Creating a new software product comes with a slew of challenges, including hiring developers. This article will help you consider the different pathways to software development and why we think we know which one is right for you.
The struggle is real…
Whether you’re a budding startup company or an established business, there are a lot of things to consider when approaching a new software development project. One of those things is developers...
No matter how you look at it, you have to have a software development team. In many cases, this means hiring developers is on your to-do list. Even if you already have an in-house development team, it might mean hiring more developers.
Why? Because software development is unpredictable. And the complexity of a new project can quickly snowball into something unmanageable. So even if you have a great dev team, there are still a few questions you should ask yourself before going forward with a new project. Questions like these:
Does your current team have the skill set to complete this new project?
Will they be able to do so quickly and with clean, high-quality code?
Or, instead, will you you get stuck in features that are too complex? Will you chase your tail repairing mistakes or create tech debt trying to meet deadlines?
If your answers those questions make you a little nervous, you might need to augment your software development team.
If you don't have an in-house development team, here's what you need to think about when hiring developers...
To put your options super simply, you can hire developers in-house, you can hire freelancers, or you can hire a dev shop.
Hiring developers in-house doesn't stop at just hiring a team. You also have to consider the requirements (and the ramifications) of on-boarding new people.
If you think you just need temporary work and favor the freelance route, please remember that freelancers also know that they are temporary employees. Accordingly, this can be very uncertain terrain.
If you hire a dev shop, do your research.
But, of course, the considerations don't stop at just hiring developers…
In any hiring scenario, you have to determine whether or not you have the proper management in place to oversee your developers. Universally, projects need management, and teams (whether they are in-house or not) need a leader.
Whether it’s yourself or a hired project manager, software development needs structure. While managerial needs may vary depending upon the type of product you’re developing, it remains necessary to put some managing body in place to direct your team.
Getting right to the point, here's why we think we know which hiring solution is right for you...
Hiring an Outside Development Team is the Smartest Way to Hire Developers
If you’re starting a new software development project, or searching for a way to light a fire beneath an existing build, hiring an experienced dev shop is the ideal choice. If you're particular about which company you hire, contracting a dev shop offers a solution to virtually every hiring conundrum. Here's how...
1) Hiring an outside development company can actually be cheaper than hiring an in-house team.
What?! It’s true. While you still have to pay for quality work, you’ll only be paying for the labor that produces it.
If you hire an in-house team, not only are you paying the salaries of your new team members (and good developers are not cheap), but you’re also paying for benefits (like PTO, insurance and retirement). You also have to pay for someone to manage them, to do their payroll, and etc.
If you hire a dev company, all those extra costs are the responsibility of that company. That means you only have to pay for code.
You don’t pay for employee costs, or take-on the drama of on-boarding, training, or letting people go. You just pony-up for clean, solid software, and you walk away, unscathed, with the product you’ve been waiting for.
2) Hiring an outside development team can save time.
Time is precious. Time is money. And it takes a lot of time to create a cohesive development team who can produce good code fast.
When working with an outside development company, you don’t have to spend time vetting developers or letting developer pairs bond to one another. If you already have an in-house team, you don’t have to wait for them to learn new languages or pay for the learning curve necessary for taking-on new types of development.
Instead, you get software developers that have already been around the block and, if you hire a good company, they’ll assign the right developer(s) with the right experience to execute your product development most effectively.
If you hire a great development company, they’ll assign the right pair of developers to your project to ensure you get the best possible code in the least amount of time.
So, you’ll pay less overall, and you’ll get a great product in less time.
3) You don’t have to manage an outside development team (which means you get to stop babysitting).
Another benefit to hiring developers via an outside dev team, is that you don’t have to manage them. This means you get some precious time back in your day, and some hard-earned money back in your wallet.
When you hire a development company, like DevSquad, they have an in-house manager to oversee your project and the developers assigned to it. Although you're still involved, someone else is handling the stress of making sure your code and coders are performing perfectly.
Imagine what you could do with more time and fewer concerns...
You see, when you hire an outside dev team, you gain some freedom, too. It gives you the ability to build your product AND focus on all the other business obligations inherent to both startup teams and established companies.
Hiring a development company enables you to keep business on the up-and-up while getting high-quality code from an experienced, low-maintenance outside team.
4) If you hire an outside development team, you don’t take-on the risk of relying on freelancers.
There ain’t no shame in being or hiring a freelance developer. But the reality is, when you work with freelancers, you never truly know what you’re getting.
To find one, you wade through innumerable entries on sites where anyone can post anything. It can be really hard to find a great freelancer, and even harder to find one that is as committed to you and your project as you are (or as a permanent employee would be).
I can’t speak to every case, every freelance developer, or every situation, but this is a world where accountability to a product is different. When looking for freelancers, you're likely to find a lot of people who are looking to make a quick buck. Many are willing to produce inferior work for a higher price, and many are willing to bail for “greener pastures.”
In other words, when jobs get really tough, many freelance developers will move-on to easier work. If this happens, you’re stuck with a bunch of code that you don’t understand. And, sadly, no one else will understand it as thoroughly as the freelancer who wrote it.
Not only is this a huge burden in the moment, but it can cause problems down-the-line and you may have to start over. Which is really bad news. When working with freelancers there’s simply less incentive to complete a beautiful product, and a greater likelihood of turnover.
When you hire a development company, on the other hand, you’re working with established teams that are doubly accountable to your product...
1. because they care about the code they produce and how it’s perceived by you and their fellow team members.
And 2. because their livelihood depends on it-- doing great work is what keeps them employed (and with PTO, insurance, and etc).
When you work with an outside development team, YOU are the “greener pastures,” and you get treated that way.
If you hire the right software development company, you get high-performing teams that have more experience and more motivation to build a better product.
Simply put, when you're hiring developers, your best bet is an outside development team. You get better work with less risk; you get better teams with less stress, and you get a better product in less time.
So, hiring a great dev company is like...
Have experience hiring developers of your own, or have a funny or inspiring story about product development? Share it with us in the comments below!
