By Alvaro Chacon, Founding Partner and President Stateside Co.. Sourcing, retaining and managing stellar digital talent on your behalf.
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One of the biggest challenges I see companies face when building digital platforms is hiring uncertainty. In my experience, hiring problems often occur when companies view development unilaterally and hire developers too early. Hiring developers as quickly as an architect can bring a general contractor for construction before even creating a blueprint. A more effective method? Consider development in stages and hire accordingly.
To help you adopt this approach and evaluate your hiring needs, I’ve outlined a three-stage development process based on a simple startup. I have used this model in my company to navigate and, most importantly, to optimize the development process for our clients. I am giving you my top advice on targeting each stage and recruiting the talent needed to level up your development stage.
Step 1: From concept to proof of concept
In the first step, you may have an idea about your startup and business model, but it is still in your head or written here and there. You still don’t have a clear vision. Not sure what your platform will look like or what its features will be.
Your goal: Build a prototype. You need a great prototype to prove your business model, gather feedback from potential users, secure initial funding, and move on to the second step.
Recruitment Requirement: You usually No. Now a developer is needed. While some developers can help prototype, you can’t maximize their talent. My advice: Hire a prototyping expert, such as a UX / UI expert or graphic designer with experience using software such as Figma, Invision or Typeform. You will always save time and money to hire someone to do a job in their state of the art.
Phase II: Minimal Effective Products (MVP) and Bootstrapping
You’ve proven your business model at this stage, received positive feedback on proof of your ideas, and even secured funding! At this stage, you need to evaluate your budget, align your goals with your budget, and create a technology road map.
Your goal: Start construction.
Recruitment Requirement: At the moment, a good developer is one Of course-Probably even a development team. Your budget and goals will determine whether you hire for the short or long term. A company in the second step should ensure that their stuffing plan includes an expert (or specialists) who can implement a quality control process. Finally, explore the code repositories, including version controls, which ensure that the company owns the code and can access it at any time.
Additional considerations: If your budget is tight, but you want to find a product, hire a short-term solution. You can hire a freelance developer or a small development team for project based work. Most freelancers you hire should know WordPress, Wix, Shopify, Bubble.is and / or Squarespace. Keep in mind, however, that building with a third-party platform means you may later encounter issues with scalability, portability, and security. Plan ahead!
Keep in mind that freelancers are more cost-effective advances and often great coders, you bring them for the near term, which can keep your platform away from scaling in the future. Unlike internal, long-term hiring, freelancers usually do not explain your business needs, manage projects, solve business problems or consider marketing and SEO.
If you have the funds, consider hiring in the long run and build your internal team. You can create an in-house staff, or depending on your budget and the technical skills of the initial team, you may want to outsource some work quickly and help reduce costs. As well as developers, a fraction CTO and product manager can help you progress at this stage.
Whether hired for short or long term, you still need to plan and budget for additional, future development. The solution worked in the first stage may not be suitable for future stages. Be aware that it is common to rebuild your codebase from scratch when you scale. Stay tuned; Your digital platform will only help your business grow if it works and meets the needs of users as technology changes. My rule: investing পরিক 1 in the plan saves $ 10 to create your product and $ 100 when the product is ready.
Step 3: Startup with a solid online presence
You now secure angels, seeds and / or other investments, your platform works and you have a strong online presence. The good news is that you have already laid the groundwork for the first and second phase development. Your job now is to keep the machine running and make sure you have the right team to do it.
Your goal: Create a team set for the long term.
Recruitment Requirement: Now the main purpose is to assemble a permanent team like your MVP. At this stage, I recommend hiring a full-time product manager and a strong technical leader or architect. They will help create a technology roadmap, create a clean workflow and disclosure process, set up quality assurance and control systems, and create redundancies. And, importantly, the right team will make sure you own the code, and they’ll host it in a reputable repository with version control. Your budget should now include hiring marketing and SEO experts. Lastly, you may want to consider hiring an external consultant, a freelancer or an agency, who can help you streamline your costs.
Remember: development is growing. Be aware of what stage you are at. And save time and money in reaching your goals by hiring the right people for the job.