Mohit Tater's Blog, page 642

What are the Advantages and Disadvantages in Silver Trading?

Silver is a valuable metal which has a wide array of uses ranging from making jewelry to industrial purposes such as coating items with silver for a shiny appeal. After gold, silver stands as a valuable metal but it has more wings of usage than gold which is why people feel that the market for silver trading perhaps is not as well established or as rewarding as that of gold.

This article will identify the reasons why potentially as of now, silver poses much greater return prospects relative to gold and why the market should attract you if you have sufficient money to invest but are unsure of where to start up. It will also cover some of the reasons why it is justified to be reluctant, so let us get started!

Advantages

Demand in the Market

Marketreview.com has been showing for a while that price of silver has been increasing in the market because of industrial expansion and more uses springing up for the valuable metal. Investment is also one area where the demand is rising because people have started looking alternatives to gold considering how volatile it is getting and how abundantly it still exists in the world.

If the demand keeps on rising at this pace, a few silver coins today can make you really rich tomorrow.

Silver is Running Out

It is a sad reality for the world that the resources are being pushed to their limits, but as far as business opportunity is concerned scarcer items become more valuable. Since silver mines are being explored and dug up at an unprecedented rate, the production of silver is about to go through a mighty slump when these mines run out of silver deposits by the next decade.

As soon as that happens the price of silver in the market will rise, and the demand will become stringent especially in industries where silver is a vital element. If you purchase now at a considerably lower price and then get massive returns on it, they’re all for the taking.

Less Risk

The main problem with gold is that prices are too high to simply invest in a substantiate amount, and then the mental stigma that hits every time the price falls below the real value you purchase it for, can turn out to be quite troublesome. With silver, you can startup your investment at a much lower price, can predict returning prospects in the future, and not face massive losses even in the unlikely upturn of events.

Disadvantages

Not much Valuable in Small Amounts

Industrially silver is used at a very fast pace for which their deposits need to be filled with the raw and processed form of the metal all the time. Adding a few coins to that will not help the industrialists that much, which is why your potential of return of return in the investment will not be very appealing in the near future.

Monopolized Market

Silver is an element which is radically hunted down by power tycoons in the business world who do not want to give anything away to their competition, which is why most of the silver in the investment sector of the world today belongs to these tycoons and their organizations. Standing up to them in order to buy off the metal is nearly impossible for anyone not having incredible financial backing.

This basically means that the market for silver is full of potential, but may not be as welcoming.

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Top 4 Bookkeeping Tips for Maintaining Accurate Records For Your Business

Do you run a small business that doesn’t have the budget to hire full-time accounting services? If so, many options are available to you. With easy-to-use bookkeeping apps and software, balancing your own books is easier than ever. But, good bookkeeping requires a healthy balance of old fashion practices and modern software. Here are four ways to efficiently mange your business’s books.

Make Bookkeeping Part of Your Weekly Schedule

All of the following tips will be useless if you can’t actually find time to implement them. That is, you need to create some time in your schedule to actually handle the bookkeeping. It is not something that you can effectively handle in your free or extra time. Even just an hour a week could be enough to get your records in order.

Save All Your Receipts

You’ll have a hard time managing your accounts if you can’t find your receipts and invoices. Both your printed and digital receipts need to be stored in a safe place. Make sure you have a subfolder in your email for “Receipts” and another for “Invoices.” Some people will over-complicate this task by further dividing the receipts by customer name, size, date, etc. But, the time it takes to categorize each bill and put it into the coordinating folder might end up discouraging you from doing it. If there are just two clearly defined subfolders, you can immediately send the email to the right place.

The same goes for printed receipts. A simple filing system, whether it be a cabinet, a file box, or a portable receipt holder, you want to have a place where your paper bills, invoices, and receipts can be reliably put away.

Using Accounting Software

Intuit’s QuickBooks is the most commonly used bookkeeping software. It is a product that works great for small businesses or large multinational corporations. Simply put, it is reliable, affordable, and offers great tech support. You don’t need to be CPA to get the most out of QuickBooks, though it is the tool most commonly used by accounting professionals.

Use Printable Deposit Slips

One great thing about QuickBooks is that is extremely print friendly. Even in this digital age, your business will have many reasons to print out receipts, invoices, and other accounting records. QuickBooks makes this easy. For instance, the ability to order printable deposit slips is a convenient way to smartly integrate your accounting. Printable deposit slips with your business name, address, and all relevant account numbers can be ordered in bulk. These convenient slips make trips to the bank a matter of just dropping the slips into an envelope and putting them in the deposit box. You will appreciate shorter, hassle-free trips to the bank.

When it comes to bookkeeping, it is all about proper management and organization of your digital files and vital paper receipts. You don’t need to be an accounting expert to handle your own books, but you do need to keep your data and time organized. It might take some time to figure out the most efficient methods, but proper bookkeeping could save your business a lot of money.

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Why are co-working offices the next revolution?

Wearing a suit and tie and going to your office seems like a daunting task, doesn’t it? Co-working spaces are here to remove that fear from our mind. The concept of co-working offices, which includes sharing the workspace with different people, is not new but has recently become extremely popular due to the tremendous growth in the activity-based work requirements. The demand for shared spaces, that is co-working spaces, has increased across the globe for reducing the capital costs and for increasing the flexibility of working.

Increase in online communications, freelance working and a variety of start-ups has increased the need to share the workspace for meetings, networking and collaborations. Co-working offices address all these needs and tend to the on-demand needs of the occupants. Global business scenario has increased the need to work at premium locations, which can be extremely expensive considering the capital investments, Co-working offices are here to reduce those costs. Co-working offices which are optimally serviced workspaces will ensure that you get to collaborate with your co-workers in a fun and relaxed environment, making it easier for you to work in a stress-free space. About 75 percent co-working professionals have mentioned explicitly that working in a co-working office increased their motivation level as they had better interactions with their team members and also with people from other teams.

Working with a wide variety of professionals will give you an access to potential clients, making it easy for the marketing team. You will meet people from other teams who will be interested in your work and will also guide you if you face any troubles. Complete strangers in a co-working office often come together to solve problems and these discussions will surely help you to work efficiently. People will be ready to help you at no extra cost and soon you will be doing cool things with complete strangers. Co-working spaces often see people exchanging services, thus building trust and relationship.

A lot of co-working spaces host seminars, conferences and workshops, free of cost. This gives you an opportunity to learn something new, something different from what you actually do. A co-working office will surely help you to be a well-rounded professional. You can learn the basics of web programming and the business management tactics sitting at your desk, at no extra cost.

The co-working sector in India is expected to receive $400 million investment by 2018. Large corporate firms prefer to have offices at premium locations for better work accessibility, hence co-working offices are a go to solution for them. The top cities in India like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad have seen a rapid growth in this sector and this is just the beginning of this revolution. A co-working office is bound to reduce your costs by 20-25% as compared to the traditional office system.

Co-working environment will make sure that you work to your potential and develop all sorts of skills by interacting with the people around you. Some people believe that such casualisation of workplace might be a bad thing. This casualisation might lead to conversion of full-time work into part-time work. Some people have been seen complaining that co-working places can be noisy and at times hard to work in. Working at an office or at the convenience of your house might seem to be ideal, but let’s face it, we humans love to work with others.

Co-working spaces are a sense of community. They link you to the people you are working with and to other strangers as well. This sense of work is more than a revolution for small businesses and this idea is here to stay. Join the revamped workspace.

 

 

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Are Workplace Accidents Still Something to Be Concerned About?

As an entrepreneur there are many things that are thrown at you pulling you in all different directions. One thing that entrepreneurs don’t often consider, or wish to even think about it, is what they will do if an accident occurs in their workplace. Unfortunately, accidents in the workplace do happen, and while statistics show they are currently in a decline, the fact is that they do remain.

So how concerned should you be about these possible accidents? What can you do to help protect employees? And what should you do if the unthinkable happens and an accident on the job happens? Let’s take a closer look.

Fatalities on the Decline

When it comes to accidents in the workplace, fatalities is an area that has seen a drastic decline over the past 40 years. Where there were once 14,000 deaths on the job per year in the U.S., today’s stats show it is near the 5,000 mark. This shows a clear improvement which can be attributed to stricter rules, regulations, safety measures, and just a better understanding of how to protect employees in general.Non-fatal deaths have also been on the decline and have been for the past 13 years in a row.

Unfortunately there are some industries where injuries and fatalities are more common and these include the construction, logging, and trucking industries. Then you have industries such as the oil and gas industry which has gotten better over the years, but still has its fair share of hand and finger injuries.

How Can You Protect Employees from Injuries

As a responsible employer it’s only natural to ask how you can protect your employees and ensure that their personal safety is always a priority. One of the most important things to do is to train employees on safety and wellness in the workplace, making clear what hazardous and dangerous behaviour and materials are. A clear code of conduct should be laid out that employees can follow and refer to when they have questions about safe practices.

Education is another important factor in keeping everyone safe. Training management and staff shouldn’t just happen once, rather it should be an on-going process. Employees should also feel safe and encouraged to speak to management with any safety concerns they may have.

Taking shortcuts where safety is concerned is never a good idea. Whether that means using old or ineffective equipment, not having enough staff on-hand, and not providing enough qualified people to perform a task.

What to Expect If a Workplace Injury Does Occur?

Should a workplace injury occur, be prepared for the employee to contact an attorney that has represented similar cases in your particular industry. Take for instance the oil and gas industry, there are specific attorneys that take on workplace injury cases in that specific industry. It will also be important that you have an attorney that represents you as the business owner.

While the stats are definitely showing progress in terms of cutting down the amount of workplace injuries, they do still occur so it’s important to be sure you do what you can to prevent them from happening.

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What is the Favorite Website Builder for Small Businesses?

It is often the case in life that it is hard to find the perfect balance, and the world of website building is no different. Ten years ago, if you wanted a website built, you needed to employ a Dan Brown type character, who understood the mysteries of programming and coding, and would charge an arm and a leg for his secret skills and knowledge.

Then along came WordPress and anyone could build a site for free. Except it’s not quite that simple. Open source software is a wonderful thing, but it is not for everyone. If it was, the open source operating systems that are available would have put Apple and Microsoft out of business by now.

If you know a bit about web design and have dedicated some time playing around with WordPress, then it is great. If you don’t and you haven’t, then you will just end up frustrated and with a website that looks like it was created by your five year old, with a little assistance from the dog.

Choosing the best website builder

Website builders have stepped into the marketplace to bridge the great divide between full DIY and employing a consultant to build your site. The way they work is by providing an easy to use and intuitive platform with which you can build your own site, without needing any specialist knowledge. It is a growing market, you should closely evaluate all the options to choose your favorite website builder, as what is right for you depends on the specific needs of your business.

Here, we will take a look at three of the most popular options, just to give you a taste of what is available.

Wix

Probably the most famous of all website builders, and with good reason, Wix is great for beginners. It has millions of users worldwide, and is particularly popular in the clothing and fashion sectors.

There is a completely free option available, but this is severely limited, and you are better off upgrading to at least the first paid level – it equates to the price of a cup of coffee and a sandwich per month and is definitely worth it to get a relevant domain name and greater flexibility.

Weebly

This is another famous name, and seems to be popular across just about every sector. Like Wix, it has a simple drag and drop process for building your site that really could not be easier.

There is also a great choice of templates and designs that work well across all browsers and platforms, meaning the all-important mobile first aspect is taken care of.

Sitebuilder

If it is bangs for bucks you are looking for, Sitebuilder is hard to fault. This is one of the rare occasions when the completely free option is actually something that will make you a respectable website, although again, it is worth upgrading for a few dollars a month to get the full flexibility and functionality.

Even in the completely free version, the email assist and SEO tools are as impressive as anything out there.

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How to Hire Trustworthy Professionals for Home Remodeling Projects

You want to hire a contractor to remodel your home. But where should you start? Asking a search engine returns dozens of options, but some are paid advertisements. It’s hard to find the right fit remotely, and you don’t want to take any chances when you entrust your home to a stranger. Knowing how to hire trustworthy professionals for home remodeling projects is a matter of vetting them so you can make an informed decision. Consider these guidelines next time you’re searching for the perfect electrician, carpenter or foreman.

Interview Candidates

Once you’ve compiled a list of potential candidates, it’s time to pick up the phone. Treat your first phone call like an interview so you can learn more about each option and eliminate any individuals or companies who aren’t a good fit. Here are a few questions to ask prospects right out of the gate, according to This Old House:

Do you take on projects of this size?
How many other projects would you have going simultaneously?
Which financial institutions do you work with? Can you provide references?
Can you provide a list of previous clients?
Who are your subcontractors, and how long have you worked with them?

Compare Bids

The phone interview helped you identify top candidates; now it’s time to meet with them and collect estimates. Ask specifically for itemized bids from each candidate. Sure, it’s easier to get one, bottom-line price estimate. But if the nature of the project changes, a dispute may arise about how the price should change accordingly. If professionals itemize their bids, it’s easy to adjust if necessary (and determine what they’re asking for each category is fair). It’s a red flag when contractors resist itemizing bids.

Verify Proof of Insurance and Business License

The professional you hire to remodel your home should be bonded, insured and licensed. As Angie’s List writes, a contractor’s bond “may protect [homeowners] from being saddled with an unpaid supply bill or the cost of unpaid workers on the project” and “could cover any damage to the property as a result of a contractor’s negligence or, in serous circumstances, lost or stolen property.”

Of course, homeowners should make sure their own insurance policy is up to snuff before they allow anyone into their home or make any structural changes. While you’re investigating contractors, compare homeowners insurance rates to find a plan capable of protecting your finances during and after the remodeling project. Otherwise you could face steep out-of-pocket bills if anyone sustains injuries while working on your property.

Check Ratings and References

Ask potential hires for a list of references—and contact each one directly to confirm they had a positive experience working with said professional. You’ll also want to conduct a search with your local Better Business Bureau, where you can read customer reviews and complaints. There, you can also learn whether or not companies have received their BBB Accreditation, meaning they’ve met a series of criteria and maintained at least a “B” rating.

Get the Contract in Writing

Whether it’s mandatory in your state or not, you need a clearly written contract to guide the project and clear up disputes before they occur. The contract should include important information like payment schedule, obligations, materials, extra promises and timeline. You and the contractor you’ve hired should both keep a copy.

Before you can jump into your home remodeling project, you have to know how to hire trustworthy professionals to get the job done. Doing the prep work—like making sure both of your insurance policies are in line before proceeding—can save you hassles and expenses down the line.

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How Your Software Could be Slowing Down Your Business

Your organization’s software is at the heart of its success. It needs to be able to withstand the challenges that arise within a growing enterprise. As your business grows, so does the supporting technology infrastructure, and you create a system to respond to and fulfill your business’s needs.Good software has the potential to shape your business and enhance the user experience too, which increases productivity and efficiency. Conversely, software that does not meet your business’s needs can negatively impact on your business, not only in terms of day to day productivity, but in the long term if you fail to reach service level agreements as a result. The software you choose must be flexible, allow you to collaborate easily between departments, and allow for easy maintenance. You need to be able to deal with any issues that crop up swiftly.

Review and Test

You need to ensure that all aspects of your technology infrastructure are regularly reviewed to ensure that it is working optimally for you. You need to ensure that the data you have collated is organized to help you achieve your business objectives. You also need to ensure that you’re compliant with industry regulations and standards. Arbour Group provides the life sciences industry with systems and compliance solutions that are quality assured and adhere to industry regulations. By working with external partners, you are able to benefit from their years of experience within the industry. Avoid becoming complacent with your work practices and procedures and be open to change.

Your reviews should not just be restricted to the software. The hardware that you use must also be regularly reviewed, for example, your servers are your lifeline, and if you neglect to maintain them they will single-handedly bring your entire operation to a halt.

Effective Reporting

All software will exhibit bugs at some point during its use, so you must have a consistent reporting procedure. An efficient bug reporting system reduces the time needed to identify a solution and fix the errors, minimizes the impact on your business, and reduces the risk of the horrific ‘Error 404’ recurrence! By ensuring that reporting procedures are streamlined, your QA team will be able to work efficiently to provide solutions.

Effective Training

You can invest time and money recruiting the greatest support staff for customer service and a sales team that could sell a chocolate tea-cozy, but if they don’t have the skills to use your software proficiently they will never reach their full working potential.You must ensure that your employees are trained in how best to use the software that they have access to. The software that you have must ensure that interdepartmental communication is effortless, and the data that you use is updated in real time to ensure efficiency and accuracy. Again, do not become complacent and assume that your staff are using the software to its best effect; regularly schedule in training sessions for staff so that new starters are introduced to your procedures and processes, and more long-term employees have not fallen foul of bad habits.

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3 Ways to Increase Your Business’s Local Standing

More and more people are starting a small business of their own than ever before. There any many reasons why people start their own business: they have seen a gap in the market that is currently not being serviced, or perhaps due to a change in their personal circumstances. There are attractive perks to running your own business, but even if you have successfully started up your small business, you need to ensure that it keeps afloat in this volatile market.

You’ve got yourself a solid customer base and a steady revenue stream, but one of the key things that will sustain your business is a solid reputation. How can you achieve this from your community?

Your Premises

For the sake of argument, let’s assume that your business has an office, store or warehouse that customers are able to visit, or is at least visible to the public. There are things that you can do to keep the aesthetics of your business’s premises in order. Things like replacing the light bulbs over signage, painting the external walls and keeping the parking lot waste free: maintenance is a must. However, your business will only look as good as the community around it. If you take a pride in your premises, your neighbors will do too.

Be Neighborly

A little kindness goes a long way, and with social media being a welcome tool to build business success, sharing your acts of kindness across the social media platforms is a great way to build your reputation. For example, the local pastor may have unparalleled faith and knowledge of religious scriptures, but perhaps lack financial expertise; use your business acumen and help the local church with their finances by introducing them to an investment bank that specializes in religious organizations, such as  Ziegler,to refinance their existing debt at a preferred rate. You will give your time and services for free, but your reputation within the community will certainly benefit.

Be Charitable

There are always charities and non-profits that can benefit from donations. Donations are not exclusively of the green kind either! Your branded stationery could be included with prizes for a school fundraiser, or you could sponsor high visibility jackets for the children to keep safe on their walk to school. You may wish to organize a community litter pick in the area around your business premises. Think outside of the box! Your aim is to get your business viewed by the community as a positive influence, and a provider of goodwill.

We live in a digital age, and our marketplace is no longer the one on our doorstep. We have the ability to provide goods and services to customers from all around the globe; yet, we often forget about the importance of those nearest to us. Your business is more likely to thrive if it has the support of your local community, and that is something that money alone cannot buy. Maintaining a strong relationship with local business owners and community leaders will lay strong foundations for your growing business. You can see and feel the difference of a strong community spirit, which is why investing time and money into the community will never be a wasted effort, and it will make you feel wonderful too.

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The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Hiring and Building a Productive Team

In today’s tough business conditions, entrepreneurs must be able to hire and train workers that can give the business an edge over the competition. A business is only as strong as its workforce. The entrepreneur must do all in their power to find and develop the talent the business needs to secure lasting success.

Finding the right person with the right qualifications for the job is the first step. After that, it’s the duty of the entrepreneur to provide an environment where the worker can bring out the best of their abilities. Strong leadership by the entrepreneur and their managers can boost the worker’s potential and drive the business to new heights.

Proper hiring strategies, especially for managers

Recruiting the right personnel is the first step to getting a productive workforce. Selecting the employees with the right skills, knowledge, and experience for the job is crucial. The workers are the foundation of the business, after all.

Qualifications and experience are doubly important when it comes to managerial roles, as they dictate the daily activities of the workers. Getting a weak manager will most likely result in a weak team, regardless of their individual capabilities.

Proper wellness programs for the employees

Companies investing in health and wellness programs for their workers get to reap the benefits of increased productivity and loyalty. Regular medical check-ups can improve the quality of health of the workers.

Drug screenings, particularly for cannabis, can be done through cost-effective measures such as marijuana test strips. While the substance has gained legalization for recreational and medical use in certain parts of the world, going to work under its influence is still prohibited due to known adverse effects.

Proper provision of workplace, training, and equipment

Giving the workers the appropriate environment for work, skills training, as well as the best tools for their tasks, can contribute greatly to the success of the business.

Empowering the employees to be better at their jobs generally leads to increased productivity at work. Nothing beats a well-informed, well-equipped worker when it comes to work potential.

Proper work culture of positivity

Fostering a culture of positive feedback can also pave the way for a more productive workforce. Negative reinforcement in the workplace only breeds distrust and animosity among the employees. Punishment should only be meted out for the most serious cases.

Mistakes and mishaps are part of life, especially in stressful situations like work. Workers are human too. In order for a worker to grow beyond their mistakes and limitations, the management must be open to communicating and working with them. Turning a negative situation into a positive learning experience beats a system of blame and punishment.

Conclusion

It’s the responsibility of the entrepreneur and their hiring staff to recruit the best personnel for the business. While the costs may be higher than “hiring on the cheap”, the business is in a better position to succeed with quality talent. The boons of increased productivity can easily outweigh the costs in the long run.

It’s not enough that the entrepreneur employs proper recruitment strategies, though. They must also be ready to secure a good workspace with the best tools at hand. Aside from this, it’s also the responsibility of the entrepreneur to boost the health and morale of the workforce through various strategies.

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Why Prototyping is Absolutely Critical to the Success of your Cloud Application

Industry Veterain Samuel Moshe discusses the what prototyping is, and why no app project should go without one.

Last night, I was on the phone with a client who is very excited about their new cloud app. She was absolutely thrilled that we’re going to be able to get the project done on time, and for less money than anybody else was able to quote her. It’s what we do.

What she had trouble understanding was the prototyping process. It’s not her fault. A lot of people who don’t do cloud software for a living simply don’t understand how these things work, and part of the job is education.

So the first question to answer is, what is a prototype?

Now, it’s fair the point out that not everybody does this, but we do, as part of the process. Prototyping keeps the cost of the app low and eliminates confusion, which saves you a ton of money and keeps you from getting frustrated. Piece of mind is difficult to put a price on, but we try to make sure it’s included in all of our projects.

Most good developers build prototypes and/or functional mockups before they start a project. If you go into a project without one, there’s really no good way for everyone to understand what the functional requirements are… no matter how well you’ve written them out.

A prototype is a throw away application that essentially does what the final application will be expected to. As a rule, you forgo things like the look and feel, and focus on the functional elements of your design. It’ll use the same database, and/or logical structures you set up for the final application, it’ll give you a feel for how the usage process works, and most importantly… it gives you something you can touch and understand at the beginning of the software development process, rather than the end.

The prototyping phase of the project is where you scrutinize things like usability, process, your feature set, and workflow of the app. It’s where you can work out the kinks in the application, and solve the problem of scope creep, where “wouldn’t it be nice if…” can turn into weeks of additional work.

Once you’ve got everything you need from the process, you can lock down the requirement, get consensus from the stake holders, and really make sure that everyone involved understands what you intend to build. Then, you take a note of the workflow and the queries you used to make the prototype happen.

Ideally, the next step is to throw away all the prototype code, and never think about it again.

And, as a general rule… that’s where I lose people. A question I get often goes something like this:

“Yes, but Sammy, why would you want to write the app twice? You just spent all this time writing a system that works. Why on earth would you want to throw it all away and do the same thing all over again?”

Well, my astute theoretical client, I’m glad you asked.

The key thing to remember about a prototype is that it’s prototype quality code. It’s written the quickest possible way, using tools you’re unlikely to ever use to build the final product. The idea is to spend as little time as is humanly possible to build complex functional code.

If you were going to think of a cloud app like a movie, the prototype would be the storyboard, or the screen test.

The purpose of it is to get sign off and really build an understanding with both the client and the developer, as to what is going to be created, nothing more.

A real app is going to need some thought put into security, maintenance, manageability, and a truck load of other things that are deal makers and breakers in a live app, are generally not thought about at all in the prototyping phases of production.

And that’s why you hear developers and programmers use terms like “production quality code.” Production quality is a finished product, with all the bells and whistles, all of the polish, and all of the things that come with a well designed, well deployed application.

Yes, you can take shortcuts. If you really wanted to, you could try to save money and put a functional prototype into the wild. It’s been done. But, as someone who has been on the production floor in this industry for 20 years, I would strongly advise against it.

When you hire someone to build an app, you want the greatest possible benefit from that app. You want the best of everything from scalability. You want that app to be usable, and robust, capable of withstanding a heavy load. And, you’re spending good money to do it.

The recent spectacular failure of the Obamacare website was a great recent example of a worst case scenario. They spent over $600,000,000 on building a powerful cloud application with a lot of features. But they launched it before the code was ready. My best guess is that they never built a fully functional prototype. Rather, they set out to build the final product before the system and the stakeholders were ready.

What’s sad about it, is that it never had to be that way. A well planned, well orchestrated app can be a success at $600,000,000 or $4,000. The amount of money that you spend on these things is not what’s important. Cost only covers the scope and the feature set of the application. A solid development process covers user satisfaction. Satisfied users means happy customers, clients, and employees.

And that’s why building a prototype is cricital to the success of your cloud app.

In fact, it’s so important, that it should probably be among the first things you ask, when you’re considering having an app commissioned.

“Will there be a throw-away prototype?”

If the answer is no, or the person you’re talking to starts to dance around the question… keep looking until that answer is an emphatic yes.

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