Why work with a No-Code collective or agency?
As a business, you want to test out a new product or, if you're confident, launch a new product to market as soon as possible to see if it's a viable proposition. You can either spend a lot of time building something using traditional code or use No-Code to produce a working MVP in three weeks or even a fully-fledged product in a couple of months.
When developing your web app, it can be challenging to know where to get started. Even if you have a well thought out and designed MVP, there is a lot of choice on the market, and it can be overwhelming to figure out which approach will work best for you and your business idea. Getting help from a collective or agency can provide the expertise to know which types of applications work and which one is right for your business that can scale with your growth over time.
Even when you work with a No-Code collective or agency, you still have the benefits of working with No-Code, such as speed, cost savings, and staying in control. Though it is possible to learn to build your app yourself with No-Code, there is a learning curve, and so many people get help.
Most collectives are networks of developers and experts who work together fluidly to deliver on various projects. This allows entrepreneurs to tap into the expertise when and where they need it while still working with a single point of contact. The main reasons to work with a collective or agency is the speed of execution, quality, and expert support.
Speed of execution
The founders we work with are typically busy running their business and making sales happen. They would rather talk to potential customers than dive into developing an app's technical side. Most small and medium-sized businesses do not have full-time technical staff to develop an app and instead engage with a collective or agency.
Working with an agency means that you can tap into the expertise you need when you need it. Instead of having experts on staff or hoping that you are getting a good freelancer, working with a collective means connecting you to a network of experts who can support every aspect of your project. Having the right expert on hand will ensure that your app is developed quicker and with fewer issues. Having the support needed for developing your app allows entrepreneurs to focus on running their business and gaining their next customers.
Quality of results
With No-Code, it's easy to develop apps, especially with the wide range of templates and plug-ins available. This means the quality will be higher, testing is quicker, and in general, far fewer things can go wrong. For example, if your app needs to register users, all you need to do is drag and drop a few fields onto the page, and it works straight away.
However, there are also more complicated builds with fields that require more technical help, such as designing a database and back-end architecture. Implementing this type of logic into the product is difficult and this is where an experienced agency can help.
Collectives help with the technical aspects and development strategy, the UX journey and touchpoints, and your app's overall design and feel. Their expertise and access to different types of talent ensure that your app works and looks the way you want. Your app will have the professional feel you need to start and grow your business.
Expert support: Project Management
Managing product development requires technical expertise to ensure that each part being developed will work with the other. Without project management, you may be adding features and functionality that affect other parts of your app without realising it. A good collective or agency will provide a plan for building your app, breaking a complex build into smaller elements, and processes to ensure that the overall build is successful.
Project management is a part of the skillset you get when working with a collective or agency. The project management is supported with a technical understanding of the development process. While developing your MVP, it's important to prioritise certain features and consider what is technically possible to build for a given timescale or budget.
Rather than building straight away, it's wise first to consider different scenarios and risks upfront. For example, what happens when a customer downgrades, or when a third party payment processor declines a customer’s card? By consulting with a collective or agency, you will start discussing things that you have not considered beforehand, which pays off in the long run as you won't get stuck by issues later on down the line.
Expert Support: Design and UX experience
It doesn't need to look pretty when developing a quick working app for a rough outline or a basic MVP. However, as you build your app over time, you will want to ensure that it looks and works in a certain way for your branding and UX experience. How you present your app will impact how your customers think about your business. Ensuring a well working and professional looking app is important, and providing a quality UX experience can be challenging without design support.
Working with a collective or agency provides expert support with the design and feel of your app. Their knowledge will ensure that your app will have the professional feel that you need to be successful even in the early days.
Focus on your business, not technology
The primary reason most entrepreneurs work with a collective or agency is so that they can focus on their business and customers. This being said, by working with No-Code owners still have the advantage of quick build-times, cost-savings, and control of the end product.
To learn more about the benefits of working with No-Code and Bubble, check out our What is Bubble article.
Working with a collective or agency helps bring a level of expertise to the build to create a professional and scalable app that is able to keep up with your growing business. There are still all the benefits of working with No-Code, and the support of working with an agency.
