The main value of a nascent project is people. It depends on the level and skill of your team whether your project will turn into a fast frigate that can conquer the raging sea and reach its goal, or whether you will go down. In today’s world, there is too much information for one person to study. The business owner seeks to select such employees who will help close the gaps in knowledge and capabilities, and jointly find the right route to implement the project. To turn an idea into a real product, it is necessary to hire developers for new startups.
Just startups have one disadvantage: a small budget. And it gives its founders superpowers to solve problems efficiently and creatively. It often happens that the owner is a developer, like it was in Apple. Then the need to find a technical specialist disappears. But not everyone is so lucky. So let’s take a look at the options to hire developers.
- Outsourcing with attention to the choice of location. Suppose your project is in New York, the cost of an hour of programmer in the same city is $100. You have a simple solution. You outsource some technical tasks to a professional team, but in another country or city. More often than not, the prices of specialist services depend a lot on geography. So, an hour of work for a developer from India or Eastern Europe costs $30. Accordingly, you will solve the technical part of your project and save money. Also, the advantage of this method to hire developers is that you pay only for the time actually worked. This is more profitable for a startup than taking a person on staff.
- Freelance Exchanges. Your benefit is that the aggregator regulates the financial relationship with the performer, and there is a function to verify the completed work. The tasks you set will either be completed on time, or the money stays with you. It is worth paying attention to the experience of the specialist and his knowledge.
- Remote work. Of course, you can imagine how much it costs to maintain an off-line office, it’s rent, utilities, household expenses, taxes. That’s why nowadays, the possibility to work remotely has become a salvation for many entrepreneurs. You can live in Paris and a front end developer is in Sydney. Thus, the whole world is open for you to hire developers.
- Can an employee be more motivated if he is the owner of a part of a company? He has a vested interest in making sure that the project is in demand and liquid. The main thing here is not to make mistakes and choose responsibly. When a developer agrees to enter a startup, he is interested in the product idea itself. So prepare a decent presentation, elaborate a business plan and a prototype. In this case, you will be able to attract a really cool Senior or Lead level specialist. In addition to knowledge and experience, such a partner will have connections and create favorable conditions for scaling the product.
- Recruiting agencies. As a rule, they have an extensive base of specialists of different levels.
- Social networks and telegram channels. This sphere is actively developing and allows organizing a good response and a large flow of possible candidates for a small fee.
- These are your peers, former coworkers, colleagues. The same networking that is popular nowadays.
- Referrals increase the chances of connecting with potential clients. Someone who knows you can reach them is much more likely to open your email or text message. In your introduction, state who referred them and briefly talk about your company’s vision, mission and goals. If your ideas resonate with them, you may hire developers.
- Startup support sites. This is the perfect community for founders, investors and techies. You can both post information about your idea and the required skills of the future employee, and find funding for the project.
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Skills and more
Believe it, there is a reason large organizations have HR. The first thing top managers wanted most was to get rid of the headache of recruitment. After all, as you know, the wrong actions of even one employee can bring the ship into a storm or sink it. This is especially important at the initial stage. When a simple breach of deadline can destroy the startup entirely. So how do you hire developers competently?
Pay attention to experience. If a specialist has never worked with a startup before, but has held a position at a large company, he may not fully understand the difference. The speed of problem-solving is many times greater in a fledgling business. Any delay is a chance for the competition. Examine the portfolio and gather references. To hire developers is not simple. Then conduct an interview. You should feel comfortable building a conversation with a potential employee. He should have an interest in your business idea. Without an immersion in the project from the developer, there will be no positive result. Let’s imagine the situation. You are creating a food delivery app. You’ve studied the client’s profile in detail and your designer created a layout without taking into account the user experience, focusing on visual appeal. Thus, he ignored one of the most important steps. Users will order pizza or pasta on a daily basis. Accordingly, the app should be as usable as possible.
Don’t forget to be honest when to hire developers. Don’t promise a huge amount of money and one hundred percent success. Rather, try to infect the specialist with your idea. With a high level of involvement, you will get a quality result.
Difficulties of hiring a development team
As a rule, all startups try to present a prototype of the project at the initial stage in order to receive investments, be it venture capital funds or business angels. It’s not enough to have a nice presentation, as a rule, you should have an MVP, with a minimal set of features, but made qualitatively. It doesn’t require a single freelancer, but a team of developers.
One of the difficulties, to hire developers, is a limited budget. Therefore, when choosing a technical specialist, pay attention to the location. Depending on the geography, prices for services can range from $25 to $150 per hour for the same skill level. Don’t assume that companies will cost more than freelancers. Professional teams are willing to offer flexible solutions, have a wide range of specialists, experience working with startups and can close issues comprehensively.
At the same time, if you are short of funds, you can always offer a share in the startup. This will help attract high-level specialists. For this, you must have a step-by-step development plan, an analysis of the target audience and competitors. And in this case it is better to be careful who you give a part of your business to.
There is also often a concern about privacy. Sign a non-disclosure agreement NDA with the team.
Qualified staff is 70% of the success of your business. If you hire developers responsibly, you’ll get a mutually beneficial collaboration, a sought-after product, and the ability to scale. A professional team can not only help to create, but also become a reliable partner in the future.
