The Short Answer
What should you ask a software development company before hiring them?
Ask who owns the code and when, who will actually do the work, whether you can see live products they built and speak to those clients, how changes are priced, whether you get repository access from day one, how you will see progress, what testing is included, what you receive at handover, what happens if something breaks after launch, and what they will build versus buy.
None of these questions needs technical knowledge to ask, and most good answers are short and specific. Vague answers are the signal to watch for.
The Ten Questions
| Question | A good answer | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Will you assign all IP to us in writing, and when? | Yes, in the contract, on payment or on creation, including subcontractors’ work | “You’ll have a licence” or “once the retainer ends” |
| 2. Can we see two live products you built and speak to those clients? | Names, links and introductions | Only mock-ups, or every client is under NDA |
| 3. Who exactly will work on our project? | Named people and roles, employees or named subcontractors | “Our team” with no names, or a senior team on the call and juniors on the build |
| 4. How do you price changes to scope? | A written change process with estimates you approve first | “We’re flexible” with no process |
| 5. Will we have repository access from day one? | Yes, ideally in your own account | Code shared only at the end |
| 6. How will we see progress each week? | A demo of working software on a staging site | Status reports and percentages |
| 7. What testing do you do, and is it in the price? | Automated tests on core flows, plus manual QA, priced | Testing is “part of development” with nothing written down |
| 8. What do we receive at handover? | Repository, credentials, documentation, a walkthrough | Unclear, or handover costs extra |
| 9. What happens after launch if something breaks? | A stated bug-fix period, then a support option | Everything after launch is new billable work |
| 10. What will you build, and what will you buy or reuse? | Proven services for sign-in, payments, email; custom work for your core | Building everything from scratch, or reusing a platform they own |
Question one matters most. Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, s90(3), an assignment of copyright is only effective in writing and signed, so a company that hesitates here is telling you it may own your product. Question ten is the one most founders skip: a company reusing its own platform can be fast, but you need to know what you will and will not own. See what to include in the contract.
Score Their Answers
Use the scorecard on each call, then compare companies on the same ten questions rather than on how the call felt.
Interactive scorecard
Score a development company’s answers
Ask these ten questions on the call, then mark each answer clear, vague or a red flag.
- 1.Will you assign all IP to us in writing, and when?
- 2.Can we see two MVPs you built that are still live, and speak to those clients?
- 3.Who exactly will work on our project, and are they employees or subcontractors?
- 4.How do you price changes to scope during the build?
- 5.Will we have access to the code repository from day one?
- 6.How will we see progress each week?
- 7.What testing do you do, and is it in the price?
- 8.What do we receive at handover?
- 9.What happens after launch if something breaks?
- 10.Which parts will you build, and which will you buy or reuse?
0 / 20
0 of 10 answers marked.
Red Flags in the Sales Process
- A price before questions. A company that quotes without asking what the product has to prove is quoting a guess.
- Agreeing to everything. Good teams push back on scope. The Standish Group found half of software features are hardly ever used, so a team that never suggests cutting anything is not looking after your budget.
- No questions about security. If the product holds customer data and nobody asks about access control, the most common web security risk on the OWASP list, it is unlikely to be designed in.
- Pressure to sign quickly. Discounts that expire in days are a sales technique, not a reason.
- Unrealistic timelines. Ask for the hours behind the date; see how long an MVP takes.
How to Check References
Ask the company for two clients whose products are live, then ask those clients:
- Did the project finish on the agreed budget and date? If not, why, and how was it handled?
- Did you get the code, credentials and documentation without any friction?
- Who did the work, and was it the people you met during the sale?
- What happened when something went wrong?
- Would you hire them again for your next project?
The last answer is the most useful, and the pause before it often tells you more than the answer itself. Overruns are common even on professionally run projects: a McKinsey and University of Oxford study found large IT projects ran 45% over budget on average. How a company handled an overrun is a better signal than whether it had one.
After the Call
Send every company the same written scope, so quotes are comparable; our MVP scope template works for this. Then compare quotes line by line with the quote comparison checklist. If you are hiring in the UK, our list of 100 UK MVP development companies can be filtered by region and type. For the wider selection process, see how to choose a software development agency.
You are welcome to put all ten questions to Loomstrat too: see how Loomstrat Studio works, or send a brief.
Frequently Asked Questions
What questions should I ask a software development company?
Who owns the code and when; who will do the work; whether you can see live products and speak to clients; how changes are priced; whether you get repository access from day one; how progress is shown; what testing is included; what handover includes; what happens after launch; and what they will build versus buy.
What is the most important question to ask a developer?
Whether they will assign all intellectual property to you in writing. Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, s90(3), an assignment of copyright is only effective in writing and signed.
What are red flags when hiring a development agency?
Quoting before understanding the goal, agreeing to every feature, no questions about security, pressure to sign quickly, unnamed team members, no repository access until the end, and hesitation about IP ownership.
How do I check a development company’s references?
Ask for two clients with live products and ask them about budget and timing, the handover, who did the work, how problems were handled, and whether they would hire the company again.
Should I get several quotes for software development?
Yes, usually three, all against the same written scope. Without the same scope, quotes price different interpretations of your idea and cannot be compared.
A good company will be glad you asked these questions, because its answers are its best sales pitch. Be wary of any that is not.