Find & Hire Developers for Your Startup
CONTENT
- The most common hiring problems faced by a startup
- Hiring a developer for your startup is the best choice
- Hire a developer as part of your in-house team
- Hiring a freelance developer on a contractual basis
- Hiring an application development company to outsource your project
- How to Hire an Application Developer for Your Startup
- Conclusion
The hiring challenges most startups to meet
All startups are businesses, but not all businesses are startups. Unlike an established business, startups build everything from scratch.
Therefore, they have their unique challenges when it comes to hiring app developers.
Local tech talent
Lack of local tech talent is one of the challenges startups face when hiring developers for their applications.
If you work in areas like “technology centers”, most local developers are either already employed with good positions or aspiring to get into the next big tech company.
On the other hand, it is hard to find a specialist in non-technology centers.
That is one of the reasons why many startups resort to hiring offshore developers to fill skill gaps in their teams.
Additional rental costs
Even if a startup decides to hire offshore developers, they should still consider remote developers as part of their team.
Payment fixed wages and investing in software infrastructure for your remote team. Moreover, you will have to hire additional staff to manage your internal development team and pay them a salary.
Add to that security costs, benefits, and other bonuses for your internal team, including developers. It turns out that the costs of hiring developers are essentially fixed and recurring costs for every startup.
Fight to preserve talent
Let’s say you’ve found the right tech team for your startup. You also managed to avoid all those additional costs of hiring developers. But what now?
It is impossible to link the team with your startup. Skilled app developers are always looking for a better path or a more complex project.
Plus, tech giants are always looking for more and more developers. Thus, it is often difficult for startups to retain their hired talent after all the investment.
It is important to consider the risks and consequences of not being able to retain developers.
What if they leave in the middle of the software development lifecycle? This situation is very difficult and requires the founders to give up everything so that they can attract a new developer and explain the project to him.
Even then, it is likely that the previous developers did not maintain the code properly, and the new developer will have to start over. Result? More costs, development delays, and longer time to market.
HR department
Startups are called startups for a reason. They are just starting their business with very limited capital (unless they are fully funded). More importantly, they work on operations, processes, and team structure.
Most startups don’t have a full-fledged HR department of their own. In some cases, the HR department struggles to establish effective hiring processes, create a repetitive pipeline of interviews, complete job descriptions, and more.
In the absence of all these processes and pipelines, you may be missing out on some really good candidates because you won’t be able to respond in time.
Or worse, you might be missing out on dozens of available candidates that fit your exact requirements just because you weren’t able to write your job description correctly.
The lack of a well-established HR department is one of the biggest challenges startups face when hiring.
Time
Startups thrive on their competitiveness, both in terms of pricing and time to market.
So the founders/co-founders have been going about their business from day one. They have to choose between choosing a product strategy, budgeting, seeking investment, and a host of other things.
Hiring a developer for your startup is the best choice
There are three options when you want to hire an app developer for your startup. You can hire someone in-house, go freelance, or outsource your project to an application development company.
Let’s compare the three options in detail.
1. Hire a developer as part of the internal team.
The very first thing startups primarily consider is hiring a full-time app developer. In the past decade, a large number of companies have given up on this hiring trend.
This is because when you hire a developer for your startup, you have to deal with all the hiring problems mentioned above.
Pluses
- You can hire a candidate that is appropriate for the culture of the startup.
- Own teams are more reliable and easier to communicate with.
- They are a support and a helper for any surprises that arise in the development life cycle.
Minuses
- Hiring a full-time developer is time-consuming.
- Paid vacation and other benefits.
- It’s harder for startups to retain full-time employees.
- Workload management and active participation in the project management process.
- One developer has a limited set of skills and experience.
2. Hiring a freelance developer on a contractual basis.
Quite a common choice due to the benefits of hiring freelancers. However, many startups end up resorting to other options after having trouble working with freelancers.
Let’s weigh the pros and cons of hiring freelance developers.
Pluses
- You can find a wide range of available options on popular platforms.
- Many freelance developers are willing to work for less than full-time employees.
- No need to pay for any perks to freelance developers.
- You can opt out of the arrangement of the workplace and software infrastructure since freelancers work outside of your office.
Minuses
- Hiring freelancers is always risky as they may leave or stop working in the middle of a project.
- There are no guarantees for the quality of the software.
- Freelancers usually work on several projects at the same time, so they are not completely immersed in the project.
- Checking the code and the quality of the work performed becomes the responsibility of the employer.
- It may be necessary to hire different professionals for testing, UX design, etc.
- Communication with a freelance developer ends after the software is delivered. You will need to hire someone to maintain or update your application in the future.
3. Contact an application development company to outsource your project.
Outsourcing a development project to an app development company is the perfect sweet spot for startups. It is more affordable and profitable than hiring your team. In addition, these companies have much more industry experience and are more reliable than freelancers.
Let’s take a quick look at the pros and cons of working through a startup app development company.
Pluses
- Comprehensive project management services, from business analysis and design to development and testing.
- Well-tuned processes, communication channels, and code quality criteria.
- An application development company is made up of experts and consultants who can help refine the strategy, document requirements, and propose a timeline and budget.
- Development companies create strong bonds for long-term product success. From launching the application to supporting and updating it to meet changing requirements.
Minuses
- A lot of paperwork, as development companies follow a specific process — from the first contact with the client and the project to its implementation.
- The cost of hiring an app development company can be slightly higher than hiring freelancers because they take over the entire project management process but is usually lower than the in-house team.
Which of the three options to choose a startup?
If the team already has enough IT professionals and the budget isn’t a major constraint, hiring an in-house developer for your startup is a great idea. Thus, the developer with the help of technical experts will be able to create a suitable product.
Alternatively, hire a dedicated developer to fill the skills gap for an existing full-time team. This is called staffing and many IT startups now rely on it.
We do not recommend hiring freelance developers unless it is for small to medium-sized tasks and you do not have your experts to check the quality of the work done.
If you are looking to hire an app developer for your startup with little in-house technical experience, your best bet is to go to a development company that can offer a qualified specialist.
How to Hire an App Developer for Your Startup
If you’re looking to outsource development or want to hire an app developer, use these key guidelines to filter your options.
Experience and proof of work
Before hiring a developer, it is very important to check their experience in this area. Look for candidates or vendors who have created good products and solutions for their customers in the past. Check out their portfolios.
Expertise
Startups are very dynamic. Their very existence is based on the novelty and competitiveness of their product idea. Therefore, it is very important to partner with an application developer who is actively involved in sharing knowledge across the ecosystem.
If you’ve shortlisted some vendors, check the blogs on their websites. This will give you insight into the industry expertise of these teams.
Technologies
You can be a startup today, but in 2–3 years you will not be a startup. Therefore, it is very important to think about how your product will perform in the future.
Application scalability and enhancements are directly influenced by the technologies used to create the application. So, hire an app developer or app development company that is well versed and proficient in modern technology.
Project management criteria and communication
How can you check if a candidate who takes up their position as a developer guarantees that the product will be delivered on time? If your vendor talks about the specific software development lifecycle (SDLC) they follow and presents you with a timeline, you know you can trust them.
Project management greatly affects the profitability and timeliness of a project. Therefore, when shortlisting candidates, ask them about their SDLC and the project management tools they use.
You should choose a company that works with project management tools that are convenient for your internal team. Also, make sure the developers provide you with details on how often they will communicate with you, how they will share the progress of the project, and how they will adapt to your changing requirements, just in case.
Conclusion
Startups face a myriad of hiring challenges because tech talent is in high demand and most of it is too expensive for a startup. If you are looking to hire an app developer for your startup, you have three options to choose from. Hire your developer, freelance developer, or development company.
While you are listing vendors to outsource your project, check their portfolios and reviews in B2B directories. Make sure they use consistent project management practices and are transparent in their communications.
Unit Space is a leading application development company in Eastern Europe. We are a team of experienced consultants, project managers, designers, developers, and testers.
If you are a startup and want to receive qualified assistance in product development, we will be happy to help you! Let’s connect here and talk about how you can bring your idea to life with the lowest cost and the highest possible return on investment.
