Why Investors Reject Startups

Top Reasons Why Investors Reject Startups 

The startup world is never easy. It comes with a ton of challenges. You may feel like you are walking on a tightrope trying to balance your startup and yourself. Clearly, the obstacles can be overwhelming. For example, raising funds for your startup can be a significant challenge. In this case, investors become your best hope. However, they are also one of the biggest hurdles you may have to face. They are the ones who will fund your startup’s growth. They could be dream-makers or deal-breakers. If they like your idea, then great—you can get the money you need. But they might say no and leave you confused, asking yourself why they rejected your idea. Or maybe they don’t see the potential in you to implement it. Do you know why investors reject startups?

Of course, your first reaction to the rejection could be “how dare they reject my idea? It’s perfect.’ That’s fair because as the creator, you would always want to defend your idea. But rather than getting upset, it would help to understand what investors think and why they reject the idea of investing in your startup.

Business Plan for Success
You Must Get Everything Right to Get That “Yes” from Investors  

The perspective of investors 

Now, let’s understand it from the perspective of an investor. As much as startup businesses are risky, investing in one is riskier. They want the best of the best, with a higher probability of success. They don’t want to invest in a business that they feel has no potential. So, they turned them down. And that’s why in this article, we will discuss the top reasons why investors reject startups. This will help you understand what makes investors work away from an idea. Learn from these reasons and avoid them at all costs. 

1. The business idea isn’t promising 

The biggest reason investors reject startups is the business idea itself. Sure, you may think that your business idea is perfect. But investors may notice that it does not have potential and turn down investing in it. Remember that the investor doesn’t see the idea as viable in its current state. In this case, you need to show proof of the potential of the idea to be successful to convince investors that the business is worth investing in.

2. Your business plan is not good enough

Your business plan plays a key role in winning over investors. Not just any business plan. It should be a complete, well-structured plan. Suppose you were unable to express your business idea to the investors properly. If that happens, they will not be interested in your startup idea. It is important to be able to sell future prospects to your investors. If you cannot convince them that you are dedicated to the business and if they cannot understand your plans, they will walk away from your startup. Make sure to prepare an impressive business plan to wow the investors. It should include the structure of the business, the goals you want to achieve, projections, documentation, plans, and sales. 

3. Lack of market knowledge 

Another major reason why investors reject startups is your lack of knowledge of the market. Just imagine that you are entering the market, but you are clueless about it. You don’t have the necessary details about your customers, nothing about your competitors, regulations, documentation, and other essential information. How do you think you’ll survive then? Of course, you won’t be able to. If an entrepreneur is not familiar enough with market regulations, investors will be disappointed and turn down the idea of investing. 

Why Investors Reject Startups - No Market Knowledge
Conduct Thorough Market Research Before Presenting Your Business Idea to Potential Investors 

So, how can you avoid this issue? The best solution is to be knowledgeable about the market. Remember to conduct intensive market research before presenting the idea to investors or launching your startup. Your market knowledge demonstrates to investors that you did your research before coming up with the business idea. 

4. Your team is not competent enough

Teamwork makes the dream work. You certainly need a great, well experienced team, and that could be a dream to work with. That’s how you can make the dream of success a reality. Starting from your leadership, each employee’s role matters. A strong team is more likely to bring the project to success compared to a weak or inexperienced team. Investors know this, and they consider the team when presented with a business idea. 

They prefer experienced and qualified individuals who also have a great portfolio in a team. Such teams stand out to them most because they are more competent and productive. But suppose they learn that the team is not up to the mark or lacks experience? In that case, they will choose not to invest and turn down the idea of investing. On the other hand, keep in mind that practically everyone participating in the company will have an inevitable learning curve with regard to the business idea itself. Potential investors will understand this as they are well aware of such inevitable factors. 

So, how can you avoid this happening to your startup? Well, the best way to solve this is to be more vigilant and decisive when you are building your team. Maintain constant communication with the members of your team and work to resolve any problems relating to performance or internal strife. When you’re an entrepreneur, the most valuable intangible asset you have is your team.

5. You are approaching investors in the wrong way

Another reason why investors reject startups is the way they approach investors. Most of the time, inexperienced entrepreneurs are clueless about how to approach investors. An example of this is cold calling investors. It is a big no-no. By doing so, you are not doing any favors to yourself or your business. Instead, you are only making sure that your business idea is going down the drain without even being considered. 

So avoid cold-calling investors at all times. A better approach would be to try and figure out the investors carefully. It is way better than just sending around a plan to every investor you can find in the book. Instead, you can look to get referred by another investor or entrepreneur. It would help you get attention and stand out to investors. 

5. Poor leadership skills 

This point loosely relates to the point we previously made about teamwork. But leadership alone deserves to be discussed separately because it plays a critical role in a business. Of course, a leader is part of the team. But the role of a leader is more than a team player. Leadership is the link that holds the team together. If there are issues in the way that you lead, it can take down the entire team and eventually the business itself. 

Leadership for Startup Success
Everything About the Startup Depends on How Good of a Leader You are

Your leadership skills are vital to the success of the project. Since investors know this, they are very keen to judge your leadership skills. As the leader, you represent the business idea. If they notice that you have poor leadership skills, chances are they will not invest in your startup. 

Apart from leadership, investors also observe your overall character and integrity. And if they find all these factors to be in place, they are more likely to go forward with the idea of investment. To increase your chances of getting approval from investors, you should improve your leadership skills. Plus, remember not to oversell yourself. Stick to your basics and try to convey your message straightforwardly and honestly. Investors always prefer entrepreneurs who have a simple approach to presenting their ideas and are genuine about them. 

6. You are uncoachable

Another reason why investors reject startups is your attitude. Yes, that plays a big role as well. Let us explain. Building a company from a startup is a huge learning experience. With its challenges and interactions, you learn a lot. Although they can be overwhelming, they also eventually make you humble. Of course, it comes with success and time. On the flip side, inexperienced entrepreneurs may not have this quality. They would show ego and stubborn behavior. Basically, they are completely intolerant of criticism and want things their way. This is a bad look for investors. 

Suppose an investor notices that you are unable to take constructive criticism and are rejecting advice and ideas coming from another person. Then the investor will lose interest in the idea of investing in your company. Investors will assume that you are uncoachable. Most investors follow this rule and walk out when they notice the startup owner has the attitude of “my way or no way.” 

7. Your marketing techniques are not good

Another major reason why investors reject startups is a poor marketing plan. Some entrepreneurs may assume that a proper business plan, a good product, and a competent team are all it takes to get investors on their side. However, that’s not true. You are missing a key ingredient there. Your marketing plan matters a whole lot too. Don’t forget that. If it’s not up to the mark, investors may reject the idea despite the overall business idea being good. 

So, why is marketing that essential? Well, it is a crucial element now more than ever. As you know, your product depends on customers. In today’s day and age, there is a ton of competition in the market. With such a competitive nature in the market, your product needs to be able to stand out. To do that, you have to rely heavily on marketing. But it should be innovative enough to capture the audience’s mindset. It cannot be marketed just for the sake of it. You have to understand the right ways to grab the buyers’ attention through your marketing campaign.

A carefully well-structured marketing plan can increase your product sales and give more value to your brand. When investors see this well-executed marketing strategy, it increases their willingness to invest. This is due to the fact that there is a very high probability of success when it comes to the sale of products.

8. Lack of focus and commitment 

Is your startup business your dream? Are you willing to work towards achieving success while overcoming all the challenges that it brings? Are you committed and focused enough to make your startups a success? If it’s a definite yes, no problem. However, if you are unsure, you have to rethink if you are committed and focused enough. That is because if you are not, investors will see right through you and decide your startup is not worth investing in. 

Lack of Commitment - Reasons Why Investors Reject Startups
Your Commitment Is Essential to the Success of Your Startup 

You should have a good track record and a laser-focused approach to make your main target come true. Remember that you are the creator. You have to be completely invested in your startup more than anyone else. 

9. Your pitch deck is not good

Alright, hear us out here. There is no stone-carved rule about the ideal pitch deck. That’s true. However, that doesn’t mean there are do’s and don’ts. Knowing what works best can help you craft the most effective pitch deck for yourself. At the end of the day, if the pitch deck is not effective enough to get investors to invest in your startup, there is no point in having a pitch deck. Some of the major mistakes include: 

Not clearly defining the problem your startup is solving

It is one of the major points that investors look into during your pitch deck. It explains what and whom the business is meant for. This point is what makes investors interested in your undertaking. Plus, it showcases your understanding of the market. But suppose you failed to explain the problem you planned on solving? In that case, investors will conclude that you, as an entrepreneur, don’t know your customers’ needs as well as they do. If they assume so, they will turn down your business idea. 

You haven’t considered the risks

Pretending that your business is risk-proof is not a good look. If you try to cover up potential risks from investors, it shows that you are untrustworthy and dishonest. Also, remember that even if you avoid mentioning possible risks and issues that might block your business from implementation, investors will still ask you about them. You must analyze and present them honestly. That way, investors will notice that you are trustworthy to work with and are aware of the possible challenges along the startup journey. 

Unorganized pitch deck form

Suppose your structure and formatting are not clear. It could be the text being too long with small font sizes, little to no visual aids, and typos and grammatical mistakes. Structural mistakes will also make the investors feel like there is no flow in the pitch and the business plan as a whole. This type of presentation is going to take you down. It will not get you the investment. Such formatting will make it hard for investors to understand your business. Plus, it will make them not want to read it at all and wish that they were somewhere else rather than listening to your pitch deck. 

Asking too much

Yes, you need funding. But remember not to ask too much right off the bat. If you plan on asking for more money, remember to have some success stories prepared to show and base your request on. 

10. You have better competitors

Sometimes, your competitors are too strong. That could be another reason why investors reject startups. Investors may see that your startup idea is being done well by someone else in the market. And if they don’t see that you could be a strong enough opponent to the already established competitors, they will turn your business idea down. If you can show that your business has a plan to overtake the competitors, you will have a better chance. 

11. Poor Execution Plan

Another reason why investors turn down a startup idea is the poor execution of a plan. Investors may ask you how you plan on achieving your vision and goals. When they do, you must have an impressive and feasible answer to that question. If you are unable to do so, then it will show that you are not sure about how to execute your plan. Your idea may be the next big innovation. But if you still fail to explain how you’re going to achieve your targets, you might lose the investors. To avoid such mishaps, be prepared to explain your next steps and moves to show that you know how to execute your vision going forward. 

Proper Execution for Startup Success
You Must be 100% Sure of How to Execute Your Plan

Wrapping up 

Startups are never easy. There are so many challenges that an entrepreneur has to overcome to make their business successful. One such hurdle you have to overcome is getting investors on your side. For that, you have to know what investors like and don’t like about startup business ideas. What exactly makes them reject certain business ideas? Through this post, you got to learn  major reasons why investors reject startups. 

Now you know what they don’t like. Learning these points must have helped you to understand the reasons for startup rejections. You can also use this information to make necessary changes in your business before presenting it to investors. Avoid these mistakes we mentioned, at all times.

Startup Marketing Mistakes

Marketing Mistakes That Kill Your Startup

In all honesty, starting up may feel like navigating through a tidal wave. It can be a real challenge to push through to achieve success in a startup business. A lot of such businesses unfortunately fail as well. So, why does that happen? Well, their high failure rate is due to multiple factors, some structural, and some circumstantial. Startup marketing mistakes also can lead to long-term startup failures. You might not be able to avoid all these mishaps. Some could be out of your control, of course. However, your decision-making and actions related to marketing could be a reason that could lead to the failure of your startup. 

That’s right—marketing mistakes startups make can fail the business eventually. For example, you might make mistakes in the way you approach marketing. Since there are a ton of marketing techniques to choose from, some people end up picking the one that doesn’t suit their particular business model. This can be a tragedy because even if they made the right choice in terms of strategy, they would still botch the execution. 

Why is an effective marketing strategy critical? 

You may have the best business idea and an incredible team. But that is not all it takes. If you don’t have an effective marketing strategy in place, your startup will not be able to outshine your competitors in the eyes of the public. In that case, you will not get customer support. And without clients to support your business, you can already guess what would happen. Yes, the startup will perish. 

The good news is that you can avoid a lot of mistakes along the way. You can easily overcome a lot of startup obstacles if you avoid such mistakes. This post is all about letting you know what not to do with your startup business with regard to marketing. If you keep these tips in mind, you will not go wrong. 

Startup marketing mistakes to avoid 

Pay thorough attention to the following startup marketing mistakes, and make sure you avoid them at all costs. 

Startup Marketing Mistakes #1: Bad Planning 

Working without a plan is never going to get you anywhere. The same rule applies to startups too. The success of a startup business depends a lot on good planning. If your planning is bad, you are bound to fall flat on the ground. Usually, startups are hard-pressed on time, which in turn means doing things in a rush. However, rushing things will very rarely work when it comes to marketing. Sure, it is not always the case. In fact, there have been instances of spontaneous marketing producing good outcomes. But keep in mind that such cases are few and far between.

Startup Marketing Mistake - Bad Planning
Bad Planning of the Startup Marketing Strategies Can Lead to Unexpected, Sudden Failures 

If you don’t have a well-thought-out marketing strategy, your business is basically taking a chance. It’s like rolling dice, hoping for several good rolls in a row. In short, you are taking a huge risk with such an approach. Instead, it would be better to handle marketing for a startup in a preplanned, systematic, and organized manner. 

You have to remember that this is not going to guarantee your plan will work out for sure. But still, you will know what not to do the next time. Once your business figures out how to create a marketing plan, every future campaign will become much easier to execute. 

Startup Marketing Mistakes #2: Poor Resource Management 

One of the most common problems faced by startups is the lack of resources to go around. As you know, developing a product or a service for the first time requires significant investments. The problem is that this can leave other parts of the startup operation short on cash. When it comes to marketing, this is not as big a deal as it first appears. 

You can scale the marketing approach to fit your particular budget. It is especially easy thanks to the age of digital marketing. Remember that the real problem with marketing when it comes to funding is that it is pretty easy to end up spending so much unnecessarily. As a result, you will not have enough for the most important tasks. So it is important to come up with a marketing plan beforehand – with a strategy in place, you will be less tempted to blow your budget on going after the latest trends. Instead, you will get the chance to focus on what works for the business. 

Startup Marketing Mistakes #3: Inappropriate Task Allocation 

Teamwork can make the dream work. But of course, if the team is suffering, it can be a nightmare. Barring some exceptions, startups are, by and large, companies that hire a few employees for the most important roles. Usually, this means that individual employees often have to handle multiple parts of the business operation. For example, a programmer might have to handle development and basic marketing at the same time. It can work sometimes. However, there are instances where it can go terribly wrong. Such multi-tasking can lead to a half-baked product. This is how things usually go with marketing for a startup. 

Startup Marketing Expert
For Effective Startup Marketing, You Must Employ a Qualified Marketing Expert Among Your Team

One employee will end up doing a task on the side while focusing on something else, which will lead to sub-par results. You must realize that half-measures simply don’t work when it comes to marketing. It would be best if you could hire a qualified marketing specialist to make things run smoother. Now that’s a worthwhile investment. 

Startup Marketing Mistakes #4: Being Clueless About the Target Audience 

A majority of startup businesses have worthwhile business ideas. They really do. In fact, sometimes certain startups truly have what it takes to turn good products and services into what customers can buy. But if you don’t take the target audience into account, you can go downhill for sure. You will be shocked to know that only a few startups take the time to consider who their products will be for. So, suppose you make the mistake of not trying to figure out who your target audience is. Then, you are basically relying solely on luck once your products and services hit the market. 

You are taking a huge risk here. Because you don’t know your customers, how could you be sure that they will buy your products and services? This is like playing peekaboo, and your plan might backfire terribly. On the other hand, let’s say you know exactly all you need to know about your target customer. Then you can keep that information in mind throughout each stage of the business and marketing processes. This way, you can modify and alter things, including marketing, as per customer likes, dislikes, and demographic information. Such an approach will help you attract the attention of your target audience. 

Startup Marketing Mistakes #5: Neglecting Traditional Marketing 

Startups are a relatively novel concept. So most of the time, businesses tend to rely on only digital marketing to promote their product or service. This includes social media, email marketing, etc. Of course, the strategy suits the modern world and it certainly helps promotional campaigns a lot. However, digital marketing isn’t the cure-all as some might think. Sure, it can help a business up to a certain extent. But neglecting traditional media isn’t the right call either. That is because there are still a lot of people out there who still prefer to find business-related information from traditional media. Targeting these channels with marketing material can be quite lucrative, but more often than not, startup businesses don’t use them much. 

It’s true that digital marketing is the new norm

Even though digital marketing is the new norm, advertising in newspapers, on TV, radio, billboards, at tradeshows, etc. will give a startup the edge it needs over competitors that choose to remain online. Also, when choosing advertising mediums, it is important to consider your audience demographics as well. This also dictates which medium you should focus on more when promoting your products. 

Suppose your ideal customers are 18–35 years of age. According to statistics, over 90% of the 150 million people on Instagram are under the age of 35. In that case, you can choose to advertise your products mostly on Instagram. That would be the best platform for you to reach your customers. On the other hand, if your customers are over the age of 35, you can rely mostly on traditional media outlets. It’s all about knowing where your customers are. That’s who you have to reach out to. 

Benefits of Traditional Marketing for Startups
Traditional Marketing Also Comes with Benefits That You Shouldn’t Overlook 

Startup Marketing Mistakes #6: Failing to Monitor Marketing Performance 

A lot of startup businesses make the major mistake of adopting a fire-and-forget approach when it comes to marketing. They would come up with effective marketing strategies right out of the gate at first and assume that’s all the work needed. They assume that now they can sit back, relax, and watch as customers start pouring in. However, it does not work like that. It might work for a very short period of time. But you cannot expect it to be the case in the long run. 

Keep in mind that the purpose of marketing is to nurture your target audience. So, you can’t afford to leave them unattended for long periods and expect good outcomes. This way, you will eventually fail, although you started out strong. A more effective way is to keep monitoring how your campaigns are performing over an extended time period. That way, you can make the necessary modifications when needed. If you don’t, you risk losing your customers due to some problem that you could have easily prevented if you had been paying attention. And that’s a waste of a lot of hard work. 

 Wrapping up 

There you have it. This post was all about marketing mistakes that kill your startup business. In other words, this is all about what you should not be doing as a startup business owner related to marketing. Startup businesses can be a difficult area in general. There are a lot of obstacles to overcome, and you need to put in a lot of effort, time, and hard work to achieve your dreams of success. 

Although there is no one-size-fits-all solution to overcome startup obstacles, you can prevent them through careful planning. We hope that the tips you learned today will help you avoid any mistakes in the marketing process, as you navigate the startup world towards success. With these tips in mind, you will not go wrong.

Startup Marketing Strategies

The Startup Marketing Strategy That Is Really Essential

Do you have everything for your startup’s success? Innovative idea- check. Excellent product- check. Fantastic team- check. It sounds like you have it all. But, there is one more thing. And that one missing piece can make or break the entire plan. That is marketing. Ask any business owner and they’ll tell you how crucial it is. You won’t be able to achieve success without a proper startup marketing strategy. At times, coming up with a good marketing strategy for your startup company can be quite intimidating. Don’t worry though, we are ready to tell you all about  what you need. Through this post, we hope to introduce you to some of the most important market strategies that will help your business reach new heights. Have a look.

Essential Startup Marketing Strategy for Long-Term Success

It is really necessary to have a sound marketing plan in place if you want to boost the productivity of your business. This is why you need to focus thoroughly on the following marketing tactics:

Startup marketing strategy 1: Begin with a good strategic position

A strategic plan is the company’s guide or outing plan. Where you’re aimed is your vision and why you’re going on your mission or central goal. You shouldn’t start your startup marketing strategy randomly, placing ads in random places and immediately posting them to social media networks. This one requires a proper strategic plan.

A Solid Strategic Plan for Startup Marketing 
A Solid Strategic Plan Is Essential for Startup Marketing 

You have to collect the right data and information to be satisfied in forming strategic decisions. You can easily collect necessary information through a web search on the research of large scale, market and industry trends. You can also obtain client and employee surveys or reviews and gain information about your competitors from secret customers or shoppers, trade shows, or industry reports. As you go on, you will get to figure out your business’s strengths, weaknesses, and threats. Such information can be incredibly helpful to enhance your startup and to prepare an appropriate strategic plan.

Marketing Strategy 2: Get on Social Media Platforms 

As you know, startups are normally short on cash. You might not have a ton of money to spend like the big giant companies. In this case, you need a good strategy to work with the money you have. One of the best strategies is to leverage social media platforms. It is a great option because social media is globally popular, cheap, you can control the budget, and, of course, it works well. 

You can make accounts on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, etc. Instagram and Facebook offer multiple options for advertising. For instance, you can create sponsored ads for your target audience. Likewise, you can have in-feed video ads too. Try it out on Instagram too. Over there you can promote using stories or feed ads. 

An Overview of Social Media Usage
An Overview of Global Social Media Usage

Keep the costs in mind

Earlier, we mentioned that social media is cheaper, which is a great advantage for a startup company. However, you have to check your budget plan before going overboard with social media promotions. Make sure to balance benefits and expenses. According to WordStream, the average cost per click for Facebook is $1.72, and the cost per 1000 impressions is $9.08. 

Similarly, the average cost per click for Instagram is $1.28 and the cost per 1000 impressions is $6.70. So it is important to keep those costs in mind when you are promoting. We suggest finding a perfect balance by catering to both of these platforms. That way, you are not risking all your money on just one social media platform. You don’t want to risk all your eggs in one basket, right? 

YouTube Is a game-changer 

You cannot undermine the influence of YouTube. It is the second most visited website, and your business will gain instant exposure there if proper procedures are followed for improving user engagement, such as view counts, etc. So, how can you promote your business on YouTube? Well, you can make your own channel there and upload some interesting content to it. Also, remember that simply uploading and leaving it there would not work, as it won’t be automatically indexed among the top results by the search engines or even in the YouTube search itself. So, you will have to get some assistance from social media marketing experts. For example, you can create ‘How To’ videos or tutorials. It will give you credibility and connect you with the audience more. Plus, it is a way to address your customers’ questions by providing answers. 

Startup marketing strategy 3: Email Marketing 

Another method is to use email marketing. It is a great way to get in touch with your target audience. Take steps to capture the email addresses of your clientele at any possible touch point, including your official website. Speaking of the website, take measures to make your website have a professional look. It is especially important if you are an e-commerce business. We suggest you get it designed by an e-commerce web design company. 

You can also create a popup for subscription on the website and entice visitors to subscribe. It would be far easier for you to send emails once you build a database. For instance, you can inform them about discounts, promotions, or news about your business. 

When to start email marketing? 

When we say email marketing is effective, we mean it. Can you believe that for every $1 that you spend on email marketing, you get $38 in return? That’s right. Plus, email marketing is even more effective than Facebook ads. The reason is that most of the emails that you send are delivered to the customer’s inbox. On the other hand, only some of your target audience get to see the Facebook ads. It is more effective than Twitter as well. 

It has been found that an email campaign has a 3% average click-through rate. On the other hand, a tweet has only a 0.5% average click-through rate. The stats speak for themselves. So comparatively, you are 6 times more likely to get a client to click on the email than with Twitter. Email marketing is powerful, and you should make email marketing a big part of your digital strategy. 

Startup marketing strategy 4: Figure out your target audience 

You may have a superb marketing plan, product, or service. However, that alone will not be enough. There’s more to the picture. The biggest part is played by none other than your customers. A solid clientele is necessary to enhance your small business.

Startup Marketing Strategy - Find Out Your Target Audience
Defining Your Target Audience Is Critical for the Marketing Plan’s Success  rget Audience

But who are your customers? Determining your target audience is crucial. Here are a few suggestions to help you with that: 

Recognize the basic demographics of your target audience. This includes information like their gender, age group, and location. Analyze their personalities or shopping behavior which allows your business to be more relatable to their interests and needs. 

Such studies will help you to make your brand more customer-friendly. 

You will be able to refine your specific audience and identify their needs so your services can satisfy them.

Marketing strategy 5: Start a PR campaign 

To take things to the next level, start a PR campaign for your business. It can definitely give you effective and quick results. That is, if you take the right actions, of course. So, if you want to perfect your PR campaign, you should know your target audience well. Your PR campaign should help you achieve your goals. So, before launching your campaign, define the specific objectives you want to achieve. For example, your goal could be to build awareness about your product or service or to improve your brand image. 

Now that you have set the goals, you can launch your PR campaign. It would be best to work with small publications at this stage. You don’t have to target big publications for the first time. You can try it out if you have a worthwhile announcement for a large audience. Start small with guest articles, blogs, or even social media influencers. Suppose you have a very interesting and innovative product. In that case, you could send in your pitches to journalists to cover your story on the product.

Wrapping Up 

There you have it! Now you know the importance of having a proper marketing strategy. Clearly, marketing is crucial for your startup. However, marketing just for the sake of it is not going to be enough. It should be properly executed. 

Through this post, you have got to learn some of the most effective marketing strategies for startups. Of course, you can choose any or all of these strategies to grow your business. By incorporating them, you will surely reach out to new customers and generate more sales.

Product Launch Plan for Startups

The Ultimate Product Launch Plan for Startups

Startups are developing new products every day. And do you know what the most crucial part of the startup process is? Well, it is the launch. Launching a product is always risky. And if it fails, the product may not end up being released. However, yours doesn’t have to fail. You can improve your chances of success with a good product launch plan. Today we will give you all the information you need about it. We will discuss “what is a product launch plan,” how to create a product launch plan, and also marketing strategies to promote your product launch. ” To learn all about it and more, keep reading. 

What Is a Product Launch Plan? 

So, what exactly is a product launch plan? Well, it is a roadmap that includes the deliverables, the expected delivery date, every step involved in making the launch occur, and what is required to keep the product experience smooth and ongoing . They include steps that discuss : 

  • Product development and testing 
  • Branding and marketing 
  • Sales and post-sales customer care 
The Definition of "Product Launch Plan" 
The Definition of “Product Launch Plan” 

Timeline milestones should be included to show testing deadlines, beta version launches, and the product or service release to the market. Every step makes it clear how close you are to a market-ready product. It could be software, an app, stationary, or whatever else that you plan on introducing to the market.

The benefits of having a launch roadmap include:

  • You and your team know the goals that need to be accomplished and when. 
  • Investors or crowdfunding contributors (if you have any) are kept in the loop. 
  • Everyone knows the deadline. 
  • You can easily evaluate the effectiveness of your product launch marketing strategy. 
  • You know your target customers and your competitors. 
  • A clear idea of your business and its products and services in detail. 
  • Identifying the marketing approaches you will use 

Basically, it helps to turn your plans into action, working as a blueprint for the successful launch you want. 

A Product Launch Plan’s Elements

So, what is the perfect product launch plan? We have put together a list of elements that should be included in a marketing plan for a new product launch to make it fail-proof. 

1. Specify the intent of your business

First of all, you have to point out what your business intends to do. As you are outlining your marketing strategies, you should come up with action-oriented reasons as to why your business is more reliable. By doing so, you will be able to help your customers figure out your business, products, and services well. 

2. What is the potential audience? 

First, you have to figure out which category of consumers you are designing the product or service for. It shouldn’t be limited to a vague category. Instead, come up with a detailed description of these consumer sets that you are targeting. Be as specific as you can. That would make a huge difference. By describing the target audience in detail, you get the chance to understand what you want to achieve. 

Identifying the Target Audience
Identifying the Right Audience Is Critical for Startups in Strategizing Product Launch Plans 

After that, you can check the effectiveness of the pitch and product viability. 

3. Learn About Your Competitors 

Don’t forget about your competition. Knowing them and what they are up to would help you with your work. Unfortunately, most startup entrepreneurs overlook this step. They don’t tend to spend enough time understanding their competition. But knowing your strengths and weaknesses with a strong analysis of your competitors can help you achieve your targets. 

4. Brand Positioning Statement

Keep in mind that your brand and what it plans to do for your customers will play a key role in your marketing arsenal. It can be your strongest competitive advantage. You need to come up with a simple and comprehensive statement of how you plan to meet customers’ requirements. 

You can go with a solid brand positioning statement that is target-oriented to solve problems. It is a smarter approach. 

5. Conduct Beta Tests 

Once you finally introduce your product to the market, you can conduct tests to get feedback from people. You should run these tests on actual consumers of your product or service. Ask them about what they thought about the product and what they liked and disliked about it. You can also ask for suggestions from customers to improve any cons regarding the product they consume. By conducting public beta tests, you can present a product that people actually need. 

Beta Test for New Products
Conducting Beta Tests for Getting Customer Feedback Is a Must-Do 

The customers’ point of view is important. After all, you are creating the product for them. So they need to have a say in what the product should be. Their point of view is useful to bring the product to its maximum potential because customers see the product from another perspective that your team may not be able to provide. 

6. Create and perfect your pitching deck

You have to prepare a pitch deck to get investors in pitching sessions. You must follow the standard pitch deck ‘rules’ here. Of course, there are no stone-carved rules for pitching decks. However, there are unwritten laws such as keeping the presentation simple, not having more than 19 slides, etc. Basically, it should be something that can get investors on your side within the minimum time period. 

It is necessary to not fill up the slides and bore investors with an overwhelming amount of information. But you may feel as if you have a lot to communicate with them. In that case, you can prepare two separate pitch decks. You can use it to pitch to investors during the sessions. This one should be more simple and more visual-oriented without a lot of details. The other pitch deck can be used to include detailed information you want investors to know about the business. You can email this to investors and attendees. This will help them get an in-depth understanding of your product. Plus, if investors were not clear about your product idea in the pitching session, they would become interested in it after reviewing its potential. 

7. Take part in startup contests

You have thus created a pitching deck. What’s next? Take part in pitching contests. When entering contests, consider the following factors:

Do not make blind pitches

Make sure to read the competition’s terms. Many pitching events ask for a share in your business simply for participating!

What advantages does pitching provide for you? Analyze the benefits and drawbacks of the competition before making your pitch in the session. 

There is one general norm to follow. You should apply if the competition provides rewards even if you come in last. If not, you should stay away. Networking with investors, meeting new partners and co-founders, and other things may all benefit. But the advantages have to be measurable.

Maintain command of the pitch

Although you are making a pitch to experts, the business is yours. Therefore, maintain command of the pitch. If someone tells you that your startup has no promise, won’t address the issue, or anything similar, don’t take it personally. Simply express your confidence that your product can address the problem while being assertive. It’s not the point of pitching meetings to argue or debate. Simply put, investors are looking to see whether you have potential.

Pitch sessions ultimately serve two purposes: attracting investors and marketing your business. Perhaps you can even get customers from these meetings.

8. Determine Announcement Platforms for Startup Product Launch

Although the aforementioned two ideas are important for a product launch marketing strategy, they are related to fundraising and investor presentations. Most businesses rely on their own resources since not all of them are fortunate enough to get funding. Even if your firm is self-funded, you may still get the word out by using sites like BetaList, Hacker, Product Hunt, News, and many more.

The terms and conditions differ for each of these platforms for the introduction of new products. To prevent being banned, make sure you read them before submitting your products.

9. Promote through Press Releases and Announcement Websites 

It would be best to promote your startup business through announcement sites and press releases. You could say that online press release submission websites are not the most popular anymore. However, they can still be useful for a new product launch marketing plan because websites are scraped for search results by search engines. Plus, they help get the word out among journalistic circles. 

How to write a press release? 

Writing a press release is not as challenging as you think. To make it perfect, you simply have to follow a few tips, which are laid out below for you: 

  • Come up with an attractive headline (preferably short and communicating the idea quickly to the reader). 
  • Explain your startup story. 
  • Keep things brief but comprehensive. 
  • Write in the inverted pyramid style
  • Include your contact information. 

What Are Your Marketing Strategies? 

So, now you have to see how to reach your customers. Of course, there are mainstream media like print and broadcast approaches. However, in today’s day and age, you cannot ignore digital marketing channels. They will surely benefit your startup. Here are some of them: 

1. Social Media 

As you know, social media is at the center of modern-day marketing. You cannot neglect this part of your business marketing plan. Through social media, you get the chance to reach a wider audience, which in turn may be your potential customers. You can communicate an idea quickly and get instant feedback through social media. 

We recommend having an attractive blog site. Having an active Instagram or Twitter page can help your startup grow. 

2. An Active Blog

An active blog is a must for businesses today. It is useful to promote and amplify your company’s digital presence. Through a blog, you can regularly present helpful articles that can help keep visitors interested in your blog and get an understanding of your business, its services, and its impact. 

3. Email Marketing

Email marketing is an effective approach to promoting and marketing your startup business. Your organization can incorporate email marketing techniques to expand your business’s presence and reach. You can definitely employ newsletters, promotional emails, and campaign emails to help the cause more.

Marketing Strategy for Product Launch Plan for Startups
Marketing Strategy for Product Launch Plan for Startups

Product Launch Marketing Checklist

Here is a brief checklist for you to refer to for your product launch:

  • Develop a story behind the product launch. 
  • Prepare a launch plan. 
  • Define your success metrics. 
  • Identify marketing channels for launch.
  • Successfully complete the Beta testing process.
  • Confirm your product launch date. 
  • Talk with your employees about the product launch.
  • Outreach media and journalists (PR.) 
  • Prepare for the launch event (if you are holding one.)
  • Come up with social media posts about your product launch.

What is a Product Launch Plan? Wrapping up 

There you have it! Now, you have got to know what a product launch plan is and why your startup needs it. Of course, launching a product is risky. However, if you plan it out well, things will go smoothly. So, you can increase your chances of success by coming up with a product launch roadmap first. 

Through this post, you learned what a product launch plan is, what should be included in a product launch plan, and how to make the most of it. We hope you will be able to make a perfect product launch plan now that you have learned it all. And we wish your startup to be very successful.

Startup Fundraising Process

The Complete Guide on Startup Fundraising Process

Raising a healthy funding round is a huge milestone for entrepreneurs, which is why a robust startup fundraising process is critical. Without money, even the smartest startup founders have trouble making prototypes of their products, testing their assumptions about the market, and getting enough investors interested in their business to get future funding.

It is no easy task to persuade a knowledgeable investor that your team has the guts and perseverance to produce a next-generation product or service. Therefore, the most well-funded businesses are aware that fundraising requires thorough research and strategy. A business must show its value proposition, traction, and how it will deliver a favorable return on investment to attract investors. So, do your research before you get into the game. Here’s a timeline of the startup fundraising process to help you keep track.

Obtaining Funds for a Startup
Investors Happily Invest Their Money in Productive Concepts 

Startup fundraising process: step-by-step instructions 

The following are the steps in a typical startup fundraising process:

1. Assumptions Validation and Prototyping 

Assumption validation is the assertion of the facts that we assume about the business environment through a well defined process. You may do this by putting your theories to the test using actual data and the comments of the people you are trying to sell to. This is critical information since no one wants to put their money into a firm or product that no one wants.

After validating assumptions, we have to do the steps of requirement analysis and system design with prototyping, where the system is evaluated iteratively. You develop a minimum viable product (MVP) to evaluate your hypotheses and get feedback from actual consumers. Then, you utilize their use statistics and many key performance indicators (KPIs), such as churn rate, client lifetime value, and acquisition costs, to determine whether your product has viability. 

Minimim Viable Product (MVP)
Minimim Viable Product (MVP) Defined

However, this process applies only when the project is being undertaken and not beforehand. Therefore, evaluating whether the suggested solution meets user requirements has to be done using different techniques such as storyboarding, videos, etc. Then, once we validate that the proposed system satisfies user requirements, we can continue on to funding, depending on at what phase the funding is required to be done.

2. Pitch Deck Development

Your startup’s pitch deck serves as the company’s initial point of contact with prospective investors. You will utilize the pitch deck to showcase your company to prospective investors during the startup fundraising process. The slides used in this pitch deck provide an overview of your company, staff, target market, product, and go-to-market plan.

It also contains slides about your business model, income generation strategy, and financial predictions. The purpose of this pitch deck is to pique the enthusiasm of possible investors so that you may continue discussing the possibilities with them.

That’s why you should emphasize producing a successful pitch deck. To succeed, your business must make a compelling, well-articulated, and well-researched case for its potential. Rather than a pitch for a product, it would help if you approached this as an investment opportunity for the investor. It describes the problems, how you intend to address them, and why you will succeed where others have failed. All of this is supported by evidence showing how an investor might benefit from investing in this problem.

3. Investor Selection & Research

Not all angel investors and venture capitalists are interested in the same business. This stage entails research to identify the most suitable investors for your startup. You can also use services like AngelList, Crunchbase, and Gust to find potential investors. These are excellent tools for identifying and investigating investors.

Additionally, you may use LinkedIn to find and contact potential investors. You may think of “potential investors” as anybody willing and able to invest in your starting business. The ideal investor for your business would be:

  • With problem domain expertise,
  • Those who had invested in businesses of comparable size to yours?
  • Ideally, in the same geographic region as you,
  • Lastly, who is enthusiastic about the problems you’re trying to resolve?

4. Introducing Yourself to the investor

A typical investor gets about 500 pitches a year, while a well-known investor like Sequoia Capital gets about 10,000.

A cold pitch rarely works in this situation because your email will likely get lost in the flood of emails. Being able to connect with someone personally is a huge asset in this situation as well. It would be best to find someone the potential investor knows and trusts to introduce you to them. 

Be cautious about doing thorough research before requesting an intro. If it is a friend, you may immediately ask them. But if it is a colleague or someone more significant or senior, you must be ready with pertinent facts about your organization and a brief elevator pitch.

5. Initiating a Conversation

After establishing a connection with the investor through a mutual connection, you must create a warm introduction to gain access to their email inbox. Herein lies the importance of your email deck. An email deck is a cut-down version of your pitch deck, with no more than ten slides and just the most important aspects. It typically contains less text than the pitch deck itself.

Your objective is to present your startup to the investor so they can evaluate it and decide whether or not to invest in your opportunity. Typically, the email deck is concise, well-structured, and straightforward, with a call to action requesting that the investor review and discuss your pitch deck in person.

Additionally, you may incorporate a video pitch with your email deck to boost its impact.

6. Investor’s Meeting and Presentation

This is a significant step in the startup fundraising process since it is the day you meet with the investor and present your business. Before the meeting, you conduct thorough research on:

  • The investors you’re meeting
  • Their portfolio companies
  • The domain they’re interested in
  • Any other pertinent information?

Typically, the meeting is brief, with 20–30 minutes allotted for the presentation and another 15–20 minutes for questions. It begins with a personal introduction, an explanation of your business plan and its potential, and then an investment proposition.

This meeting aims to attract the investor’s attention and secure their commitment to invest in your startup. Typically, negotiations on the investment type, amount, valuation, and equity follow the presentation.

7. Investment Agreements and Due Diligence

The talks don’t stop with the initial meeting, unless it’s a demo day hosted by an accelerator or incubator, when businesses get to present in front of many investors. Typically, many further meetings are necessary to agree on the investment amount and other crucial aspects. To reach a mutually beneficial agreement, both sides must participate in giving and taking.

During the due diligence process, the investment team examines all areas of your startup, including financials, revenue model, competitors, team strength, and even the founders’ previous job history.

Upon the successful conclusion of this step, the final negotiations commence. At the pre-term sheet stage, you are expected to understand the investment kind (equity, debt, convertible note, or SAFE), quantity, value, and equitable distribution among the company’s founders. In this case, a competent investment attorney can help you understand the legal ramifications of the investment term sheet and safeguard your interests.

8. The Term Sheet

A “term sheet” is a contract that outlines the conditions and investment structure. In general, it consists of the following three sorts of terms:

Economic terms

This includes details such as vesting, excise period, anti-dilution, valuation, price per share, and the amount of investment.

Control terms

These stipulate the shareholder’s rights and responsibilities, protective provisions, board seats, and the drag-along agreement.

Other terms

They include, among other things, dividends, rights to redemption, rights to assets, and other rights.

A term sheet is an agreement that is not legally binding, and a more comprehensive due diligence process often follows it. And this ultimately results in the formation of a legally binding agreement, known as the shareholders’ agreement.

Term Sheet Facts
Term Sheet Critical Facts to Consider

9. Post-Term Sheet Diligence

The Post-Term Sheet Due Diligence is one of the most critical steps of the startup fundraising process. Why? Because the term sheet is just the beginning of your due diligence. Now, the investment team is conducting a more thorough review of your business. This phase is more crucial since it covers several laws, including assessments of employment contracts, intellectual property, business organizational papers, and other commitments.

Additionally, the investor’s attorney becomes engaged at this stage to guarantee that the legal requirements outlined in the term sheet are followed. During this phase, the investor team focuses on the following:

  • Financial statements and bank statements
  • They scrutinize the financial health and market valuation of the startup.
  • Background checks
  • The investment team evaluates each founder’s history and reputation in the market.
  • IP diligence
  • Security of the company’s intellectual property.
  • Legal due diligence

Depending on the complexity of your business and the amount of information you’re ready to offer, due diligence might span anywhere from a few days to several months.

10. Round Completion And Fund Transfer

After the completion of due diligence, it is time to conclude the agreement and have the funds sent to your account. Signing the legal paperwork that formalizes the investment and transferring the funds is the last stage. This step concludes the journey. Typically, this includes:

The shareholder agreement

It is a legally binding agreement between the business and its shareholders that describes the investment’s terms and conditions.

The debt agreement

This legal document stipulates the sum that must be repaid-with interest at a certain time.

After signing these contracts, you are free to begin your startup’s journey toward success.

Shareholders' Agreement Template
Shareholders’ Agreement Template

Treinetic’s Final Thoughts on Startup Fundraising Process

The startup funding process has a number of stages, as has been mentioned. You have to follow all the steps to:

  • Kickstart your startup fundraising process.
  • Maximize your startup investment potential.
  • Scale your business to all-new heights.

Several entrepreneurs also enroll in programs that aid with financial due diligence, investor engagement, and other tasks to expedite the startup fundraising process. Some ecosystems provide a thorough, tested program for startup funding—Spark Services. The single biggest competitive advantage a company may have is shortening the fundraising timeframe by securing funding from strategically suited investors.

The real work starts after you’ve raised enough money to get your business off the ground. Our warmest wishes are with you.

Srartup Project Management Guide

A Beginner’s Guide to Startup Project Management

Startup project management is critical. Why? Every day is different in the startup sector. Despite this, many business owners fail to see the need for effective project management for their budding businesses. But it is true that when project management is done well, there is no chance of making a mistake. With so much to accomplish and so many hands in the pot, there is a lot of pressure on everyone involved. Startups have a team-first ethos, which means that everyone on the team is eager to pitch in and help get the work done. Even though the horizontal leadership structure may help build a sense of community, the day-to-day tasks and responsibilities of owning and finishing a project can get confusing and messy.

When nine out of ten businesses fail, and every minute and dollar spent in the beginning is important, wasting time may be expensive. To reduce the chance of failure and achieve that elusive startup success, it is necessary to have the appropriate tools in place. And these may include project management software that keeps the whole team focused and on target.

Startup Failure Stats
Nine Out of Ten Startups Fail, Which Is a Significant Percentage 

Startup project management: why is it critical?

Startup project management can be difficult, but no business owner can overlook it. In fact, every business, no matter how big or small, needs to be able to manage projects well. However, startup project management and efficiency may not be at the top of your priority list when you’re just starting. However, as your business expands, these considerations should rise to the top of your priority list. These aspects of a business are critical to the accomplishment of a project and the execution of a business strategy successfully.

A structured approach to startup project management may appear pointless, restrictive, and unnecessarily demanding in today’s fast-paced, entrepreneurial startup environment. However, establishing project management practices and using a software product at the outset can help your company survive as it grows. Method and structure for the project can coexist with flexibility for changes in them, and a software application for project management may help with both.

Startup Project Management Tips for Entrepreneurs

1. Set attainable startup project management goals

Entrepreneurs must not “just” have objectives; they must also be worthwhile objectives. Setting and attaining realistic objectives will provide you with contentment and well-being. Start by making a solid base for establishing goals.

  • Recognize your clients.
  • Make a solid plan for the project.
  • Possess a can-do attitude and an adventurous spirit.
Startup Project Management - Setting Realistic Goals
Set Realistic, Achievable Goals for Your Startup  

Think about the following:

  • What is my long-term goal’s most basic purpose?
  • Evaluating the feasibility of the long-term goal.
  • How to build on what you’ve done?

Regardless of where you want the startup to be, you should set goals that you can achieve and, more importantly, that the startup is required to achieve. 

2. Turn failures into success

A business owner’s life is what they create from the beginning. The ups and downs of being an entrepreneur are something that most of you probably aren’t aware of. But you’ve probably heard about the “flowery life” of being an entrepreneur.

The smooth running of the project will be made difficult by complaints from stakeholders, heated discussions within the team, missed deadlines, and challenges with the project’s financial resources. Therefore, it is up to you to choose how you will react to the obstacle and transform it into an opportunity for business development. What do you think about the failures you encounter?

3. Start with yourself (self-evaluation).

On your way to becoming an entrepreneur, you’ll need to stop and think about where you are and where you want to go. So, what motivates you to start your own company? As a source of additional income? For a greater sense of liberty? For passion? Is that what you want? Find out the answer for yourself. Prepare yourself for a follow-up question like:

  • Do you have any special skills or talents?
  • Are you a person who takes responsibility?
  • What excites you the most about life?
  • Have you got enough energy to work on the weekends?
  • How much money do you have?
  • Are you clear on what you need to do?
  • Which lifestyle do you plan to pursue in the future?
  • Are you ready to be your own boss?

4. Preparing for Milestones

A milestone may signify a shift in development. It can help you let people know what is going on with your project. One of the most important parts of your project plan is showing you how you work on your project. Establish the ideal benchmarks for your team to reach. Discuss the significance of each milestone with your team to keep everyone on track toward the desired outcomes. From the start of your startup’s project management, there are also things you can do to make sure that all of your goals and objectives are met.

  • Find and eliminate project risks.
  • Set progress reporting
  • Use calendars to keep track of important dates.
  • Keeping tabs on the progress of a project’s deliverables is essential.
  • Think about the support of your stakeholders.
  • Prepare yourself for the long haul.

It’s important to start increasing the ambition of your milestones over time so that your initiatives would always be a success. 

5. Talk to your team regularly

To successfully communicate with the relevant people, you will need to understand the communication process. When it comes to startup project management, better communication means everyone understands the importance of good project management. Every day of communication within the team helps maintain the requirements under control. As the project progresses, you’ll be able to keep your team up to date on everything.

Communication is more than simply a two-way exchange of ideas; it requires an awareness of the project’s ins and outs. You need to be available to everyone, know what problems the project will face, get everyone involved, and be able to explain your vision clearly.

Effective Communication in Startup Project Management
Effective Communication Helps the Whole Team Work Towards Business Goals 

6. Set a budget, and a deadline

Have you given any thought to the significance of the three constraints for startup project management? This is an essential aspect of the project since it monitors the administration of the startup project. Time allocations are of the essence if you want to launch your product or project on time successfully. Therefore, you must have a system that allows you to estimate the length of time required to complete each job. You can easily compare the amount of time spent on a work or project using free Gantt chart software that includes project management capabilities.

Defining a project’s scope is important for managing it. It is necessary to make a decision on the scope of the product or project. It provides an explanation of the predetermined criteria that must be met in order to finish the project on time and without exceeding the specified budget.

Cost budgeting establishes a foundation for future costs. Money is the reason many businesses fail. Therefore, you must organize your resources to avoid running out of money. Using project management software, you may acquire an understanding about an accurate estimate of your budget by assessing the variations in costs. 

7. Set Up a Team That Isn’t Going to Sink Your Company

Research on why startups fail shows that having the wrong team is one of the top reasons. Entrepreneurship is not a lonely endeavor. You can not do it alone. CBInsights says that 23% of businesses fail because they don’t have a strong staff with the right skills.

Here’s how to find a great team for your new business:

  • Look for experience that matters.
  • Create a shared understanding of the values and norms that guide your team’s conduct.
  • Make sure they are all going the same way.
  • Explain to them the importance of providing excellent customer service.
  • Convince them of the value of what you are trying to do.

8. Startup project management tools 

There are many high-level bucket features in project management tools. Some examples of what you can do with a tool are:

  • Keeping track of what has to be done
  • Planning
  • Keeping track of documents and files
  • Managing inventory
  • Organizing resources
  • File-sharing
  • Reporting bugs
  • Budgeting and sending bills
Project Management Software
Make Use of Startup Project Management Software for Better Outcomes 

These online project management tools can help you stay organized as you embark on your company adventure. You can also compare project management tools and their detailed features to find the best fit for your organization. Here’s a list of startup project management tools to consider:

  • ProofHub
  • Droptask
  • Hitask 
  • nTask 

Wrapping up 

Remember that project management at your company doesn’t have to be unnecessarily complicated and demanding. The right tool will also help you in many ways, including: 

  • Make the most of your limited resources.
  • Keep your customers and the team happy.
  • Offer you the necessary skills and procedures to bring projects through to success.

This is how we’ve grown over the years and became an award-winning software engineering company.

How to Scale Remote Team

Everything You Need to Know About How to Scale Remote Team

Understanding how to scale a remote team is essential if you’re thinking of setting up your own IT consulting firm. In recent years, the need for company executives to manage remote teams has grown tremendously due to the attractiveness of a remote workforce. The advantages of remote working are many. And they may be reaped by both the business and the remote team members. These benefits include increased employee satisfaction due to the flexibility of working places and a more extensive global reach for the organization.

Why choose remote teams?

When discussing how to scale a remote team, it is essential to consider why they have chosen to work remotely. Consider the following scenario: you want to launch a new IT firm in a few months. It’s been proven that companies can save a lot of money on employee costs with remote teams. And this is because they don’t need to have physical office space. This means that the business usually doesn’t have to spend a lot of money at the start.

In recent years, remote working has become more popular among IT professionals and small and startup organizations. And the global pandemic has significantly contributed to this increased popularity. The settings in which these organizations operate are constantly changing. Therefore, they see the obvious advantages of not making a significant investment in a physical work location.

Remote working has many advantages. But it also poses many obstacles to businesses and the people in charge of management inside the organization. Managing a remote workforce comes with several issues. These may include ensuring that employees are working as efficiently as possible, that they are present when they are needed, and that they are motivated.

The Advantages of Building Remote teams
The Advantages of Building Remote teams

What Exactly Does It Mean to Scale a Team?

Scaling a team is simply the process of increasing revenue while keeping team costs at a constant level. If your sales rise by 40%, but you have to add five additional workers to your team, you aren’t scaling it. If you can handle that 40 percent growth with your existing personnel, you have successfully scaled your company’s operations.

How to scale a remote team: step-by-step instructions

UC Berkeley and Stanford researchers found that 70% of the companies they studied sought to scale too early before other basics of their company were in place. They published their findings in the Startup Genome Report. A key conclusion of the analysis was that premature scaling was a contributing factor in 90 percent of failing startups. Therefore, as well as knowing how to scale remote teams, you must know the right time to go for it.

What is the source of this widespread issue? It all boils down to the reality that none of these choices are made in a vacuum. For some startups, the temptation to exploit hiring statistics as a façade of success while under pressure to enhance performance may be tremendous. A startup founder could be under a lot of pressure to show investors that things are going well for the next meeting. On the other hand, a mid-sized (proprietary) software company would have to respond to many requests for a new feature and make it happen before their competitors.

The time it takes to see a return on investment (ROI) varies by position (the position in the management hierarchy of the organization) and might be months long. Among the costs of recruiting are the time spent by existing workers teaching new employees and the cost of hiring itself. It costs the company a lot of money and time to get rid of people who aren’t healthy or who leave early. Don’t focus on a short-term victory to distract from long-term uncertainty. Invest time in defining how your organization’s mission, values, and culture will be implemented on a new team.

Below are the crucial elements of how to scale remote teams:

Continue to be adaptable (stay agile)

When referring to a group, the word “agile” describes their capacity to adapt. The self-organization of all team members is the first step in scaling your remote team. The completion of any product or project relies on various people, including developers, designers, QA officers, and so on. Teams that work in an agile manner are cross-functional and have a shared sense of responsibility for the outcome.

Agile Development for Remote Teams
Agile Encourages Stakeholder and Team Engagement

Scaling your business the old-fashioned way will result in organizational silos and sluggishness. On the other hand, firms that use an agile approach find it much simpler to adapt to scalability problems. When business experts first used agile methods, they thought they could only be useful for small-scale projects. Perceptions, on the other hand, have shifted dramatically.

An agile team is defined as a team that executes an agile project (a project that follows iterative development which results in continuous and incremental improvement.) For example, by establishing the significance of features, the team may understand the most critical aspects of a project that might provide value. When a team of software developers uses an agile methodology, they may meet a project’s deadlines and costs progressively, allowing it to be launched sooner and begin earning revenue sooner.

Diverse firm personnel may come together to provide the first scope of work, i.e., the MVP (Minimum Viable Product), much more quickly than anticipated if they work cooperatively on the project.

Create a highly effective, distributed development team

When wondering “how to scale a remote team,” this is one of the most crucial things to keep in mind as you plan. Your firm will never be able to expand effectively if you recruit the wrong individuals for the job. For agile teams to work, team members must work together to accomplish tasks. The task of identifying the most qualified candidates in this industry is challenging. But one must also keep in mind that there’s intense rivalry among firms. Therefore, it has become challenging to provide above-average pay and perks to their employees.  

A distributed team provides the ability to enrich your current resources with specialists and generalists. It also gives you access to a larger global talent pool with more favorable wage expectations. And this improves your return on investment and increases your productivity.

The problem is that leading a remote team may be very difficult to manage. In your capacity as a company, you will be responsible for supplying your remote workers with the required infrastructure and technology. While some organizations choose to hire in-house staff or freelancers, the majority prefer to use an alternative method known as outsourcing.

Using an outsourced development team is a good idea

It takes a lot of time, money, and dedication to hire a new employee. If you hire someone, you have to provide them with perks like health insurance and an annual bonus, among other things. The same situation applies if you employ a freelancer. You should not expect them to devote their complete attention to your project alone. And this is because they may be working on many other projects at the same time as your project. Outsourcing is an excellent middle ground since it allows you to save time and money while still receiving total devotion. The option of outsourcing tasks that are excessively time-consuming and create undue pressure on your present employees is available to you as well. 

How to Scale Remote Teams - Outsourcing
Outsourcing is an excellent method of assembling a remote workforce

Moreover, outsourcing is a great way to build a distributed team because you don’t have the skills in-house or you have too many projects. There are several advantages to outsourcing, including the fact that there are no set costs; you will only be charged for the services you get for a particular project. In addition, outsourcing lets you quickly grow and slim down your development team with varying needs. You don’t have to worry about letting people go when the project is done or hiring quickly when the project is growing.

Choose the Most Appropriate Processes and Technology

This is another prime element to consider when discussing the topic of “how to scale remote teams.” Open communication is key to managing a remote group of people. And if you employ an agile strategy, it is critical to maintain open communication and utilize the right technologies in development. And these may include video conferencing, project management, etc. It’s essential that you automate all the automatable jobs. An automated task management system will allow the teams to focus on high-impact work instead of tedious duties.

If outsourced, you should ensure that your outsourcing contractor provides all of the tools and resources necessary for the various developers to perform their duties. Ensure that your in-house staff are in sync with your outsourced staff and have access to all the resources they need to execute their jobs.

It becomes more challenging to determine which technology is the best choice and when to invest in it as time passes. Leasing technology gear and tools is an excellent alternative to buying them, as it avoids the entire cost of the item. If you choose this route, you won’t have to stress about finding the money to buy the tools you need to get started right away. You only have to pay a monthly fee for each user and per device.

It’s essential to connect your scaling strategy with your current company demands while also planning for future expansion for scaling your remote team. If your business adapts quickly, it will be easier for your development team to keep up with changes.

Analyze and make modifications as necessary

To be successful in any undertaking, you must be open to the possibility of change. For a company to be successful, it must constantly monitor changes in the market and adapt its strategy accordingly. Develop and promote best practices for your whole team, no matter how geographically scattered they may be. To become more adaptive, your company will need to take a proactive approach to monitor the changes. 

Taking a proactive approach also helps identify relationships amongst teams, as well as the identification and mitigation of possible hazards. In the case of environments that have utilized Scrum, adapting Scrum ceremonies to the demands of each team is essential. You must also pick the most appropriate strategy for the team’s size. Retrospectives provide an excellent chance to evaluate your company’s return on investment, efficacy, and productivity.

Treinetic’s final words on how to scale a remote team

Scaling a remote development team may be difficult. But the advice provided above on how to do it will help managers and team leaders build a solid foundation for future growth and expansion.

When implementing agile techniques and putting technology and procedures into place, it is critical to identify cooperation among individuals and the dependencies between them. Assemble the right team, whether inside the company or externally contracted. Only then can you ensure that best practices and solid relationships are in place to provide a mutual understanding of the desired outcome. 

Dedicated Teams Pros and Cons

Dedicated Team Pros and Cons | Comprehensive Guide

Our discussion today will mostly focus on dedicated team pros and cons. Why? Because according to a recent report from Grandview Research, the worldwide software development outsourcing market will increase at an annual rate of 7.7 percent from 2021 to 2027. And this will bring the industry’s total revenue to $937 billion in only six years from now. Without further ado, let’s get to the main topic now. 

Global Outsourcing Rates 2019
Global Outsourcing Rates 2019

What Is a Dedicated Team Model and How Does It Work?

Before getting to the dedicated team’s pros and cons, let’s understand this model. Working remotely, the dedicated team model (DTM) may speed up the time it takes a new product to market while also streamlining the company’s operations that use it. This team is not an extension of the client’s team. It’s a separate entity with its own structure and management. And this makes it less reliant on the customer than other software development models.

In addition to the dedicated team model, there are many different types of outsourcing methods. For example, you can compare the dedicated team with the fixed-price model. But dedicated teams of pros and cons can make it a better choice than other models in many cases.

Reasons for Contracting Out Your Software Development Project to a Third-Party

The use of remote work for in-house software developers is encouraged, and companies are pushed to comply. Outsourcing professionals have already mastered a new work model, and it is now up to in-house employees to adopt it. We can no longer afford to ignore the importance of working remotely.

Software outsourcing provides the following benefits, which make it the ideal choice in today’s fast-paced IT world:

  • It allows you to concentrate on the most important areas of your business.
  • Aids in operating cost reduction and control
  • Flexibility in terms of staffing
  • Having access to the top capabilities

Dedicated team pros and cons

Now that you know what the dedicated team model is, let’s get to the dedicated team pros and cons. Let’s start with the pros.

The Pros of Dedicated Teams

A dedicated project team structure has several benefits over other models. We’ll go through the most important ones here.

1. Efficient Collaboration

The client and the dedicated team members collaborate closely to achieve a specified goal and provide tangible outcomes for all parties involved. They connect with one another regularly and engage in brainstorming sessions. And this is to identify the process’s strengths and weaknesses and optimize workflows and long-term planning.

This strategy is necessary for the prompt resolution of unanticipated challenges as well as the successful completion of project-related obstacles.

2. Faster development

How fast would you want to get the job completed? Another benefit of dedicated models is their increased speed. They may significantly accelerate the process by bringing their knowledge and skills to the table and rapidly adjusting to new needs.

3. Project Requirements Flexibility

When you do not yet have a clear development plan and need to update your project regularly, the dedicated model is ideal. Compared to the fixed-price model, which employs waterfall as a regular operating approach, one of the primary advantages of dedicated teams is their flexibility. Any changes to the project scope are welcome by your dedicated team.

4. Efficiency in terms of costs

Cost-effectiveness is one of the most important facts to highlight when reviewing dedicated teams’ pros and cons. In most cases, hiring a dedicated team for a project is less expensive than hiring in-house professionals. And this is especially true if the team is based in a region where development expenses are much lower than in your country or region. 

A team of professionals with a track record of successfully completing comparable projects to yours would not break the bank. This is highly applicable to outsourced, dedicated development teams in Sri Lanka. They will do the essential work without sacrificing the quality of the final product. It’s a fantastic opportunity to lower your human resources expenses and the overheads associated with hiring new staff.

5. A Focused Approach

Having a focused approach is one of the most significant benefits of working on a project with a committed team. All individuals working on the project will devote their whole attention to it, dismissing any possible distractions. Not only that, but there’s more. Flexible in that it may be reconfigured at any moment to meet the current requirements and demands of the project, ensuring that the project is completed more quickly and with superior outcomes than it would otherwise.

6. Transparent Management

Customer access to time tracking and task management systems is available upon request by dedicated teams. This enables them to stay on the same page while also keeping track of their progress.

In addition, regular contact through messaging apps such as Slack and Telegram and the daily reports that you will get will help ensure transparent administration.

7. Experience and expertise in the relevant field

By outsourcing to dedicated software development teams, you ensure that your project is managed by experts who possess the essential skills and competence. Most of the time, these individuals have previously accomplished projects with goals identical to yours. They can provide you with valuable guidance and consider even the smallest aspects that you may have overlooked.

After a period of time spent working together, they have refined their processes and acquired the necessary expertise to delegate duties. You’ll save time, avoid potential problems, and reap the many benefits of not starting from scratch.

Dedicated Team Model Pros
Pros of Dedicated Teams

Cons of a dedicated team

Since this article is about dedicated team pros and cons, let’s figure out the cons so that you can take action to avoid them. It’s not appropriate for every scenario, and there are a few problems, just like with every other engagement model. The following section discusses the most significant drawbacks of the dedicated team concept.

1. For a short-term project, the efficiency is low

It is more cost-effective to engage a dedicated development team when working on large projects that are continually evolving, whose specifications are variable, and whose requirements change regularly. It is preferable to go with a different model in all other circumstances.

2. It’s not a one-size-fits-all solution

Ensure that the model you choose is precisely what you’re looking for before getting into any agreements. Suppose your project may be long-term in nature, but you have clearly defined objectives and a set of criteria that seems to be definitive. In this case, signing a contract with a dedicated team may be a risky move for your organization.

3. Different Time Zones

Different time zones may become a severe issue when an overseas corporation is involved. However, if the team adheres to agile development principles, this issue may be readily resolved.

After weighing dedicated team pros and cons, you will greatly benefit from knowing how a dedicated team helps grow your business.

Dedicated Team Model Cons
Cons of Dedicated Teams

Some Advice on Choosing an Outsourcing Software Development Team

Let’s get to the next stage, as you have a better understanding of dedicated team pros and cons now. So you’ve decided to hire a group of people to collaborate with you. However, how does one go about selecting a winning team? The simple steps described below will guide you through the process of securing the best of the breed.

1. Request References

Contact current and former customers to inquire about their satisfaction with selecting experts, communication, quality assurance, and product development. This kind of feedback is always the most reliable indicator of overall quality.

2. Discuss the approach to work that you will take

When working with a dedicated team on complicated and long-term software projects, we believe that the agile development approach is the most effective way to solve the problem. It enables to build the project in stages, beginning with identifying the highest priority needs. Additionally, Agile delivers high transparency on the project’s progress.

3. Take a look at the Portfolio

This is where you may look at earlier work and decide whether or not you want to pursue it further.

4. Find out about the rates and talk about how the billing process will work

Various companies charge different fees, which may either be in line with your budget or leave a dent in your pocketbook. This will assist you in planning your budget and making modifications as necessary. Keep in mind that saving money should never come at the expense of quality or overall trustworthiness!

5. Identify the provided documents

We record every step to minimize the possibility of misunderstandings. And we aim to increase team communication in every way that we can. To do this, we determined the most appropriate tools for the job:

  • Team and project management.
  • Tracking of bugs and issues
  • System of code review
  • The administration of source code and repositories
  • Release management.
Dedicated Team Model - How to Choose
Choosing Your Dedicated Teams

Dedicated Teams at Treinetic

Treinetic’s professionals have a wealth of knowledge and expertise in establishing and managing successful dedicated teams for organizations of all sizes, from multinational enterprises to start-up companies. A team’s performance is heavily influenced by how successfully the service provider manages the team’s personnel resources, infrastructure, and working environment. Here’s why Treinetic should be your first choice:

Based on the client’s requirements, we have devised a system for collecting information and putting together a dedicated team. With a project management team and a business analyst in regular contact with the customer, we ensure that the development process is transparent and problem-free.

We can quickly expand our devoted workforce in response to a client’s requirements.

Some final words

In addition to supporting clients in different time zones, Treinetic has been a remote-friendly organization for many years. Regardless of the epidemiological situation, we are completely prepared to operate online and get things started as soon as possible. All of our human resource administration is done remotely. And this allows us to maintain a strong connection with our customers while also delivering products on time.

Native VS Cross-Platform

Native VS Cross-Platform: What to Choose in 2022?

In this blog post, we’ll go through the two primary techniques for app development: native VS cross-platform development. Why? Because, as a result of technological advancements, our lives have grown more reliant on digital assets. We make the most important choices in our lives and organizations via the use of the Internet and mobile applications. Businesses have a hard time competing in the digital world because there are so many apps on the Play Store and App Store and they have limited exposure, skills, resources, and funds.

It is predicted that the yearly number of app downloads globally will reach 299 billion by 2023, an increase from the expected 247 billion global app downloads in 2020. In addition, by 2023, paid downloads and in-app advertising are expected to produce over $935 billion in income for mobile applications.

Mobile App Downloads in Billions
There’s a Rapid Increase in the Number of Mobile App Downloads

Because of the competitive environment, business owners are under constant pressure to place more emphasis on the quality, precision, functionality, and other factors that encourage prospective consumers to choose their services over alternatives. And it is at this time that we must decide between native VS cross-platform development methods. Businesses often face many difficulties, including deciding on the best technology to depend on, whether to use iOS or Android, and which app development framework would be the most effective in increasing client interaction.

What to Consider When Choosing a Methodology for Developing a Mobile Application

When deciding between native VS cross-platform development, we must first understand the factors to consider when selecting a mobile application development approach:

The complexity of the application

Cross-platform development is an excellent option if all your app does is utilize network-fetched data. In contrast, if your application needs extensive processing or access to low-level APIs, you might choose native development because cross-platform tools may not be able to access them. 

Cost

Native development delivers high-performance applications, yet it is time-consuming and expensive to develop. If you are working with a small budget, cross-platform development is the best option to consider. Because just a single codebase is created for an app that runs on both Android and iOS, you’ll save between 30 and 40% on development costs.

Time Required for Development

Getting an MVP app up and running as soon as possible is important in some projects. This is the point at which you should think about cross-platform development. You do not need to work on two different versions of the app. Creating an app for both Android and iOS requires just a single development cycle.

UI/UX

Native development is the way to go if you want stunning visuals and an engaging experience. When developing in a native environment, developers have access to the UI/UX components. Selecting cross-platform development may strictly limit the UI/UX elements of the program.

Native vs. Cross-Platform: What Is Native App Development?

Building a mobile app just for a single platform is referred to as “native app development.” In this case, programming languages and tools unique to a particular platform are used to create the app. For example, you can develop a native Android application using Java or Kotlin while developing iOS applications using Swift and Objective-C.

When comparing native VS cross-platform applications, native apps are renowned for providing a superior user experience because they are typically high-performing. Because the visuals are matched to the platform’s user experience, the overall user experience is seamless. On the other hand, startups are worried about the high cost of native app development. And that’s because they must simultaneously build for two platforms.

The Pros of Native Application Development

Increased Scalability

Native apps are scalable because of the resource management flexibility and the range of tools available.

High-performance and excellent user experience

The direct communication between the code and the underlying resources results in an excellent performance. Additionally, native applications often offer a superior user experience (UX) that is synonymous with the platform.

Broad Functionality

If you’re working on a platform, you’ll have access to every API and tool that it has to offer. According to the current state of technology, there are no restrictions on how programmers develop the new app. 

Improved Support in Store

Generally speaking, native apps are simpler to publish, and they are often placed higher in the platform’s app store since they provide superior performance and speed.

The Cons of Native App Development

Costly

When you need to publish your app on both iOS and Android, developing native applications might be outrageously costly. Because of this, you’ll need to deploy two teams that will work on separate platforms.

Time-consuming

Because the work done on one platform cannot be repeated on another, native app development is time-consuming. Rather, a different team will be required to work on the other version.

Native App Development Pros and Cons
Native App Development Pros and Cons

What Is Cross-Platform App Development and How Does It Work?

Because we have already reviewed native app development in today’s subject of native VS cross-platform, let’s take a closer look at cross-platform development now.

Cross-platform development refers to developing an application that is compatible with several platforms. This is accomplished via the use of technologies such as React Native, Xamarin, and Flutter, which allow the applications built to be published on both Android and iOS devices.

While cross-platform development saves time and money, there is a danger that quality may be compromised in the process. The implementation of an app that operates ideally on several platforms is complex, as the app will need an extra abstraction layer when running. This can result in decreased performance.

Cross-platform programming is more attractive to startups since it saves time and money. Nonetheless, it would help if you were mindful of the fact that it may be more difficult to correct the app beyond what is permitted by the framework.

The Pros of Cross-Platform Application Development

‍Less Costly

An application that runs on several platforms will need just one development team rather than two, as in the case of a native app. As a result, you will save money on the development costs.

Faster Development ‍

When developing an application that operates on various platforms, just a single development cycle is necessary.

Single Code Base 

There is just one code base for the app since it was developed using a single cross-platform development tool.

The Cons of Cross-Platform Application Development

An app that runs more slowly

Because of the need for an extra abstraction layer and rendering process, the cross-platform application is much slower than its native equivalent.

Limited Functionality

Developers may probably have problems accessing smartphone features such as the microphone, camera, and geolocation in the same manner that a native app would.

Limited UX 

Cross-platform applications are unable to make use of native user interface components. As a result, it cannot provide the same user interface experience that is familiar with the platform.

Cross-Platform App Development Pros and Cons
Cross-Platform App Development Pros and Cons

Native VS Cross-Platform: Which One to Choose?

Choose wisely, since your choice will influence how much it will cost, how long it will take to develop, and how consumers react to the application. Before making a decision, consider all of the factors listed above. If you’re still not sure which to choose between native and cross-platform, here are some additional tips:

When Should You Think About Developing a Native App?

  • It is more likely that your target audience will be using your app for the first time, and you want to make a good first impression by providing them with the best possible app experience.
  • It is necessary to code specifically for a single platform.
  • You are one of the businesses interested in 3D games and animations.
  • You want to gain many daily active users (DAUs), pursue venture capital investors for product financing, and design an app that is simple to understand yet intuitive to use.
  • It is necessary to include device-specific features like GPS, a camera, etc.

When Should You Consider Developing a Cross-Platform Application?

  • You have a tight budget, limited time, and limited resources, and you must develop a mobile application on many platforms.
  • It would help target both iOS and Android app users in your marketing efforts.
  • You need a more rapid app development process.
  • The app isn’t complicated, and it doesn’t need any features that differ significantly across platforms.

So, you can choose between native and cross-platform based on the scenarios explained above.

Our final thoughts

As an award-winning software engineering company, we know that there are advantages and disadvantages to both native and cross-platform app development. To choose an app development platform between native VS cross-platform, it is necessary to determine the exact business criteria that must be met. Before selecting an app development platform, IT business managers must determine exactly what they want. This is why you need to think about both the short and long term when making your decision.

Business plan for mobile app

How to Write a Business Plan for a Mobile App?

You’re probably looking for some guidelines on how to write a business plan for an app. Congratulations! You have found the most comprehensive guide on how to write a business plan for a mobile app. Ideation, planning, and execution are all important steps to consider. These are the cornerstones of every project’s success, and they are interconnected. In the rapidly shifting world of information technology, it is hard to predict success with 100% certainty. However, if you devote enough time and effort to each of these cornerstones, your chances of reaching the top will increase significantly.

On the other hand, some business people choose to ignore creating a business plan for a mobile app. These people think that practice is a better way to get the results they want. They hope that spontaneous decisions will help them get to the top of the manufacturers’ list. Unfortunately, this sort of approach never delivers positive results. It’s important to remember that having a plan is the best way to be successful. So, let’s go further into creating a business plan for a mobile app.

What is the importance of having a business plan for a mobile app?

The market for mobile apps is expanding at a rapid pace. Getting into the game before the market gets too crowded is becoming more common.

According to Statista, worldwide mobile app revenues reached more than 365 billion U.S. dollars in 2018. According to projections, paid downloads and in-app advertising are expected to produce more than 935 billion dollars in mobile apps by 2023.

Mobile app revenue growth
Mobile App Revenue Growth in the Coming Years 

Creating a useful and successful app isn’t as simple as you may assume, despite how attractive it seems. The first step toward a successful launch should be creating a business plan for a mobile app. 

A thorough business plan for the smartphone app is a guide for everyone participating in the project. It also tells you how to get the app out into the world in the most profitable way. The process of creating a successful mobile app business plan is rather simple. When you write a business plan, you’ll get a clear picture of your app, as well as information about how to market and finance it.

What are the components of a business plan for a mobile app?

The most important issue to address in a business plan is whether or not the product is profitable to produce. When drafting a business plan for a mobile app, you’ll need to estimate the cost of development and commissioning as well as the timeline for when your project will provide a return on investment.

Creating a reliable and stable mobile application for enterprises, individuals, or non-profit organizations should be your goal in this case. Only then will your app be competitive. Your business plan for a mobile app must have the following:

 – Business plan for mobile app: Executive Summary

The executive summary is the first thing we will look at now. This is the first and most crucial section in your business plan for a mobile app since it is the first thing an investor will see and read. There should be no detailed information about how your product works in the executive summary form, so it should be simple and clear. Your executive summary should include information on the current market situation, your target client, and what unique problems your application can address.

Business plan or a mobile app - executive summary
The Must-Include Elements of the Executive Summary 

Make your proposal unique so that your company stands out from the rest. Put another way, it would be best to create a unique value proposition (UVP.) Put yourself in your investor’s shoes and imagine that your executive summary is the trailer for a movie, with your investor as the audience member. Would they be interested in seeing your movie?

Make a list of your objectives. Base your objectives on your business analysis. Investors will be looking to see if your goals align with their requirements. You’ll also need to figure out your exit strategy’s ultimate aim. To increase your company’s attractiveness, prepare a list of your financial needs and how the funds will be utilized. One of the most critical aspects of developing a startup business plan for your mobile app is ensuring that the process is as transparent as possible at every level.

– Business description

Starting with a description of your company and concluding with a summary of your mobile app idea, this section of your business plan for a mobile app helps introduce your business. This part will show investors what your company stands for and your mission is. It will also show them how you see your product and what you think are the most important factors for your success. Investors need to know this information now more than ever.

– An overview of the company

Here is where you should describe your company, covering the following points:

  • Type of business structure
  • Your company’s history
  • Location of your company
  • Team/remote team
  • Problem
  • Mission
  • Statement of the concept

Focus on the present situation of your project’s processes, such as the feedback from investors and lenders, in your mission statement. Defining how things are now while focusing on the future and your motivation in the vision statement are key components of the mission statement.

– The company’s history

In this section, you should describe the history of your business, the formation of your team, and how you came up with your idea. It’s also a good idea to talk about the main stages of your company’s growth and the experience that comes before the product goes on the market.

– Your team

Because your app development team is the core of the project, the team section of the company description is often the most significant section describing the company. Names, positions, job experience, and duties within the company should be included for each individual on your list of employees. You may also form a committee to assist you in making critical choices. It would help if you had experts on your committee who have previous industry expertise.

Analysis of the market

When it comes to bringing your app concept to life, information regarding the market’s current status should be your primary consideration. You should know what’s going on in your industry, have the most up-to-date information, and make a short-term strategy. In other words, you should have a market analysis in place. This part of your business plan shows how well your project will work.

– Market forecasts

When writing a business plan for a mobile app, forecasting is essential. Whether it’s for application development or a software startup, any business plan will benefit from forecasts from credible research organizations such as Nielsen, Forrester, etc. Besides that, you can include statistics on the growth of mobile application businesses and the amount of money invested.

A realistic market for your product, a sufficient number of consumers in a market, and, therefore, the willingness of those customers to spend a sufficient amount of money to have their issues solved are your primary objectives in doing market research. Determine whether or not the consumer believes that your unique application fulfills a requirement.

– SWOT analysis

Using a SWOT analysis, which is a kind of strategic planning, you can provide a structured description of your situation and identify opportunities and threats. Using SWOT analysis, you may investigate products, businesses, regions, and even whole countries. SWOT analysis is an acronym that stands for:

  • Strengths
  • Weaknesses
  • Opportunities
  • Threats

It’s very natural for a company to have flaws, and being aware of possible issues will serve as a powerful drive for finding answers and minimizing any risks your company may be required to take.

Marketing strategy

To get your product into the hands of your consumers, you need a solid marketing strategy in place. This requires convincing investors that you really have such a winning marketing plan. If you want to be successful with your mobile application, you need to use the following marketing strategies:

– Research the target audience

The first stage is to attract your target audience by identifying a specific group of consumers to whom you want to market your product or service. Demography, habits, online behavior, and lifestyle should be used to figure out who this target audience is. Analyze how your ideal client will interact with your app.

– Competition research is important

Competitor research is a critical component of business analysis. This information will assist you in highlighting the characteristics that separate you from your rivals and improve your processes and resolve problems in your marketplace.

– Create a landing page

A landing page for your mobile application can assist you in expanding your target audience as well as informing users about new features and upgrades to the app itself. Include the application’s name, a description of its capabilities, promotional videos, and other pertinent information on your page.

– App rating

If you want your app to show up higher in search results in the app stores, you need to improve it. For example, you can speed up the load time of your mobile app. A high ranking in search results will draw people’s attention to who could become customers.

– Product growth

There are many different approaches to growing their user base when it comes to app startups. In addition, each firm has its own business plan for entering new sectors. It only makes sense to launch a major advertising campaign, for example, in areas where customers are aware of your product or service benefits. Uber and Houseparty are two examples of apps that have done well with big marketing campaigns.

Business plan for mobile app - marketing strategy
Business Plan for Mobile App – Marketing Strategy

Financials

At long last, the moment has arrived when you can move on to the financial section of your business plan for the mobile app. Before you can go further, you need to know exactly what type of funding you’ll need. Furthermore, a prospective investor should understand the funding requirements when reading this section of your business plan for the mobile app.

Every major forecasted model is included in the financial model, typically a three- to five-year projection of all major forecasted models. These models include profit and loss statements, cash flow statements, balance sheets, start tables, and valuations. If you want to accurately assess the real cost of your assets and distribute them most efficiently, your financial record must have the following components: 

– Startup costs or funding required

Communicate with your investors about the expected cost of the project. Because such figures are subject to fluctuation, we recommend setting reasonable estimates and allowing for unexpected costs.

Costs of all kinds:

  • One-time cost
  • The costs that occur regularly (regular expenses, for example, rent and insurance)
  • Costs that are fixed (costs that will remain the same regardless of the state of your business)
  • Costs that are subject to change (e.g., salaries).

– Developing a monetization strategy

The following are some of the most prevalent methods of monetizing an application:

  • Advertising
  • Charging for the application: If your business model calls for a paid application, you must persuade the customer why they should pay and what they will be receiving in exchange for their money.
  • In-app purchases: This is a common way to make money with iOS and Android apps.
  • Using subscriptions to generate revenue is a common monetization approach, and it works until the user chooses to cancel the subscription. Most subscription applications provide an onboarding time or a free trial period.
Mobile app monetization
Mobile App Monetization Strategies

Monetization is a critical component when developing a business plan for mobile apps. To learn more about mobile app monetization, we recommend reading our thorough mobile app monetization guide.

Treinetic’s final thoughts on a business plan for mobile apps

Some people get very excited about ideas but don’t know how to make them real. They learn that mobile apps are profitable, so they learn mobile-related languages and frameworks. Then they try to do something they don’t know how to do. It’s as if they’ve already failed before they’ve even begun.

However, the steps outlined here should help you build a more successful app development plan. The fundamentals are monetization, financial metrics, and determining what makes your product stand out from the competition.

Offshore Developers Rates

Offshore Developers Rates | The Most Comprehensive Guide

To save money, you can outsource software development to a team of programmers in another country using modern technology. But you will need to better understand offshore developers rates for budgeting requirements. Offshoring also gives you access to a larger pool of talent from across the world. On the other hand, the typical cost of software development services varies substantially from country to country. When it comes to product development, several variables influence pricing. These include factors like the technology stack developers use, their experience, and the hiring method.

An analysis of offshore software development rates by country and level of experience will be presented in this post. Also, we give some advice on how to recruit offshore developers properly. We’ll be utilizing credible sources: SalaryExpert, Indeed, PayScale, Upwork, Toptal, and ourselves—YouTeam, a marketplace for on-demand engineering staff augmentation.

The Benefits of Hiring Offshore Developers in 2021

In addition to lower offshore developers rates, if you employ offshore developers, you will benefit from the following benefits:

  • Access to a large pool of IT talent. According to the Wall Street Journal, employers in the US had over 918,000 vacant IT positions in 2019. If your company is one of these, outsourcing may be a viable option.
  • There are no hidden fees. You just pay for the services since offshore software development is done remotely. Insurance, office space rent, incentives, and other fees become the responsibility of offshore developers or an intermediary agency.
  • You’ll have more time to devote to your project. Employees who work from home save time commuting and may devote that time to the project.

Offshore developers rates according to country/region overview

It would be best if you always kept in mind that typical offshore developer rates might fluctuate greatly from the accurate pricing of software development services, which is why:

  • When calculating the average rate, it considers the costs of various technologies. And some of which are more common and less costly than others.
  • Because developers with decent English, communication skills, and a proactive attitude are constantly in demand, they are paid more than the average.
  • The average cost is a combination of the rates of junior and senior developers, with the first group accounting for the lion’s share of the market. Employing a junior developer is less expensive than hiring a senior developer, which is a good thing for saving money. However, because the vast majority of the developers are junior developers, the average cost will be skewed somewhat in favor of the cost of a junior developer unless the data is appropriately weighted. 

And we tried to be as accurate as possible in this post about how much an experienced developer willing to work on international projects would cost at an hourly rate. We hope you find it beneficial.

Offshore Developers Rates by Region
Offshore Developers Rates by Region

Let’s now examine the market processes that have contributed to the present situation of the global software development industry.

Offshore developers rates and the current situation in the IT hiring market

Senior software engineers are in high demand among startups in the United States of America. A job opportunity for a junior or even medium post is quite unlikely. Many factors may be at play, including the requirement for excellent leaders in each function and the demand for startups to perform quickly to thrive in a changing market. Due to a lack of resources, it is hard to employ and manage a large development team or even get financing rounds that open up new possibilities. A similar trend exists in Western Europe (particularly Germany and the Netherlands), where many European startups are located.

There is a high demand for senior engineers in these regions and a limited supply, resulting in higher compensation and fierce competition for available resources. Most startups will have to hunt for workers in countries with lower living expenses if large corporations can afford to pay the highest rates. As a result, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa have gained a reputation as offshore software development hotspots.

Last year, however, the whole world entered a new, pandemic-related digital age marked by rapid technological innovation. The ever-increasing tech trend has resulted in a massive demand for software development services in recent years. There was a talent shortage even in offshore outsourcing locations. It’s becoming more difficult to find an engineer with the right tech stack and 5–8 years of expertise. As a result, offshore development rates have risen to unprecedented heights. Let’s take a closer look at it.

How Did Offshore Software Development Rates Change Over Time?

This post was initially published on our blog in early 2020. However, since market circumstances are continuously changing, we periodically update this blog post. And in this latest version of the post, we compare the rates we previously mentioned to the current market pricing for software development.

Market circumstances change regularly. Offshore developer rates have risen by more than 7% for virtually all technologies since 2020, which is not surprising. In the case of senior developers, the percentage is much higher at 10%.

The technologies with the most dramatic rise were React Native, ReactJS, Python, Ruby on Rails, NodeJS, Java, and PHP. In comparison to the previous year, these developers received a payout rise of up to 15%.

Offshore Development Hourly Rates by Region in 2021

This section will give you an overview of the regions and offshore development rates by country so that you can make an informed choice when hiring from abroad. Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa will be discussed. To properly compare offshore software development rates with domestic software development rates, let’s first look at rates in Western Europe and the US, the two regions where the greatest demand for offshore software development services exists.

Software Development Rates in Western Europe and North America in 2021

According to Indeed.com, as of 2021, the average basic hourly wage for a software engineer in the United States is $46.32 per hour. This number may change based on various factors, including expertise, technology, and geographic location. Here are some state-by-state examples of rates:

Offshore Developers Rates Hourly - USA
Average Salary Per Hour in the USA

Similarly, rates vary per country in Western Europe, for example:

Offshore Developers Rates - Europe
Average Hourly Rates in Europe

Let’s look at the rates in offshore countries now.

Offshore Development in Eastern Europe in 2021

Offshore Developers Rates - Eastern Europe

Eastern European nations such as Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, and Romania are now among the top worldwide software development hubs, according to a study conducted in January 2019 by AVentures Capital, Aventis Capital, and Capital Times. IT exports from these countries totaled about $13 billion.

The Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, and Moldova are important contenders in this area.

Here are some other statistics on the situation of the IT sector in Eastern Europe:

  • The profit of the 477 IT businesses that took part in the study was $5 billion.
  • The yearly number of graduates from technical institutions is 60,000.
  • In the region, revenue growth is expected to be between 20 and 25 percent every year.

According to Coursera’s Global Skills Index 2020, Belarus, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary ranked first in the technology category, including security engineering, operating systems, software engineering, databases, and computer networking and human-computer interactions. There are also several Eastern European countries, like Belarus, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, that have risen to global prominence in data science, including skills like Python and SQL.

Offshore Software Development in Ukraine in 2021

Ukraine has been attracting international investors since the late 1990s and early 2000s, when the first software outsourcing businesses began to develop due to its convenient location in the heart of Europe. Given the current situation of the IT sector in the country, the following statistics and information are available:

  • According to Ukraine’s State Statistics Service, IT service exports from Ukraine increased by 15% in 2019. It now accounts for 16 percent of total service exports, worth $15.23 billion to the country. Ukraine’s IT exports were expected to top $5 billion in 2020.
  • According to HackerRank test results, Ukrainian developers are ranked 11th in the world in terms of programming capabilities. More than 85% of IT workers have at least a basic command of the English language.
  • In Ukraine, there were over 160,000 IT experts engaged at almost 4,000 IT enterprises as of 2019. By 2021, the number of IT experts will have risen well above 200,000.
  • The IT sector in the country is increasing at a rate of roughly 26% per year.

According to the rankings of offshore development rates by country, Ukraine has a lot to offer when outsourcing software development.

Poland as an Offshore Development Destination

Poland is one of the most costly nations to outsource software development in the Eastern European region. It is also one of the region’s most secure and stable economies. The Polish government is a staunch supporter of the IT sector. As a result, numerous major firms, including Google, Intel, and Siemens, established R & D operations in Poland.

This country’s membership in the European Union is one of its most valuable assets. As a result, it is particularly appealing to Western European businesses that share legal and geographical space.

In addition to its own IT graduates, Poland is continually expanding its talent pool by headhunting the brightest engineers from Ukraine. Many software outsourcing firms operate in the Polish and Ukrainian markets, allowing engineers to quickly transfer to nations with lower living and software development rates.

Eastern European Software Engineer Hourly Rates in 2021

When a company is looking for a long-term partner, the cost of development is critical. An important consideration when considering an outsourced location is the ability to establish trusting working relationships with your developers. For your convenience, we merged the average hourly pay for software developer talent in various Eastern European nations with the World Bank’s assessment of political stability and ease of doing business.

Offshore Developers' Rates - Eastern Europe
Developers Average Hourly Rates in Eastern Europe

Software Engineers’ Average Hourly Rates in Eastern Europe in 2021

As previously said, when a company is hunting for a long-term collaboration, the cost of development is quite crucial to consider. At the same time, the capacity to establish trusting connections with your offshore developers is an even more important factor to consider when selecting an outsourcing region. For your convenience, we integrated the average hourly pay for software development talent in other Eastern European nations with a World Bank score of political stability and ease of doing business.

Latin America’s Offshore Development in 2021

Offshore Developers Rates - Latin America

According to IDC, despite political instability and poor economic growth, the Latin American IT market will rise in 2021. The IT market was expected to grow by 4.8 percent in 2020, according to Ricardo Villate, vice president of the regional consultancy. According to IDC, business expenditure on 3D printing, cloud, AR/VR, AI, IoT, security, and robots has increased.

According to Coursera, Argentina and Chile are among the top 30 countries in the world for data science (Machine Learning, Data Management, Data Visualization, and Statistical Programming).

Offshore Software Development in Brazil in 2021

In Latin America and South America, Brazil is one of the top software outsourcing countries. According to a previous survey by Agile Engine, Brazil has the most software developers in the region, with over 400,000. The Tholons Services Globalization Index 2019 ranks Brazil second among the world’s top 50 digital countries. In 2021, the average hourly wage for a software engineer in Brazil was $44.

Latin America’s Top-Performing Outsourcing Destinations

Engineers are often sought from outside Brazil, even though Brazil is South America’s largest country. And, as a result, has the region’s largest pool of available workers. The basic explanation for this is that Brazil is the only country in the world where the majority of the population speaks Portuguese. While the rest of the continent speaks Spanish, it’s simpler for enterprises to extend their recruiting to several nations because their foreign engineers will be able to communicate with one another in their native language.

Mexico, close to the United States, is one of the most preferred nations for nearshore software development. Why? Because its engineers are accustomed to dealing with US customers and have a thorough understanding of their corporate culture.

Argentina and Panama are the second and third offshore development nations in the area that we wish to highlight.

  • As per the same analysis by Agile Engine, Argentina is rated 14th among the top software outsourcing nations and second in the region. According to the Tholons Services Globalization Index 2019, it is also the tenth most digitally advanced country.
  • According to the World Bank Group, Panama has been one of the fastest-growing global economies in recent years, with great technological advancement in the IT business.

Average Developer Hourly Rate by Country in Latin America in 2021

According to the most recent statistics, the average annual wage for software developers in Latin American nations is greater than in Eastern Europe; however, stability ratings are lower.

Offshore Developer's Rates - Latin America
Developers Average Hourly Rates in Latin America

Offshore Software Development in Asia in 2021

Offshore Developers Rates - Asia

Offshore development rates are very reasonable in Asia compared to other regions. As a pioneer in software outsourcing, Asia has the largest number of offshore software developers of any region. This figure was around 3 million in India alone in 2018.

China is also an appealing offshore development destination. Across all HackerRank challenges, Chinese developers come out on top. The Chinese government provides economic incentives to the IT industry. More than 50 scientific and technological industry parks have since been established around the country.

Cebu City in the Philippines has the fastest-growing IT sector, with over 200 offshore enterprises and 95,000 tech jobs available. In the Tholons Services Globalization Index 2019, the Philippines is ranked 5th among the top 50 digital countries, with Manila as the world’s second-largest metropolis.

Offshore Software Development in India in 2021

According to the Tholons Services Globalization Index 2019, India is one of Asia’s leading software outsourcing countries and a top digital nation. One of the most cost-effective ways to outsource web development is through Indian software development companies. More than 100,000 IT professionals graduate from the country’s technical institutions each year. As of 2016, India was ranked second in the world for the number of STEM graduates, with 2.6 million. In India, the developer’s average hourly wage is $30.

On the other hand, there have been cases in India where junior developers eager to get started in their careers leveraged themselves with the lowest pay rates possible. Under such low pay rates, under-skilled developers working on complex projects have made those projects fail.

Offshore Developers Hourly Rates by Country in Asia in 2021

Other Asian nations’ offshore development rates for 2021 are as follows:

Offshore Developers' Rates - Asia
Developers Average Hourly Rates in Asia

Offshore Software Development in Africa in 2021

Offshore Developers Rates - Africa

Although Africa’s IT outsourcing sector is still in its early stages, it has already shown fast development and is drawing international customers. The growing number of young people in the region would increase the demand for high-quality service sector employment. The country will soon be among the finest places to outsource software development.

  • It has swiftly become a prominent outsourcing destination because of its time zone consistency with Europe and a short time difference with New York, as well as North Africa, notably Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia. Furthermore, because of their similar language, Morocco and Tunisia draw consumers from France. Python, Ruby, and SQL are just a few of the technologies that North African programmers are familiar with.
  • Due to minor time zone variations and good English, German, and Dutch competency, South Africa is another attractive option. The Tholons recognize the region as a Digital Nation and a Super City to top it all off. And South African developers are comparatively fluent in C++, PHP and SQL.
  • Africa’s east Kenya has a disproportionately high number of programmers. This may be because Nairobi acts as a hub for international businesses to reach Africa.Thousands of Kenyan enterprises call Nairobi home. And the city’s infrastructure fosters technological innovation among emerging firms and startups. East Africans are reputed for their skills in working with Java, SQL and in Mobile Development.

Despite this, African nations have the lowest worldwide skill rankings.

Offshore Development Rates by Country in Africa in 2021

According to a recent study, the hourly pay of a software developer in Africa is much lower than in any other outsourcing market. However, you will pay a larger price in terms of risk since this region has the lowest stability index.

offshore developers' hourly rates - Africa
Developers Average Hourly Rates in Africa

Sri Lanka as an outsourcing destination 

Sri Lanka has risen to the top of the list of outsourcing destinations for knowledge-based projects. And this because of huge tax benefits, a booming GDP, and favorable trade relations. When it comes to high-quality software products, Sri Lanka has developed and established a reputation for excellence. The National Outsourcing Association has recognized and shortlisted Sri Lanka several times as the “Offshore Destination of the Year.”

The IT industry in Sri Lanka has been one of the most robust throughout the COVID-19 crisis, with exports growing at an annual rate of 8%. Over 300 Sri Lankan software businesses exist now, accounting for 90% of the country’s IT exports. Sri Lanka has long been regarded as a center for the worldwide IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) industries. The IT/BPO industry accounts for 13.2% of service exports, behind the textile and tourism sectors. Sales have surpassed the $1 billion US mark. 

Moreover, because of Sri Lanka’s high literacy rate, the country’s information technology industry has emerged as the most efficient, competent, and financially appealing sector, among many others. For more than a decade, Sri Lanka ranked first among the countries in the South Asian area in terms of outsourced development. Moreover, it was the preferred destination for many US, European, and Australian corporations looking to outsource development.

The advantages of employing Sri Lankan software developers

The following are some of the factors that contribute to Sri Lanka’s popularity as an outsourcing destination:

  • Global Services Magazine has named it as one of the top 10 emerging global destinations.
  • The National Outsourcing Association has recognized Sri Lanka as the “Offshore Destination of the Year” for many consecutive years.
  • It is one of the top six offshore service destinations in the Asia-Pacific, according to Gartner’s ranking of the world’s leading destinations for offshore services.
  • In 2017, the A.T. Kearney Global Services Location Index (GSLI) ranked Sri Lanka as the 11th most desirable location for financial attractiveness, people skills and availability, and business environment.
  • According to the IBM Global Location Trends Report, the country ranks 12th among the top-ranking destinations.

Quality is also a trademark of Sri Lanka’s well-versed IT business. As a result, Sri Lanka has established a reputation for greater software product quality compared to other offshore outsourcing destinations due to a consistent stream of product deliveries over time.

Furthermore, outsourcing these development projects to Sri Lanka improves efficiency and competitiveness. 

Hourly Rates for Developers in 2021, based on Technology and Experience

Treinetic has compiled data on the average hourly cost of software development depending on technology (e.g., NET, JavaScript, Python, etc.) Because the data in the table below is compiled from several outsourcing organizations and hundreds of developer profiles from across the globe, it provides a fair depiction of software development pricing.

Offshore Developers Rates Based on Technology
Offshore Developers Rates Based on Technology

Treinetic’s final thoughts on offshore developers rates  

It might not be easy to find a team of software engineers for your project. This is very relevant for those in the United States or Western Europe looking for IT talent in their area. Finding suitable individuals at an affordable price may take a long time. If you are new to remote hiring, it is crucial to learn about the best nations to outsource software development and offshore software development rates by country.

To give you an idea, here’s what you’d pay a mid-level developer in an offshore region:

  • $24-$35 in Asia
  • $30-$40 per hour in Eastern Europe
  • $30-$47 per hour in Latin America.
  • $22–$30 in Africa.

The lower cost of living in offshore countries is responsible for this inequality in income. Although you will often obtain the same quality as local experts, you must be cautious when selecting a place to outsource software development services. If you want to speed up the development process and minimize unforeseen costs, you can employ an award-winning offshore development team

Please get in touch with us immediately. And we’ll be pleased to provide you with additional information about managing outsourced development.

Scrum vs. Kanban

Scrum vs. Kanban | What are the Differences?

When it comes to implementing an agile development or project management system, “Kanban vs. Scrum” is a hot topic. In contrast to Scrum’s structured, short work sprints, Kanban’s methodologies are more fluid and undisrupted.

The differences between scrum and kanban practices are simple to point out, but the demarcation between them are obscure. Even though the practices change, the principles are essentially the same. Both frameworks will assist you in developing better products and services while experiencing fewer problems.

Scrum vs. Kanban: What are the Differences?

Because both Scrum and Kanban come under the Agile methodology umbrella, they are excellent frameworks for breaking down bigger, more complicated projects into manageable portions. Let’s compare the two to address the Scrum vs. Kanban debate.

When discussing Scrum vs. Kanban and their differences, we must first understand them separately.

What exactly is Scrum?

Known as the Scrum project management framework, it is used to implement the Agile project management methodology. This is a common approach for projects that demand fast development, testing, and release of products.

The Scrum framework divides a project into short sprints of usually one to four weeks. At the end of each sprint, a Scrum team, usually led by a Scrum master, strives to produce an increment. As part of the Scrum methodology, teams gather daily for daily Scrum (standup meetings) to review progress and improve collaboration.

What is a Scrum Board?

A Scrum Board is a management and monitoring tool used to manage and monitor your Scrum project. Visualizing your product backlog, assigning items to your sprint backlog, and seeing how work is moving in your current sprint are all made easier by this tool.

Though they might be physical boards with sticky notes or cards attached, most Scrum Boards are digital and present in many project management systems.

According to Procurify, a purchasing software start-up based in Canada, organizing their sprints with the help of a collaborative platform saved them 70% of their time. Also, with the ability to see each other’s work, team members can cooperate with people from various departments.

Scrum vs. Kanban - Scrum Board
The Scrum Board for Project Management and Monitoring

Some advantages and disadvantages of using the Scrum approach and Scrum Boards to manage your projects are as follows:

Advantages:

  • Rectifying mistakes and avoiding future problems is possible.
  • A transparent process is made available to clients, who may follow it from beginning to end.
  • The ability to measure and evaluate the individual performances of each team member. 
  • In part because of its simplicity, Scrum helps to cut off some costs that would have been inevitable if an alternative agile approach had been followed.
  • Because of the short sprints and regular feedback, it is convenient to make changes.
  • As the process becomes more flexible, you can make changes at any point in the process.

Disadvantages:

  • Because it is iterative in nature, it needs constant feedback from the team to enhance the process.
  • To accomplish this process, the team must have a high level of confidence in one another. If the governance is very rigorous, the project as a whole may fail.
  • It does not have a predetermined time limit or cost valuation, which may require numerous sprints to produce an artifact.
  • Team members can be  under increased pressure, and they might have to devote a significant amount of time to project development.
  • It is difficult for a team member to leave throughout the procedure.
  • Scope creep may occur if no deadline is specified.

What exactly is Kanban?

To understand the difference between Scrum vs. Kanban, let’s see what Kanban is.

Kanban is another prominent Agile framework that has gained popularity recently. Unlike Scrum, however, Kanban is less time-based and is focused instead on managing the volume of work in process (WIP).

To guarantee a continual flow of productivity, the Kanban framework was created to ensure that no one on the team is overworked or overburdened. It assists project teams in reducing bottlenecks, increasing efficiency, improving quality, and increasing total productivity, among other things.

What is a Kanban Board, and how does it work?

“Planned,” “In Progress,” and “In Review” are all presented on a traditional Kanban planning board or chalkboard. After that, each delivery is put down on a sticky note and assigned to the appropriate status. The sticky note moves across the project status whiteboard as the deliverable progresses through the phases.

Scrum vs. Kanban - Kanban Board
An Illustration of the Kanban Board

The following are some advantages and disadvantages of utilizing Kanban as the development framework to manage your projects:

Advantages:

  • It assists in pushing work that is often “stuck” through to completion.
  • It’s simple to set up and put into action anywhere.
  • Workers’ workloads are clearly visible and readily adjustable.
  • It’s excellent for categorizing tasks according to who is doing them.
  • It is particularly well suited for deliverables whose status is heavily reliant on the state of the other.
  • You can rapidly assess and analyze the overall productivity of your team.

Disadvantages:

  • Because there are no time limitations, the delivery of deliverables may be more unhurried.
  • If the team is underperforming, and it is not immediately obvious to the Kanban lead, the project may easily end up in a disaster.
  • Outdated Kanban boards may harm productivity.
  • When working with the classic whiteboard organizing scheme, it might be difficult to distinguish between real work and the board itself.

Kanban vs. Scrum: What are the differences?

It is important to note that Kanban and Scrum are both project frameworks designed to assist teams in adopting the Agile methodology, values, and principles. As a result, they share several characteristics. Process improvement, team collaboration, and breaking projects down into smaller and more manageable portions are all encouraged by both frameworks.

However, when comparing Scrum vs. Kanban, we can observe that the two methodologies take quite different approaches to implementing these ideas. Five critical ways that Kanban and Scrum differ are listed below:

Scrum vs. Kanban Roles and responsibilities

There are clearly defined duties and expectations for each of the three specific roles in the Scrum methodology.

Scrum masters serve as facilitators and coaches for the team. Their role is to assist in removing bottlenecks and ensure that the team continues to move ahead on the proper course.

Product owners are in charge of developing the product roadmap and ensuring that the demands and preferences of consumers are accurately translated into functional product features.

Scrum team members are responsible for the majority of the project’s work. They are a self-managed team that is responsible for the preparation, execution, and evaluation of project sprints and their results, among other things.

Kanban does not prescribe roles in the same way that Scrum does. Team members should maintain their current roles and responsibilities according to one of the four Kanban principles. This notion holds that teams will more quickly accept the framework if they are not required to worry about changing job titles and descriptions. So, this is a major difference to highlight when reviewing Scrum vs. Kanban.

Scrum vs. Kanban: Delegation and prioritization

Delegation and prioritization are important factors to consider when comparing Scrum vs. Kanban. Scrum is a project management methodology built on the principle of self-managed teams. Because they represent the client’s demands, the product owner may eventually have the last say on which features or tasks are prioritized on the product backlog (a list of all the features, tasks, and work that has to be done on the project). However, the whole team contributes to the decision of which tasks will be done in a sprint.

Similarly, Scrum team members often have complete autonomy when doing their tasks within a given sprint. They have control over which things they work on. However, it is possible that those decisions can be affected by collective decisions at scrum meetings. And when they work on them, as long as everything is completed by the end of the sprint.

Even though Kanban supports cooperation and leadership at all levels, it does not embrace the self-managed team to the same extent as Scrum does. The fact that Kanban encourages teams to preserve their prior responsibilities means that previous team configurations often govern how delegation is handled.

A typical manager’s responsibilities include prioritizing tasks and actively managing the workflow. Depending on the situation, they may assign particular duties to specific personnel or allow them to be done on a “first come, first served” basis.

Modifications and changes

When explaining the difference between Scrum vs. Kanban, we can see that they handle modifications and changes in very different ways.

Scrum necessitates that a sprint be planned before starting, that the team performs its task, and that the sprint concludes with product delivery and evaluation. Customer feedback, problems, bugs, and desired modifications are subsequently added to the main product backlog and prioritized for inclusion in future sprints.

In most cases, changes identified in the middle of a sprint are not handled until the next one, unless they are of such a magnitude that they need to be addressed immediately,  where the sprint is terminated. The sprint duration will not alter as a result of this method. However, if there are enough change requests, extra sprints may be required to be added to the overall project schedule.

When using Kanban, it’s okay to make adjustments at any stage in the process, and making changes right away is really encouraged. Depending on the degree of the modification, this might influence the project’s timeframe.

Toyota initially developed Kanban for automobile production, and it is now widely utilized for a variety of tasks and bits of labor that are repetitive in nature. When dealing with this sort of situation, when items are interchangeable, the focus is on providing a set volume rather than a specific piece of work. It’s common practice to discard or modify a product that’s been discovered to be broken/faulty or running behind so that it can be put back into production.

Productivity measurement

Scrum measures productivity using indicators such as velocity and burndown rates.

  • In a sprint, velocity measures how much work a team does in one delivery cycle.
  • Using burndown charts, you can see how much work is still left to be done as a graph of task estimates vs time.

The combination of these tools helps highlight how productive the team has been so far and how prolific they must continue to be to finish the project on time.

It is common for Kanban to track cycles, lead times, and work in progress to gauge productivity.

When it comes to cycle time, it is the amount of time it takes a job to complete from the moment it is started. An average of how long work has been in progress is used in this calculation.

In general, lead time is a metric that counts the amount of time it takes from the moment a task is recognized or put on your Kanban board until it is finished.

Consider the following scenario: you were assigned a task on Monday morning, began working on it on Wednesday morning, and finished it by the end of the day on Friday. Using the example above, your lead time (Monday to Friday) was five days, and your cycle time was three days (Wednesday to Friday).

“Work in progress” is a metric that represents the average volume of tasks currently being worked on your Kanban board.

Scrum vs. Kanban: Due dates and delivery timelines

When comparing Scrum vs. Kanban, the due date and delivery deadline are two important elements to consider.

Scrum sprints are generally one to four weeks in duration, and at the conclusion of each sprint, a product increment is delivered. Any accompanying documents, such as training materials, would be supplied at the same time as the main package. Due dates or deliveries that fall in the middle of a sprint are slightly uncommon.

In the case of interdependent tasks allocated to the same sprint, the exception would be allowed to stand. If job B cannot begin until task A is finished, task A may be assigned an earlier due date to guarantee that both tasks are completed on time for delivery. Many times, there isn’t even a formal due date specified, and the team just handles these dependencies during their regular daily scrums.

Continuous delivery is at the heart of Kanban’s philosophy. Kanban teams often work on projects, items, or deliverables that are unrelated to one another. This allows for immediate delivery of finished products to the customer once a piece of work is done.

Teams have the option of grouping deliveries to avoid sending one item at a time. However, this is entirely up to the teams themselves. For example, you may decide to ship every Friday or every time you reach a total of 20 finished items.

Kanban’s major emphasis on cycle time and lead time, rather than which piece of work is due, tends to concentrate on cycle time and lead time. As a result, due dates are more often based on target turnaround times than on when consumers anticipate deliveries to be made available.

Scrum vs. Kanban - Comparison Summary
Scrum vs. Kanban – Comparison Summary

When it comes to planning a project, which project plan board and framework are the most effective?

Whether or not you should utilize Kanban vs. Scrum depends on the sort of project you’re working on. Scrum and Kanban are two frameworks that are best suited for projects of different types and scopes.

However, here’s a quick breakdown of the situation:

Scrum is a better framework and project planning board for one-off projects with numerous variables and uncertainties. It supports working equally well for one-off projects with deadlines as it does for other projects.

Kanban is a more effective framework and project plan board for projects that you’ve done previously or that are recurrent, include numerous deliverables, and need to keep a close watch on individual capability and performance.

Scrum vs. Kanban: Does it have to be either-or?

Scrumban is a third option that may be considered. Teams that find Kanban too flexible and Scrum too rigorous would benefit from this mix of the two frameworks, which offers a happy medium for them. And we will address this in more detail in future postings, just as we did when we examined Scrum vs. Kanban in this post.

At Treinetic, we know that change is unavoidable, no matter what project you’re working on or who you work for. Embracing an Agile approach is the first step toward boosting communication, continually refining procedures, and having that flexibility built in. Therefore, you and your team are prepared for anything that comes your way. Agile methodologies are becoming more popular.