive edge against mature businesses. Startups generally remain far more responsive to emerging customer demands. They can react faster than established businesses because those established businesses usually have longer decision chains.
However, agility requires wise allocation of available resources. Startups pivot several times on their way to a market-fit product. They must be prepared for fast and cost-effective changes.
Startups should think through how they implement the specific practices needed to build a flexible development strategy, accurately estimate the required time and resources, keep effective processes up and running, and retain enough room for needed pivots. Otherwise, building a market-fit product is not granted. Certain decisions (e.g., those regarding product architecture) may lower agility. These decisions are not suited for afterthought.
To pivot effectively, first-time startups must keep the following details in their mind.
1. Be Careful With Fixed-Price Terms
A fixed-price agreement provides startups with a feeling of cost control. Startups can know in advance how much the idea will cost and plan expenses.
However, the fixed price can lower team flexibility. Once the team agrees on the scope and cost, changes are possible only upon a new agreement. As a result, negotiations restart each time the startup comes with an improvement. The team must estimate the new scope, taking time and resources. Working on a fixed-price basis can slow the development pace each time project requirements change—and they change constantly.
The time-and-material model is a better option for startups. The development team can switch flexibly to new priorities without the need to agree on the new terms.
2. Reduce Where Possible—But Wisely
A dependable team invests efforts to provide an accurate estimate of the costs of startup development. However, the estimate may be higher than the expected budget, which can result from large project scope and risks caused by many unknowns.
Discuss the outcome and determine what you can reduce without compromising product quality. The following points include:
- Cutting all but key product features.
- Using frameworks and pre-prepared modules.
- Applying to the basic design.
- Clarifying project details with the help of presentations, clickable prototypes, demos or proofs of concept.
Some decisions that could decrease the bottom line include skipping necessary activities (e.g., DevOps or QA), extending the scope of a fixed-price project—contrary to the previous agreement—and offering a third-party estimate with lower project hours in it.
3. Hire An Expert Team And Invest In Collaboration
To decrease development time, it makes sense for non-tech startup founders to bet on expertise. This could mean hiring a person with a background in tech management as a CTO and then assembling a team with their help. It could also mean hiring a vendor team with proven experience in launching startup products, including a project manager and a business analyst.
Both options have their pros and cons, but active involvement in software development is required in either case. Startups should regularly discuss their plans and priorities with the engineering team to stay on the right track. In turn, the team of professionals can suggest the optimum implementation for what the marketing study has revealed.
The right expert should be able to explain software development terms and concepts in simple words if you ask them to.
4. Focus On Product Architecture
Two factors affect a product architecture: the feature list and the number of (future) users.
First, the initial idea will change several times until a startup finds the right formula. You will add new features to test market interest, update existing ones and remove irrelevant ones. You need flexible architecture to manage changes effectively, thus evading large reworks.
Second, the flexible architecture lets you keep the best balance between maintenance costs and user experience. On the one hand, extra capacity is expensive. You need to spend less on infrastructure when there are only a few users. On the other, you need to scale fast when popularity grows rapidly.
Founders will need to make sure the team has an architecture that can enable both—keeping reasonable costs today and supporting future growth plans.
5. Build Using A Popular Tech Stack
Technology popularity in software development is another concern, apart from developers’ experience working with it. Choose widely popular languages, frameworks and libraries when all other things are equal. Evaluate the following parameters:
- The availability of launched projects similar to yours.
- The regularity of updates.
- A large, vibrant community around technology.
- The support of a corporation or a foundation.
These parameters can help ensure that the technology is ready for long-term use. It will likely remain available, stable and secure in the future.
Another reason for using widespread technologies is the ease of replacement. Startups using an unpopular technology face risks of growing vendor dependence in case of outsourcing or high bus factor in case of in-house development.
6. Take Security Challenges Seriously
Cybercriminals target startups of any size. Potential targets include produced source code, software infrastructure and perimeter, project participants and their devices, and end users’ accounts.
Startups can feel safe only when they apply strict security policies to internal processes (including software development workflow and data exchange between team members), the storage and processing of user data, and compliance with data protection laws.
It is essential to design secure software architecture. Check source code and infrastructure for vulnerabilities and close them quickly. Ensure team members have relevant permissions and can only access information needed for work. Educate users on how to defend against phishing. Freeze suspicious and compromised accounts immediately to prevent widescale attacks.
Final Thoughts
Running a digital startup for the first time requires a founder’s concentration on activities they might not have exercised before. While an experienced startup may launch faster, first-time startups can also build a market-fit product within a reasonable timeline. It is possible when your startup is agile, invest in aspects that enable long-term improvements and incorporates expertise that engineers bring to your project.
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Article resource: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2023/02/27/what-startup-founders-should-know-about-software-development/?sh=d3ea46c5a304
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