{"id":3065,"date":"2024-06-04T14:25:22","date_gmt":"2024-06-04T11:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.sailet.kz\/?p=3065"},"modified":"2025-01-19T12:43:37","modified_gmt":"2025-01-19T09:43:37","slug":"development_request","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.sailet.kz\/en\/development_request\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Formulate a Development Request: A Guide for Entrepreneurs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n

After analyzing more than 500 development requests, we identified key issues and factors that complicate communication between entrepreneurs and development studios. In this article, we share a guide on how to formulate requests that are clearly understood by all parties. Learn how to clearly define goals, structure expectations, and make your next IT project a success.<\/p>\n

Hello, I\u2019m Maxim from Sailet<\/a>. We specialize in custom development, have been working since 2017, completed many interesting projects, discuss automation, and are developing our own ECM (Enterprise Content Management) system.<\/p>\n

Constantly communicating with entrepreneurs, we know that many of them spend an enormous amount of their own\u2014and not just their own\u2014time searching for an IT contractor \"to develop a system.\" Later, they share stories about how there are few specialists on the market, companies don\u2019t understand them, and, in general, all these studios are \"meh.\" \n\nI decided to create a detailed guide for all future clients, which, I hope, will make life easier for many. Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

How to Define a Goal and Why Is It Important?<\/h2>\n

The goal sets the direction for the entire project. If you don\u2019t understand why you need this system, it\u2019s time to stop right here. It\u2019s easier if the goal is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (the classic SMART criteria). No contractor will define the goal for you because that would make it their goal, not yours.<\/p>\n

Steps to Define a Goal:<\/h4>\n
    \n
  1. Identifying the Problem or Need<\/strong> \u2014 What do I want to solve or achieve with the future system?<\/li>\n
  2. Identifying the Target Audience<\/strong> \u2014 Who will actually use my system? Employees are also part of the internal target audience. Lydia Mikhailovna in accounting and Sergey Fedorovich in production may be one segment, depending on the task. Meanwhile, 20-year-old support specialists might form another segment.<\/li>\n
  3. Market and competitor analysis<\/strong> - and what do they have and how does it work? Is my product even needed? We've had a couple dozen requests to develop a cab service (\"Brother, I want to be like Yandex\"). The questions \"why?\" or \"what is the goal?\" naturally went unanswered.<\/li>\n
  4. Market and Competitor Analysis<\/strong> \u2014 What do they have, and how does it work? Is my product even necessary? We've received dozens of requests to develop taxi services (\"Bro, I want something like Yandex\"). Naturally, questions like \"Why?\" or \"What's the goal?\" often went unanswered.<\/li>\n
  5. Prioritization of Needs<\/strong> \u2014 What is most important right now? \"We want to automate the entire company and create a unified portal\" often means, \"We don\u2019t know what we want, and our processes are not documented.\"<\/li>\n
  6. Stakeholder Engagement<\/strong> \u2014 Do users actually need the system? It's clear that most people fear change, but this is where classic change management comes into play: first, sell and communicate the value, then implement and train.<\/li>\n
  7. Documentation<\/strong> \u2014 Of course, the great \"Agile\" tells us that a working product is more important than comprehensive documentation, but this doesn't mean documentation is unnecessary. There must always be a reference point, and what isn\u2019t written down isn\u2019t real.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Tools for Defining Goals<\/strong><\/h2>\n