If our business is lucky enough to make it past its first few years, we often need to address the next hurdle: scaling. In this guide, we take a look at scaling from the perspective of internationalization (i18n) and localization (l10n). We address workflow efficiency and how Localize Technology can save us time and money, keeping us competitive through a laser focus on our core offering.
Our minimum viable product (MVP)
Let’s say we’re a fantastic new e-commerce startup called HandiRaft, with the goal of connecting artisans with customers who want to buy bespoke crafts. We’ve decided that our MPV will include iOS and Android apps, and a web app for desktop users. To reduce risk and validate our core offering as quickly as possible, we’ve built our mobile apps with Flutter and our web app with React.
An offering like ours has some technical challenges right out of the gate:
Handling payments, including security, which we can outsource to a service like Stripe.
Creating an admin panel for creators, which our MVP would include in the web/desktop app, with some roles and permission management for buyers and creators.
Handling the e-commerce experience, including buyer accounts, the shopping cart, orders, and returns/refunds.
Ensuring we have excellent customer support, which we can outsource the tech solution for while keeping our support staff in-house for the best customer experience
Localize software
Connecting buyers and artisans all over the world means taking a global approach to our offering. At the very least, we need to internationalize our public-facing apps and localize them for our most prominent target markets. This isn’t too difficult with Flutter and React.
