How To Hire Remote Engineers: A Guide for Tech-Startups

As the world moves towards a completely digital ecosystem and consumers demand for a digital-first experience, the growth of tech-startups has seen an enormous rise. Today, there are approx. 1.35 million tech start-ups in the world. There is a natural evolution of almost every sector towards becoming digital-first. The banking and financial services sector has evolved to FinTech, healthcare to Health-Tech, education to EdTech, and more. For tech startups, irrespective of their domain, it is important to hire the right engineers for success. In this article, we will give a detailed view of how to hire remote engineers for tech startups.

Even though the start-up ecosystem is thriving, 21% of start-ups fail within the first year. Among the top reasons behind the failures of a start-up are — monetary issues and not having the right team. Hiring a remote team can solve both these challenges. Out of the overall market for outsourced services, IT services were responsible for a $66.5 billion share. Needless to say, enterprises across the globe have adopted the model of hiring remote engineers for saving costs.

Hire Remote Engineers For Tech Start-ups — A 5-Step Guide (and a Bonus Pro Tip)

Finding engineers for every tech skill required for product development can take up a lot of time and cost. At Supersourcing we help enterprises find the perfect IT talent, at the right price. We have 750+ agencies and 200+ clients and have delivered projects worth — $500,000+ (and that number is growing). In the subsequent sections, we will share some pro-tips on hiring remote engineers for tech startups. Read on.

1. Decide at which stage of product development should remote engineers be hired.
2. Be sure about the development needs and tech skills required in the team.
3. Set up a hiring process with the right platform and tools.
4. Pick the right outsourcing partner for your tech start-up.
5. Beyond tech skills — assess culture fit as well.
6. Bonus: pro-tip on how to work with a remote engineering team.

1. Decide at Which Stage Of Product Development Should Hire Remote Engineers

Time and cost are two precious assets for any tech startup. From a product idea to its development, deployment, and launch, it is always possible that someone else does it earlier. In that case, there is a risk of losing the first movers’ advantage. Further, hiring at an optimal cost will also be an important factor that ensures that a tech start-up can break-even as soon as possible and start to make profits at the earliest.

In this context, the decision of whether to hire remote engineers or full-time engineers remains an important question that must be answered almost in parallel to developing and finalizing the product idea. For tech start-ups hiring remote engineers can help them save time and cost. However, at what stage of the product development should remote engineers be hired? This will be an important decision.

In some cases, it might be beneficial to develop the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) within the team and hiring remote engineers to further expand the project. In other cases, if the founders are from a non-tech background but have a great idea — hiring a team of remote engineers can be a great way to bring that idea to life.

Analyze the strength of your team in terms of technical skills and then decide at what stage of product development you will need a team of remote engineers to bolster your product team.

2. Be Sure About The Development Needs and Tech Skills Required

Technology is ever-evolving and once you have decided to go ahead with hiring a team of remote engineers for your tech start-up. It will be important to have a clear idea of the tech skills that are required at the current stage of product development and also the technical capabilities you will need in your team for the future. And, this analysis of the tech skills will be a continuous process.

As your product evolves with the evolving technical landscape so will your team. While this is a moving goalpost, keeping an eye on the target always will be critical for success. At Supersourcing you can find the right tech partner for your IT needs. Whether you are an upcoming eCommerce start-up, a Food-Tech company, an EdTech platform, or into any other sector we can help you find the best tech-partner having remote-engineers with niche skills.

Another important thing to make note of before hiring remote engineers for your tech-start-up will be to have a clear SOW or statement of work. It will help in having a clear vision of the tech skills required. Such as, how much time, costs, overall timelines of the project, and more.

3. Hire Remote Engineers Through The Right Platform and Tools

Hiring whether remote or full-time is a time-consuming activity. Especially, if you are a tech-start-up with a small team. It will be important to set up the right process in place to go through the process. Whether you are hiring individual remote engineers or hiring an agency with tech capabilities required for your project. It is important to have a project management tool or platform that can help you go through the process faster.

The strength of a tech team is their ability to use project management and team collaboration tools like JIRA, Slack, etc. It will streamline the work and improve communication within teams. Once you start on the journey of hiring remote engineers, make advantage of these tools to decide on a plan of action, collaborate and finalize the teams.

At Supersourcing with our 4-step process, we can help you find the perfect partner for your enterprise in no time. Here’s what our 4-step process entails:

• Post your project — and tell us what you need in less than 5 minutes.
• Get Recommendations– find expert agencies who have done similar work, in a few seconds.
• Receive Quote — choose agencies based on their capabilities and your needs. Ask for quotes.
• Close the Deal — converse directly with agencies, discuss, negotiate & hire the best.

4. Pick the Right Outsourcing Partner for Your Tech Start-up

As a tech-startup more often the small team that you have is doing everything. Ranging from; refining ideas, operational set-ups, business development, talking to VCs, and more. Hire remote engineers with the right tech skills is one of the crucial aspect. It can thankfully be taken care of by hiring platforms like ours which has over 500+ agencies listed and can help you save time, cost, and effort.

We can not only help you instantly find the right agency, within a few clicks. Rather, we make the process from selection to closing the deal extremely easy. Here are a few things that you should consider before finalizing which agency to choose for your software development requirements:

• Their expertise in the technologies you need
• The quality and experience of software engineers that their team has. Specifically, the team that will work on your project
• The time zones — basis your requirement — you could decide whether to opt for nearshore, offshore or local outsourcing.
• The list of clients they have.
• Client testimonials and references.
• The flexibility and scalability of their teams — not just for the current stage at which your project is, but also for the future.

At Supersourcing our 360-degree coverage of vetting companies is based on several critical parameters. Our guided approach towards project management helps enterprises hire and work with the agency in a streamlined and seamless fashion.

5. Beyond Tech Skills, Assess Culture Fit as well

Many times in the desperation of getting the product development started, the hiring managers end up hiring the wrong team. Therefore, that can be a huge setback for the growth of a tech startup. While tech skills are crucial, the right cultural fit is also paramount for success. A lot of time tech-startups hire remote engineers or agencies from freelancers’ platforms purely on the skills they showcase in their profile. But a lot of questions linger in their minds like — Can they be trusted? What if they steal the product idea? Will they be able to deliver on time? and more such.

A remote team will also be an extension of your company. Thus, it is critical they are aligned with your vision, share the same values, and respect the timelines that you want to deliver your projects in. We at Supersourcing help tech-startups hire remote engineers with the perfect tech skills. We ensure that you find a tech partner that is perfect for your enterprise’s cultural fit as well.

5. Bonus: Pro-tip On How To Work With A Remote Engineering Team

Communication, Collaboration, and Culture are the 3Cs of working successfully with a remote engineering team. What this means is;

• Communication — establish clear objectives, goals, and timelines within your teams — both internal and remote.
• Collaboration — use low cost but efficient tools for project collaboration — Slack and Skype business are two examples of such tools.
• Culture — culturally integrate your remote team and your internal team. So that the teams can work in harmony and are aligned to the larger organizational vision.

Conclusion

Hire a remote engineer or a team that can help tech start-ups save cost and time. In addition to that, it opens up doors for choosing from a huge pool of talent across the globe. As the saying goes well begun is half done, in the world of tech start-ups, a product is always WIP and evolving with the technological landscape.

Hiring a remote engineering team ensuring the above-listed steps are taken care of. It will be critical to not only give your project the right start but also to make it a success. Supersourcing is a next-generation platform built to help companies find the best companies in tech to work with. Tell us about your requirements and we will help you to find the perfect tech partner for your enterprise.