Often, aspiring entrepreneurs are faced with a lack of understanding of the proposed price from developers. There are objective reasons why the estimate may turn out to be too large, but sometimes developers try to cheat you corny and sell you for a lot.
Let's take a look at the typical signs that you were offered an overstated budget and show you how to understand the real cost of your project.
1. Beautiful price
A beautiful price is a price that is deliberately reduced / rounded to a value that should seem small to you. Are these prices familiar: 499$ instead of 500$? This psychological trick works well in the case of offline sales or when the product does not cost astronomical money. But in IT development, it does not work, because projects are measured in thousands of dollars. It does not matter for the customer if it is written $ 10,000 or $ 9,900 - in his head he still rounds up to $ 10,000. Therefore, if in a commercial offer you see not $ 5,000, but $ 4444 - it points out not only of the developer's desire to deceive you and sell a "pig in a poke", but also of the ineptitude of this deception.
2. You were not asked for Technical Specification
Let's say that you rendered a product architecture in Figma. You even made great efforts and rendered the design. You also sketched a brief in GoogleDoc with the approximate logic of the product. This, of course, is great, but this is no Technical Specification. Regardless of how the product is made: in a No-code constructor or written in one of the programming languages; the creation of complex IT products is always working with a database and building the logic of interaction between the elements of this database. The terms of reference should be explained in maximum detail and clearly how all the elements interact with each other. This is pure mathematics. Only a careful study of the structure helps the contractor get an idea of the project. A developer who does not want to deceive you will not give you approximate numbers without a clear picture. The first thing that a conscientious developer does is asks for Technical Specification.
3. Lack of price range
In addition to the fact that you are offered a certain cost before receiving the TS, you should be confused by the number presented by the performer in the singular. Even if it was attributed "Approximately". Why so? The cost of the project is based primarily on the timing of the implementation. The deadline is a marker for calculating the man-hours required to complete the task. The budget can always be calculated exactly to the cent. But the term can hardly be named accurately, because aggravating circumstances can always arise and move the project in time. Nobody can know the exact terms, ways of implementation and cost without receiving the Technical Specification from you. According to this, competent developers always provide the client price range, which indicates different options, ways and deadlines for the implementation of the task.
4. No additional questions
No matter how literate the person who prepared the TS was, it cannot be 100% exhaustive. There are always unaccounted for nuances. The behavior of the developer while studying your TS can be very revealing. If he bombards you with additional questions, this indicates his interest and involvement in your product. Otherwise, a request to look at your TS is nothing more than an excuse to enter into a dialogue with you and "draw" a price for you.
5. No expertise
They asked you for the TS, bombarded you with additional questions, wrote you options for terms and prices. But they did not write the technical implementation options. A person who has nothing to hide will immediately offer you in a shortened form the technical ways of implementation. What if you have any questions? What if you want to show this to your fellow specialists and consult? A conscientious performer will give you such maneuvers. A person who wants to leave you in the dark will not tell you how he plans to cope with your task.
How to assess the objectivity of the development cost?
The answer is very simple - first of all prepare the Technical Specification. Technical Specification is a document that defines the purpose, structure, properties and methods of the project. Thus, you will be rendering a service to yourself and the developer.
Correct workflow between customer and contractor:
Sinneo is a low-code development studio. If you want to launch business quckly and minimizing your financial costs, you can order the development of a website, mobile and web application, crm systems, task tracker, social network and other IT products from us.
Do you have a fantastic idea to implement? Contact us and let's start!
Let's take a look at the typical signs that you were offered an overstated budget and show you how to understand the real cost of your project.
1. Beautiful price
A beautiful price is a price that is deliberately reduced / rounded to a value that should seem small to you. Are these prices familiar: 499$ instead of 500$? This psychological trick works well in the case of offline sales or when the product does not cost astronomical money. But in IT development, it does not work, because projects are measured in thousands of dollars. It does not matter for the customer if it is written $ 10,000 or $ 9,900 - in his head he still rounds up to $ 10,000. Therefore, if in a commercial offer you see not $ 5,000, but $ 4444 - it points out not only of the developer's desire to deceive you and sell a "pig in a poke", but also of the ineptitude of this deception.
2. You were not asked for Technical Specification
Let's say that you rendered a product architecture in Figma. You even made great efforts and rendered the design. You also sketched a brief in GoogleDoc with the approximate logic of the product. This, of course, is great, but this is no Technical Specification. Regardless of how the product is made: in a No-code constructor or written in one of the programming languages; the creation of complex IT products is always working with a database and building the logic of interaction between the elements of this database. The terms of reference should be explained in maximum detail and clearly how all the elements interact with each other. This is pure mathematics. Only a careful study of the structure helps the contractor get an idea of the project. A developer who does not want to deceive you will not give you approximate numbers without a clear picture. The first thing that a conscientious developer does is asks for Technical Specification.
3. Lack of price range
In addition to the fact that you are offered a certain cost before receiving the TS, you should be confused by the number presented by the performer in the singular. Even if it was attributed "Approximately". Why so? The cost of the project is based primarily on the timing of the implementation. The deadline is a marker for calculating the man-hours required to complete the task. The budget can always be calculated exactly to the cent. But the term can hardly be named accurately, because aggravating circumstances can always arise and move the project in time. Nobody can know the exact terms, ways of implementation and cost without receiving the Technical Specification from you. According to this, competent developers always provide the client price range, which indicates different options, ways and deadlines for the implementation of the task.
4. No additional questions
No matter how literate the person who prepared the TS was, it cannot be 100% exhaustive. There are always unaccounted for nuances. The behavior of the developer while studying your TS can be very revealing. If he bombards you with additional questions, this indicates his interest and involvement in your product. Otherwise, a request to look at your TS is nothing more than an excuse to enter into a dialogue with you and "draw" a price for you.
5. No expertise
They asked you for the TS, bombarded you with additional questions, wrote you options for terms and prices. But they did not write the technical implementation options. A person who has nothing to hide will immediately offer you in a shortened form the technical ways of implementation. What if you have any questions? What if you want to show this to your fellow specialists and consult? A conscientious performer will give you such maneuvers. A person who wants to leave you in the dark will not tell you how he plans to cope with your task.
How to assess the objectivity of the development cost?
The answer is very simple - first of all prepare the Technical Specification. Technical Specification is a document that defines the purpose, structure, properties and methods of the project. Thus, you will be rendering a service to yourself and the developer.
Correct workflow between customer and contractor:
- Draw up and submit to the contractor Technical Specification.
- Keep track of how your TS is being studied.
- You will be given a price range of the budget and options of timeline.
- Pay attention to whether there is an expert assessment of the implementation of the project.
- Specify at what rate of man-hour the specialists of this company work. Thus, determine where the development cost is, and where the company's margins are.
- Do this iteration with multiple development companies - compare prices and time frames. Print the arithmetic mean.
Sinneo is a low-code development studio. If you want to launch business quckly and minimizing your financial costs, you can order the development of a website, mobile and web application, crm systems, task tracker, social network and other IT products from us.
Do you have a fantastic idea to implement? Contact us and let's start!
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