· 6 min read
Hire a developer or work with a software team?
A practical guide for small and growing businesses deciding between a first in-house developer and an outside team: what each really costs, and when each makes sense.
The question behind the question
Most owners don't really want a developer. They want a working website, a booking system, or a way to stop rebuilding the same spreadsheet every month. Hiring is one way to get there; working with a team is another. The right choice depends less on price than on how much software work you will have, and for how long.
What a first hire actually involves
A salary is the visible part. Around it sit recruiting time, equipment and software licences, the weeks a new person needs to learn your business, and the time you spend managing work you may not be able to judge yourself.
One person also brings one set of skills. A typical small-business system needs design, front-end and back-end development, hosting, security and, increasingly, some automation. Few people are strong at all of them.
- Weeks or months of recruiting before anything is built
- Skills limited to what one person happens to know
- Costs that continue whether or not there is work that month
- Knowledge that leaves with them if they move on
What a team gives you instead
An outside team can usually start as soon as the scope is agreed, brings the different skills a project needs, and can work to a fixed price, so the budget doesn't grow with the calendar. The trade-off is that you need a clear brief and someone on your side to make decisions.
Ask any team you speak to who owns the code and the accounts at the end. The answer should be you, with documentation good enough that another developer could take over.
When hiring does make sense
If software is your product, or you will have a steady stream of development work for years, an in-house team becomes worthwhile. Even then, many businesses start with an outside team for the first version and hire once they know what the work really is.
- You have continuous development work, not a single project
- The software is your core product, not a tool that supports it
- You can manage developers, or already have a technical lead
A simple way to decide
Write down the next twelve months of software work you can see. If it fits into a few clear projects, a team on a fixed price is usually faster and less risky. If it is a constant flow with no end in sight, start planning a hire, and make sure whoever builds the first version leaves you code and documentation a new developer can pick up.