So many clients who are just
starting out their projects really
just want to know one thing,
and that is how much will it cost.
It's incredibly difficult for clients
to get a straight answer to
this, and applications really are
hard to estimate, so clients
will end up getting this wild
range of estimations and they're
all over the map, and it's pretty frustrating.
But it is possible to get
a pretty good estimation of how
much your project is gonna cost,
and that's what we're gonna talk about today.
The first step
in getting a really good estimation
is having a very clear
way of explaining to developers what it is that you need.
And that means you have to have a great written specification.
The reason is, when you
have a great written specification, developers see you as organized client.
They think that you know what you're doing, and they trust you more.
They know that you're not gonna be
a huge pain-in-the-ass client who's gonna be a nightmare to work with.
You're gonna be less profitable because
you're a nightmare and so they
have to estimate really high to compensate for that.
So, don't be that client.
Come in with a really good
written specification, and don't look
like a pain in the ass.
what you have to do to write the specification.
Write it up, draw a picture,
make a video, record your voice.
And make it polished, make
it nice and clean, and render it into a PDF.
Check your spelling, have somebody edit it for you.
Do whatever you have to do to make a good first impression.
If you don't bother writing a great spec.
You wind up just calling companies over
and over again describing your application over the phone.
If you're doing that,
you're screwing yourself, because you look
like an amateur, and developers know that.
You think that you're evaluating and
judging the developers, but
don't think that they're not so,
evaluating and judging you.
They are looking for good
clients, and they're trying to
avoid pain-in-the-ass clients, so
don't pay that pain-in-the-ass tax.
[xx] yourself with a good client.
Number 2, try to figure out
what type of a vendor, what
type of a team really fits your needs.
What kind of developer
is it that is gonna do the best job for you.
If you have a super
complicated project, and you
have no experience at all in
managing a technical project, then
Don't even bother sending it
to some crappy team
from ELance or Craigslist or something.
It's not a real estimation, that's just
a be for you to be another nightmare
outsourcing story.
So, figure out the kind
of team that's going to provide all the stuff that you need.
Project management, testing, quality
assurance, wire framing, and graphic
design, and all that
stuff mostly comes out of project management.
It has to come from somewhere, so
If you are a great project manager, fine.
But someone has to do it.
If you can't do it, then the
team has to do it,
and make sure that there is a
project manager on that team.
Okay.
Now we have a very good
specification, and we've identified
the type of team or developer
that we want to get estimations from.
So, now we're going to start sending out our specification.
So we'll send it to say five developers that fit the profile.
But we would do it by email.
Never contact developers by
phone it can be a huge waste of time.
First of all, they never give you a good estimate on the phone.
It's not really possible for someone to pick up the phone and just throw out a number.
You don't really want that.
and second, it takes
forever to call all these guys and have all the phone calls.
If you just send out
your specification by email then
the developers and get the
spec, and they're going
to think to themselves "Hey, this
client doesn't look like a pain in the ass at all.
So now, I'm pretty motivated
to give them a really good estimate, I want to win their business.
I might even call them up, ask
them some questions, so I can give them the best deal possible.
This is a pretty good situation
Now you've got a bunch
of developers who fit the
profile of what you're looking
for, they understand your
application, and they're only
new and pursuing your
business, and they don't think
you're a pain in the ass, or
you're not gonna pay this pain in the ass tax.
[xx] you hang around
throw in the ring, maybe answer
some questions, and when the
estimates come in, you'll be
looking at estimations from similar
teams that meet your needs, understand
your project And that's a
pretty good start, now you should
start getting a real idea
of what it is that you need
to spend to get your project done.
To sum up: make sure
that you have a great written specification
figure out the profile of the developers that you need.
And only target companies that
fit that profile, and then
send them your great specification, by email,
wait for the phone to bring,
and don't be a pain
in the ass, and that's how you do it.
Good luck on your project.