The communication culture and skills of the people you talk to. Do you understand them and do they understand you? Do you enjoy discussing the potential project with them?
Are they enthusiastic and engaged in the work?
Does the agency have experience in your domain? Have they worked with the technology, on similar products, in a related industry with clients of your size or from your region?
Look for the culture and size match. It's good to think about the agency, which, if it works, often turns to a long-time partnership as an external IT team. Cultural fit is another right angle of looking at it. Are you looking for a group of people that move fast and break things or take their time, plan, and write clean documentation?
Software agencies tend to drift in three directions - tech-oriented, design-oriented, and business-oriented. However, the team you want to hire should have it all. You don't want to split the competition among different teams and companies as it raises the complexity of the project substantially.
You want a tech partner that knows business models, user-centered design, and Python programming language. You want to hire a 360-degree team that excels at:
- designing business solutions
- designing UX and UI and graphic identification
- developing your product
- releasing the application
- maintaining it effortlessly
As actions speak louder than words, you want to learn about the software agency you plan to hire through their work.
Study the software agency portfolio, but also don't hesitate to ask them about projects from your field.
Often projects are not published on the website yet, as they are waiting for the green light from the client. However, they can be discussed privately.
Feel free to reach out to the agency's clients and hear their opinion directly.
Most likely, you'll get an answer. It doesn't cost them much to write you a short e-mail or LinkedIn message and say whether they'd recommend the software development company or not. It works much better than wasting time on reading often anonymous opinions on the forums. However, sites like Clutch are an excellent source of information.
Try out the products they built.
Go to the websites, see if you like the design and performance of the applications they have developed.
- During the meeting, you have an opportunity to verify if the communication between you and the Python team is smooth.
Pay attention to who you talk to. The business developers may be very outgoing, but in the end, you will work with the designers and engineers. Meet them as soon as possible, and make sure you are hiring the people you want.
The right software development agency does not build a wall between the sales team and engineers.
If they don't want you to meet them at the earliest stage, it's a red flag. Here are some questions that may help you to identify other potential risks:
- Do you take full ownership of the project?
- What will you do if the system crashes over the weekend?
- What would you do if we miss a payment?
- What will happen if, after the kick-off, it turns out that the project is underestimated?
- Can the Python team scale up with you in case the project succeeds?
As for the stack and skills, you should look for check out if the Python development company you are considering:
- understands lean product development
- is eager to learn and use new technology
- has the agile methodology deeply in their DNA
- embraces user-centered design approach
- knows how to run user journey mapping workshops
- has experience with deploying large Python and Django projects, and scaling them up even further?
- has the quality assurance processes in place
