For most business owners and managers, there comes a time when they need to develop some sort of software for their businesses, either as the main product or as part of a larger strategy.

Having this in mind, it is important to not fall into the classical traps that outsourcing a company may bring. In this article, I will go through the most common myths about software outsourcing and try to debunk them. Some of the myths that I have heard throughout the years are below.

No 1: Software is cheap.

This is nowhere farther than the truth. A software product involves a team of highly prepared professionals who build tech products using knowledge accumulated in years of practice.

You can, of course, find different pricing approaches, from paying per development hour to having a project quote in place.

Pro tip: Choose the company that helps you with quoting the whole project. It will involve more effort from your side in defining your product features but will add more predictability to your budgets. Sometimes, you can also spare a few thousands of bucks to have an expert build these specs for you.

No 2: The simpler an app is, the less time it takes to develop.

An app’s complexity is, indeed, correlated with the amount of time needed to develop it, but most products take at least 3–4 months before being launched. For example, Uber is a simple product, but none of us expect it to be launched in a very short timespan.

No 3: I only need a programmer to do the product.

No. You need a team. The various components that a software product has, imply that you will need a team of people to implement it. There is a common belief that Web Developers also do UI/UX design and that one person can write both web and mobile apps software. The truth is that each platform requires a set of skills that differ.

Another gem I heard was I will learn how to code to make my own MVP. Please don’t. Do us all a favor and chase investments so you don’t have to rewrite the product and cause frustrations.

No 4: I just need a bullet list of features and that’s it.

I keep receiving requests that require detailed quotes for products, but all they send is a 3 line email. That leaves a lot of room for assuming what the client wants. If you are the client, please make sure that you detail what you have in mind as much as possible. We are software professionals, but not mind-reading professionals.

For your development to start smoothly, I recommend the Moskow approach: