How do I spark the interest of Web agencies and developers with my project?

Today I’m going to answer a question from Alexandre, the co-founder of a risk management SaaS platform.His question is: “How do I spark the interest of Web agencies and developers with my project?” Before answering this question, let’s add a bit of context.Alexandre already got a freelance developer to make the first version of his platform.Unfortunately, this freelancer is not always available. He’s constantly shifting his attention between projects. As Alexandre’s business grows, he needs to find a more reliable provider to accelerate development.So he’s looking for a Web agency to continue the development, but he’s been struggling to make them interested and some of them even didn’t reply to proposal requests.In order to understand this situation, let’s analyze what’s going on.Despite the fact that Web agencies might be less available during summer, there is often a deeper reason.Let’s get into Web agencies’ shoes for a second.What does dealing with startups mean for them?It often means:

• Higher risk of never getting paid
• New ideas comes every week
• Specifications change all the time
• Less professional than big corporate clients

So if you are a startup owner ready to launch what you’ve developed, and you are looking for a developer or a Web agency just like Alexandre, you might see that some providers put startups on the backburner.But don’t worry, there is a one-word solution for this: “clarity.”And what I mean by clarity is:

• Clear specifications: Business context, unique selling proposition, business model, business vision, roadmap, detailed description of the very first stage, the customer journey map and some mock-up drawing
• Expected deliverables: Define the small first step (to help you get to know the provider), the source code storage, the project management methodology, the meeting frequency, etc.
• Existing application description: Describe in detail the existing application, the functional and technical description

Make it easy to understand, and demonstrate your pragmatism to show them that the project will be under control.When you are in that phase, what is important to do is to convince providers that they are not going to lose money by working with you.Yes, providers often lose money with startups just because they agreed to build something without really knowing what they were getting themselves into.So, to conclude and help you move forward: get all those detailed specifications together in a neat little package. It will give any potentially interested provider all the information they need to quote your development.Of course, I do not recommend you to share your entire specifications with the entire world.When you’re getting to know your provider, start by sharing a quick description of what you need. Maybe just three to four slides with:

• Company description and business model
• Existing application with used technologies
• Macro version of your roadmap, and why you need their help
• Desired skills and deadlines

Now if like Alexandre, you have a specific question for your project, just go ahead and ask on https://myctofriend.co/ask.I will do my best to answer your question in a video or redirect you to any existing content that will answer it.Also, be sure to go through our other content here at myctofriend.co to learn more from real startup growth experiences and better manage your startup development.I’ll be waiting for your questions, and I look forward to seeing you in other videos.