SME Web Developers fighting for scraps!

Rewind the clock 5 years, and the web development market was thriving. App development the new kid on the block. The advent of Node.js promised frontend developers could also code backend and was a viable alternative for PHP. PHP, which to all its credit, had multiple variations and well known open source platforms. While one could also develop in Python, Java, .Net these were the choices for the businesses or enterprise developers and not really the darling of the B2C web development typical landscape. If its a Blog the average consumer was aware 'WordPress', if it was e-commerce it would be one of the PHP plugins or a platform like 'Magento'.

To understand why PHP dominated the market and why this is important will be clear in a little while, as often looking at the past indicates trends in the future. PHP thrives for following reasons:

1. PHP development inculcates lower level of learning curve and discipline compared to say Java, .Net in its raw form. This means its easier to adopt for freelance programmers, and engagements of a smaller nature.
2. Cost of hiring and initial startup costs are "perceptually" lower.
3. Matured B2C open-source products are on PHP. Lets admit it when it comes to Blogging, you're going to look like a fool to code it in Java instead of WordPress. And for all the frameworks that exist, Java does not have a worthy competitor as a finished product.

There are other examples. If we further condense what this means is clients in the B2C web/app world favour Speed and Cost to any other benefits you can sell in terms of software development. Now this is important. The corner stone of traditional software development philosophy (like say UML modeling, OOPs, OOD) hinge on detail understanding of domain models, requirements etc. to ensure longevity. However this market segment clearly is not asking for long term romantic commitments, but a quickie! Your clients are not your lovers who will reward you for loyalty, long hours spent on their behalf but rather people who appreciate a quick and reasonable solution even if its dirty and lacks elegance. Compound this with the fact that if most companies are using the same technology stack from demand then there is little to differentiate them, and logically the supply will outstrip the demand.

Companies selling web development services would already have noticed their negotiating power declining rapidly at the least; if not also their revenues.

This isn't where it ends. Forward back to the current time and platforms like Wix, Shopify and other competing SAAS and growing customer awareness on these is further shrinking the available market of custom web development services. If we look at SAAS, it offers what PHP earlier offered; greater speed and lower cost. Even better higher agility, no need for ownership.

As SAAS services improve, and most customer requirements are becoming standard; the need for custom development in this market can only shrink. And for the market that exists competition can only increase.

For the web or app developer, its not what you imagined being a software developer would be like. Enjoying, designing, coding etc. While there are always rewards to any problem solving it cannot justify the time spent from a business point of view in terms of ROI. Then there is the self glorified full stack developer or companies offering such services. Personally speaking, many if not all full stack developers are jack of all trades who manage to get away with sub-standard development due to the smaller nature of operations at stake and lack of technical review and monitoring of their work, operations. But again who are they to blame when the demand is not focused on quality and longevity but more on speed , cost and end result to show case and get investment. For which they are an excellent choice.

I have spoken to a number of freelance developers and web & app development companies and they all tell similar stories. Some sadly believing, that by offering higher quality customized development services they maybe able to differentiate. However on studying this market through my own experience and others I can safely say the scale of the market demands lower cost, speed and end-to-end services. This market is now commodity demand driven market where the suppliers are already or will be forced to compete for scraps. On the plus side the market is big enough to accommodate multiple suppliers to still make a living, but not a killing. Growth will be bleak.

The intent here is to understand market forces at play and not hinge too much on your internal game plan as a developer or a supplier, to explain why a supplier in this market maybe feeling the heat. It's not you, its the market! You either accept and play by its rules or exit. Volume, quicker turn around, are the only way to make bigger bucks. Volume ensures a steady cash flow, while quicker turnarounds ensure you are able to make more from your time as a developer. There is also the fact that if you aim for high volume, you need to have speed as the work will burn you out. It also ensures clients are happy. "Competitive cost" & "Speed" are good in any market but in this one its a question of survival. You don't want to sell yourself short by being cheap either; however what is very important to grasp here is that developers thinking about selling differentiated services based on high client engagement and promise of quality are perhaps going to find it the hardest.