Choosing who builds your software is one of the biggest decisions in the whole project. A good team turns a vague idea into something your business runs on. The wrong one leaves you with half-finished code and nobody to call.
Portfolios and pitches only tell you so much. The questions below tell you how a company really works. Ask the same ones of everyone you talk to, and compare the answers.
About how they work
1. How do you find out what we need?
You want to hear about questions, conversations with the people who’ll use the software, and a written record of what was agreed. If they’re ready to quote after one short call, be careful. Our guide to software requirements specifications explains what good looks like.
2. How often will we see working software?
Every week or two is healthy. “At the end” is a warning sign: misunderstandings found late are expensive.
3. Who will actually do the work?
Ask who you’ll talk to, and who writes the code. Ask whether any of it is passed to other people or companies.
4. How do you plan how the parts fit together?
A good team designs the structure before building: what talks to what, and why. Ask to see an example of a plan, with anything confidential removed.
About ownership and safety
5. Who owns the code?
The answer you want: you do, and it lives in an account your company controls, from day one.
6. Who controls the accounts?
Hosting, domain name, app store accounts, payment providers, email services. All of them should be in your company’s name, with your logins. Our rescue checklist shows what happens when they aren’t.
7. How do you protect personal data?
Most business software holds personal data, and the Nigeria Data Protection Act applies to it. Ask how access is controlled and how data is protected.
About quality
8. How do you test?
Ask specifically about the phones and networks your customers use. Testing only on fast laptops in an office misses the problems your customers will find. See testing on real phones.
9. What happens when something goes wrong after launch?
Who do you call, how quickly do they respond, and what does it cost?
About money
10. How is the price structured?
A written quote in stages, each with its own scope and something you can see at the end, protects both sides. Our guide to what custom software costs explains what drives the price.
11. How are changes priced?
Things will change. You want a team that tells you what a change will cost before doing it.
12. What does looking after it cost?
Updates, security patches, monitoring and fixes after launch. Ask now, so it’s in your budget.
Signs of a good answer
- Specific: they describe what they actually do, not what they believe in.
- Written: they’re happy to put it in the proposal.
- Honest about limits: they tell you what they don’t know yet, and what they don’t do.
Red flags
- A firm price before they understand your business.
- No access to the code until the final payment.
- Accounts in the developer’s name.
- No plan for testing, or for after launch.
- Pressure to sign quickly.
Our own answers
We’d rather you ask us these questions than not. You’ll find most of our answers in how we work, our pricing and our questions and answers. For anything else, ask us directly.