Is hiring your best option?

Growth, the speed of development, money, investors, advice from other founders – there are multiple reasons why startups decide to scale by hiring. 

At first, it looks easier and cheaper than working with external providers, but that’s not always true.

The bright sides of hiring

  • You have a chance to build a unique company culture,
  • Your employees work exclusively for you,
  • You have more control over projects and outcomes,
  • Additional synergies occur, (e.g. knowledge sharing);

The hidden risks of hiring

  • Good company culture is difficult to build…and easy to destroy,
  • You will need more structures and processes,
  • Hiring is expensive and time-consuming,
  • More people on board equals more problems to manage;

So, before jumping into hiring, you might want to consider alternatives:

Contractors 

are experienced professionals who can join you on a temporary basis (weeks to years) onsite or work remotely. They work exclusively for you and work as a part of your team. If the integration is successful, you might soon forget that your contractors are not actually your employees. It can be an ideal solution if you need to quickly add an experienced member to your existing team.

Software agencies 

provide you not only with technical specialists like developers and designers, but also project and account managers. The best agencies have expertise in various kinds of projects and products (hopefully also yours), so they will also act as consultants. It can be an ideal solution especially when you have an idea for service but no technical team onboard.

Freelancers 

can operate as a great add-on to your team, especially for less complex, short-term projects. They usually work on a project basis with multiple clients, so don’t expect them to come to your office or stick to certain hours.