Why forming an in-house development team is not a feasible idea for a startup?

While many would prefer to hire and form an in-house development team, there are numerous downsides to this decision, especially for a startup foundation. Truth be told, even large-scale organizations with a profound market presence adhere to outsourcing any IT service, especially dev projects to another agency instead of hiring an in-house team. So, what’s the reason behind this norm? To help you form a solid judgment, we have illustrated the hackles of delegating an app development project to the in-house team instead of outsourcing the same.

• Higher fund engagement: The recruitment and team-building processes will require significant investments. Apart from this, you will also have to bear overhead expenses, employee benefits, physical infrastructure costs, and many more. But with a third-party development agency, you can eliminate so many variables from your budget estimation plan.
• Time consumption: Building the in-house team will also require your time and undivided attention. From recruiting skilled developers to employee onboarding and training, it might take months before the dev project can commence in a true sense. This can hamper your future plans for the startup and introduce significant delays in the time to market for the product.
• Lack of scalability and flexibility: Let’s say there is a sudden change in your tech stack for the software development project. Your in-house team won’t be capable of adapting to the changes, forcing you to look for new skilled developers. Similarly, after the go-live of the project, you might not need the entire team but still, you will have to retain all the employees. This sheer lack of scalability and flexibility will create numerous problems in the future, limiting your expansion or improvement plans.
• Limited skillset and experience: You cannot change your in-house development team as per your startup’s growth plan. Usually, such teams have limited skill sets and experience, which won’t allow you to access the necessary knowledge or harness the true potential of different technologies for developing an innovative and feature-rich application.

Additional Read: Fast-Growing Startups & Companies

Categorization of application developers for outsourcing the dev project

Software developers can be categorized into multiple segments based on their technical domains, location, working models, and many more. To find developers for startup, learning about this segmentation is paramount. It will help you make the correct choice that will suit your business needs and won’t lead to any cohesion later on.

Software developer categories based on location

When you consider the location, you will have two options, namely:

• Offshore developers: Such professionals will be located outside your country’s jurisdiction and communication will be done solely via virtual mediums. Client visits are often arranged so that the dev team can communicate and understand the business requirements in detail.
• Onsite developers: These professionals usually work at the client’s location, with or without a dedicated office space. They can either work at their company’s onsite location or within your startup’s physical infrastructure.

Both these categories can be further categorized into remote and co-locate dev teams. Remote developers can work from anywhere while co-located teams need to be within the same space for better communication.

Software developer categories based on working models

In this segment, you will have two major categories, depending on the way application developers work on the dev project.

• Freelancers: These individuals are not associated with any organization. Rather, they work alone or in a team without following any jurisdiction. Hiring freelancers will not only offer you impeccable scalability but also cut down costs since they don’t charge as high as an IT company. However, choosing individual professionals isn’t an ideal choice for a long-term or large-scale application development project.
• Software development agencies: As the name implies, these companies handle different types of software development projects, from small-scale ones that last only for a couple of weeks to larger and broader ones with a minimum timeline of 3 or 5 years. Here, you will have access to a diverse skill set, which will be an add-on benefit for your planned technology stack.

Additional Read: Tips to Accelerate the Growth of your Startup Business

Software developer categories based on technical expertise

Based on their technical expertise, application developers can be categorized into three groups, namely:

• Frontend developers: These professionals are concerned with developing the user interfaces of any application, using technologies like JavaScript, React, NodeJS, Flutter, and many more.
• Backend developers: They primarily focus on handling the backend functionalities, underlying software architectures, and database connections. Usually, such professionals are experts in technologies like Java, PHP, Python, C++, and many more.
• Full-stack developers: If you do not want to hire backend and front developers separately, the best option will be to go with full-stack professionals. They are responsible for developing an entire application, be it the UI or the backend service-based APIs.

How to find an app developer based on skills?

While scanning the developer’s portfolio, you will come across a specific segment of skill sets. Your scrutiny algorithm should navigate around this section since it is the skill set that will ultimately add value to your project and future expansion plans. So, we have curated a comprehensive list of skills you should look for in software application developers.

• Programming languages: Every application developer should have in-depth knowledge of different programming languages necessary for writing codes, like Java, C++, Python, React, and Flutter.
• Development tools: Since multifarious tools and IDEs are used for developing the software, you should choose professionals with a good grasp of these platforms, like Eclipse, Laravel, VS Code, Selenium, and many more.
• Repositories: Another important skill that you must look into the software developers is their knowledge about repositories. These are centralized storage houses on a digital platform where different code versions, packages, directories, jar files, and static datasets are stored.
• Deployment and build tools: The dev team should have significant knowledge about the deployment process, via which the codes and packages are containerized and delivered to the production environment. Different types of deployment and build tools are used in SDLC, like Docker, Jenkins, CircleCI, Bamboo, GitLab, and Travis CI.
• Project management: Apart from technical skills, you should also look for developers with expertise in project management. It will make progress tracking of the SDLC project easier along with helping in planning, cost estimation, and auditing. From Jira to ServiceNow and Trello, there are several project management tools that you can choose.

What factors to consider for hiring software app developers?

Niche experience

The most pivotal factor that you should consider while looking for software developers for your startup is experience. For example, you should hire developers with enough industry experience in your niche, like developing a food delivery application or a web application for your banking company. Without specific niche experience, it will be difficult for the professionals to understand your business requirements and provide tailored solutions.

Technical expertise

Although software developers have diverse skill set, you should evaluate their technical expertise first. In other words, check which technologies they are proficient in and if their familiarity will add value to your project plan. You should also ask the consultant team about the technology stack the developers will use to build the application for your startup foundation. This will help you determine if the chosen tech stack will be relevant to your business plans or if any further modification is needed.

References and testimonials

One of the most important factors that you must consider while looking for application developers is the testimonials from past clients. For this, begin with their client portfolio to know which companies or organizations they have dealt with previously. Apart from this, check the reviews from past customers to gain valuable insights about the development agency or the freelance developers.

Cost estimation

Lastly, you should discuss the total project costs with the developers before finalizing anything. For this, consider the types of developers you want to hire and their work location. For example, hiring offshore developers might incur higher costs than onsite professionals. Similarly, full-stack developers will ask for higher project costs than backend or frontend developers.

Conclusion

In this article, we have shared comprehensive insights about hiring the best software application developers for your startup foundation. With this, you won’t have any problem finding the best professional who can cater to your business requirements and match your expansion plans. After all, a lot will be at stake and there’s no room for errors when it comes to choosing a development partner for your startup.