The Importance of Context When Briefing a Software Agency

In this article:

1. Why you need to provide context when you brief a software agency
2. How you should set the scene
3. An example of good context setting

Who are we?

We’re Digital Diligence - we help businesses create better briefs for software development agencies. We’re help them save money and avoid nasty surprises down the line. 

If you’re engaging software agencies, we can help you get the most of them. Contact us here. 

Why provide context?

If you’re looking for someone technical to just implement exactly what you describe, a top software development agency is probably not for you. 

The best agencies are there to help you solve business problems. They’re not there to build what you say blindly.  

The agencies we work with have world-class designers, engineers, and software architects - getting them involved in defining the solution will get you better results. 

‍The first step is to set the scene. 

‍How to set the scene

A general rule of thumb is to start broad, then zoom in. 

Start with the things that are constant:

• The problem your company solves.
• Who your users are.
• Your mission.

Then, move on to your progress to date:

• How is the business doing? For example:some text
  • If you are revenue-generating (and revenue growth).
  • Whether you have raised funds.
  • The size of your team.
• What stage is your product at? some text
  • How you are operating your service at the moment (if at all). If you’re looking for an MVP, make sure to explain if you’ve tried to operate the service in a no-code way (eg. email/low-code tools). 
  • How many customers you have.
  • How your customers are using you and how often.

Finally, talk about the key milestones coming up:

• If you’re in the process of or about to raise funds. 
• If you have any major deals/partnerships going live (that are relevant to the piece of work).
• If there are any seasonality considerations (i.e. Christmas/sports season). 

Once you’ve done all of these, you need to ‘Answer the why’ - the reason you’re engaging a software agency. That’ll be dealt with in a separate article. 

Example

SkySaver addresses the challenge of finding affordable last-minute flights for spontaneous travellers. By aggregating and analyzing flight data from various airlines, we provide our users with the best deals on last-minute flights, making travel more accessible and budget-friendly.

Target Users: Our users are primarily budget-conscious travellers, including:

• Young professionals looking for quick getaways.
• Students seeking affordable travel options.
• Families planning impromptu vacations.
• Travel enthusiasts who enjoy spontaneous trips.

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Our mission is to make spontaneous travel affordable and easy by offering the best last-minute flight deals. We aim to empower more people to explore new destinations without the financial burden typically associated with last-minute travel.

Business Progress

SkySaver has been generating revenue since its launch 18 months ago, with a month-over-month growth rate of 15%. We are on track to achieve a $2 million annual revenue run rate by the end of this fiscal year.

We successfully raised a $500,000 seed round six months ago and are preparing for a Series A funding round in the next quarter. Our team has grown to 20 members, including experts in travel industry analysis, software development, marketing, and customer support.

Currently, SkySaver operates a functional web application where users can search and book last-minute flights. We have tested our service with a no-code solution through email notifications and low-code tools for booking management before developing our custom platform.

We have a growing user base of 50,000 active monthly users, with an average of 10,000 flight bookings per month. Our users typically visit our platform twice a week, spending an average of 10 minutes per session searching for deals.

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Upcoming Milestones

We are in the process of finalising our Series A funding round, aiming to secure $5 million to expand our operations and enhance our platform's capabilities.

We have established a strategic partnership with three major airlines, which will go live in the next two months. These partnerships will provide us with exclusive access to additional last-minute deals, further enhancing our value proposition to users.

With the summer vacation season approaching, we anticipate a significant increase in demand for last-minute flights. Our platform needs to be robust and scalable to handle the expected surge in traffic and bookings during this period.

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