Hire Developers for Your Startup: A Complete Guide

When you’re a startup owner, you want to move forward in changing your ideas into reality as early as possible. Specifically, if it involves launching an app or software to the public, you’ll want to hire developers for your startup right away. We’re saying this because the competition in the tech market is intense, as thousands of new apps are released every year. 

Don’t believe us? Here’s what we found: 

• As per Statista, approx 90,000 mobile apps went up on Google Play in February of 2023 alone. 
• Another 31,500 went up on the Apple App Store the same month.

So, if you’re a startup wanting to develop its own app, you must do it pronto! You’ll have to design it, develop it, test it, and fine-tune it to perfection. Even if you’re a coding superstar yourself, you can’t afford to be bogged down in taking care of the development part. Who’ll take care of your business and its growth in other areas? So, sorry to break it to you, but you’ll need a solid team, and it’ll also require you to hire startup developers.

Alright, you don’t have to worry so much now! We know that the process to find a developer for your startup that’s right for your new venture is very difficult. For this reason, we’re here to help you with our comprehensive guide on how you can hire developers for your startup. Keep reading till the end, and you’ll have all your questions answered. 

Why do startups need developers in the first place?

When you’re a startup competing with big, far more established companies, getting a team of competent developers should be a priority. Why? Here are our top 3 reasons:

Developing a software requires technical expertise

There are a lot of different technical tools involved when you’re developing a digital solution as a part of your business product. For example, we use Figma for design and Flutter for cross-platform development. Ever heard of these before? They’re one of many tools in the tech stack for us that help us change your vision into a reality. 

So if you want to create a digital product, you need to hire programmers for startup who will do the programming part to turn your idea into reality.

Your startup needs to focus on growth

A startup’s growth curve has to be steep in the early phases because you’ll probably be looking for investments to fund your business. You’ll usually need to give the investors a demo of how your product/service solves a specific problem. When you do this, there are more chances of them taking an interest in your company. 

Most startups often present investors with a minimum viable product (MVP). An MVP is a working version of your product with the minimum features required to function. It’s often presented to the early adopters to validate your idea in the development process.

When you create MVP quickly, you may secure funding quickly.  It will fund your project and allow you to start developing it further. You’ll need to find a developer for your startup early on to create an MVP quickly and efficiently.

Develop a team

There’s just so much you can juggle on your plate when you’re the founder and owner of a startup. You may be a multi-tasker, but you’ll need a team that can carry out different tasks as you grow. 

As a company offering digital solutions, you’ll soon be required to build an IT team too. When you hire a developer for a project, they will become a core component of your IT department that can help you achieve your goals. 

In our opinion, your startup will benefit more from having the team in charge of development from the earlier stages of business development than from bringing them in later. This way, they’ll get more familiar with your vision and be able to roll smoothly with other business processes. 

We’re sure that you, too, probably need to hire developers for your startup if you relate to any of the above points we made. Now let’s get to the tough part– how to find a developer for your startup. Don’t get all nervous, as we’ve listed all the steps for you to prepare well in advance. 

7 key steps to hire developers for your start up 

You need a strategy when you have an urgent requirement to hire startup developers in a startup. It prevents you from wasting time with unnecessary interviews or, worse, making a bad hire. Follow these steps, one after another, to hire the right candidate for your team.

Define your needs

You can’t find a developer for your startup that can help you achieve objectives unless you list them. Therefore, figuring out why you want to hire developers is the first step in this process. You might be looking to find coders for your startup for quick development of MVP, or maybe you have a whole team and just need additional front-end developers specializing in a certain technology. Whatever your reason may be, think about defining the following:

• Your product requirements with the supporting platform and its features
• It’s security requirements with best practices to mitigate risks
• Time to market and how to make it happen
• What tech stack they must know based on their role and project

Draft a job description

This step will get easier once you have defined what you need out of the new hires. Write a job description that clearly defines the role, responsibilities, and required skillset. Keep the following things in mind:

• Your job description should be easy to read with proper structure and sentence format.
• You should introduce them to the values and missions of your company. Use it to entice them with the advantages of working with you.
• Provide crystal-clear details about the required expertise with the tech stack. 

Fix a budget

A very crucial step for a bootstrap startup is to budget well for the recruiting process and not overspend. It will be difficult to find a developer for your startup without matching the salary budget of bigger corporations, but we strongly suggest prioritizing expertise and not settling for rookie developers. Figure out how much does it cost to hire a developer in your locality. If you’re not able to match the bonuses and perks offered by the corps, make your offer more enticing with ideas like:

• Increased flexibility with work from home (WFH) model or allowing them to work on their own venture
• Offer stock options
• Growth opportunities
• A great working environment (maybe pet-friendly?)
• A lean structure that enables quick promotion

The options are endless. You just need to get creative with what you can offer. 

Define platforms for recruitment

Once you’ve decided on your budget and what you’ll be offering them as an employer, the next step is to figure out the platforms that will enable you to find a developer for your startup. As a team of expert developers, we’re qualified to advise on how to find a developer for your startup. Here are some Anglara-approved ideas on where to find developers for startup:

• Put your job description on hiring platforms, such as LinkedIn, ZipRecruiter, Github, Stack Overflow, etc.
• Organize or join hackathons to meet new developers and get a taste of their skills.
• Join already established developer networks, such as Yahoo! Developer Network or Apple Developers.

When you have a well-drafted job description, you can use tools from Freshworks and GoHire to automate job posting on multiple platforms and save time. 

Shortlist candidates

Once you have a good number of applicants, it’s time to screen them. Screening candidates the old-fashioned way is neither time nor cost-effective. Other companies might bag good candidates by the time you get to their application. There are sever HR software out there to automate candidate screening and help you hire developers online, such as:

• Smartrecruiters 
• Jobvite
• Manatal
• ClearCompany
• Fetcher

Interview them

Now you have a list of potential candidates that look good on paper. It’s time to test them in person with an interview and a tech round. In a tech position, you need someone who proves to have a strong sense of logic and great problem-solving skills. At Anglara, we implement a three-step process to allow all candidates an opportunity to prove themselves, which includes:

• Logical Task Round

The candidate is given a logical task they can work on with their preferred tech stack. This helps you understand two things about your potential developer:

• How great their logic is, and
• How optimized their code is.

• Tech Round

Once we’re happy with the solution presented in the logical task round, we move on to our second round– a Tech Round. We ask one of our text experts to verify a solution given by the candidate and validate their techniques and knowledge. It’s also important for our tech experts to verify that the candidate provided an authentic solution and not derived by techniques of someone else.

• CEO/CTO Round

Lastly, once we’re happy with the first two rounds, we move on to the final CEO/CTO round. The candidate is interviewed to test if they possess:

• Ability to be a strong team player
• Solid communication skills
• Matches values of the company (startup’s idea and vision).

Our process of interviewing ensures that we get a holistic experience of the candidate’s skills and shortcomings first-hand. It promises the onboarding of the most competent talent that fits our requirements.

Onboarding process

Once you’ve found the ideal applicant and negotiated a fair offer, it’s time to put everything in writing, including the conditions and work orders. Don’t risk losing your best candidate for the job by delaying making formal offers. Once you hire a developer for a project, ensure a smooth and effective onboarding process. The quality of an employee’s onboarding process is a strong predictor of how long they will remain with a firm.

Here are a few things you can consider for a smooth onboarding process: 

• Introducing them to the rest of the team and making them feel involved and welcomed.
• Provide them with all the tools they need to start their role with full confidence.
• Keep the gates of communication open so they find themselves at ease to speak up.
• Giving new recruits positive feedback and acknowledgment for taking initiative will help them feel more comfortable in their jobs more immediately.

There you have it, an entire list of things that will guide you on how to hire software developers for startup. But hold up! It wouldn’t be fair if we didn’t admit to the challenges of recruiting developers new ventures face. Without knowing these challenges, you’ll only have an incomplete picture in hand, and you won’t be able to prepare for it. So, keep reading to know the list of common challenges startups face when recruiting developers.

Challenges of recruiting local developers

Talent shortage

It’s no secret that there is a great shortage and high demand for developers in the tech industry. So when a new tech business wants to hire a developer for a project, they face extreme difficulty. Some of these numbers might shock you:

• In 2021, there was a global deficit of 40 million competent developers and engineers. 
• By 2030, experts project that number to rise to 85.2 million!
• Only about a quarter of developers applying for jobs are good enough to work there. 
• Most IT recruiters agree that finding qualified applicants for developer positions is the most difficult part of the process.
• More than 50% of companies still hire developers despite their services suffering from a lack of quality because of a mismatch between needs and actual talents.

New businesses are often on the losing end when they want to hire startup developers. Because even if some qualified talent shows up, large corps often snatch them quickly. The root of all the other problems, talent shortage, leads us to the next challenge that you will face in recruiting local developers– how expensive it is to hire one.

More costly

You shouldn’t be surprised after knowing that software developers cost a lot and IT is the highest-paying industry. Well, the wages have simply skyrocketed, resulting from severe developer scarcity. 

Wondering how much does it cost to hire a developer? A computer programmer’s typical annual wage in the United areas is over $100,000, with some areas paying as much as double the national average. 

So when you hire your own local, in-house developer, you’ll have to keep your budget flexible and pockets open. Not only does an in-house developer demands salaries, perks, and security, but you’ll also account for upskilling and certification cost to keep them updated with new technologies. 

Time-consuming

We know that we’ve listed a straightforward and easy-to-follow hiring process above, but you shouldn’t underestimate the process just yet. The process of hiring is quite complicated and time-consuming, keeping your resources tied. It takes two to three months on average to fill a post. Leadership and other key roles can take much longer.

Because your venture is new, attracting and retaining talented startup developers may be extra difficult. Most new businesses do not have a dedicated human resources department that handles recruiting and screening candidates. As a result, you, the entrepreneur, will need to wear several hats, including that of human resources manager, to hire programmers for startup, aiding the smooth onboarding process, and juggle other tasks. 

The ability to employ swiftly and effectively is a crucial factor in a startup’s success. Investing in recruitment software or technologies (some of which we mentioned above) may help you save time and energy. We suggest you automate as many of the manual procedures associated with the hiring process as possible.

Competitive hiring 

Have you ever experienced the frustration of losing team members and how it can throw off your entire schedule? It’s not just a minor setback; it can set you back for months! And did you know that if you plan on re-hiring, you’ll have to spend even more money on job ads and interviews? 

Unfortunately, even the most promising team members can sometimes jump ship. Because guess what? Big companies often dangle irresistible perks in front of developers, leaving budget-tight startups in the dust. It’s a cutthroat game, and everyone’s playing to win. 

It’s a tough world out there, with big corporations constantly on the lookout to hire developers. So, either you stay prepared to offer competitive benefits or risk losing the talented developers you worked so hard to bring on board. This is important to keep this in mind when you hire startup developers in the local talent pool for an in-house team.

These challenges may sound tremendously difficult, and there’s no reason to downplay them. This is why in the past few years early startups are increasingly choosing to hire contract developers offshore. Even the tech giants like Google and Microsoft have offshored their operations abroad. Let’s look at some benefits of hiring offshore software developers over in-house local ones below so you can decide if it fits your needs.

Benefits of offshore development

Offshore development means outsourcing your software development projects to a third-party developing agency in a foreign land. It provides some unique advantages that may be especially appealing to new ventures and bootstrap startups. 

Beat talent shortage

Imagine having access to a global pool of talent! The beauty of outsourcing software development is that you no longer have to worry about how to find developers for your startup in the restricted local pool of talent. 

You get the power to select the most talented IT developers from all corners of the world! In fact, India boasts of a massive IT talent pool that specializes in:

• Software Application Development, 
• Mobile App Development, 
• Ai And Machine Learning, 
• And Custom Software Development.

Wheebox’s India Skill Report 2021 found that 48.27% of all IT exam takers had scores of at least 60%, making them prime candidates for employment. Additionally, the Global Skills Report 2022 published by Coursera showed that Indian tech talent pioneered the skills of:

• Software engineering, 
• Web development, 
• Computer programming, 
• And cloud computing. 

So if you’re wondering where to hire a web developer or how to hire programmers for a startup in the competitive market, India could be your answer. 

Save costs

As a startup owner, embracing thriftiness is a crucial virtue that can make all the difference! Did you know that outsourcing your projects to developers in India can be a cost-effective solution, especially for countries like the US or UK? 

By taking advantage of the lower cost of living and wages, you can get the same high-quality work done at a fraction of the cost. For example, software engineers in the US make an average annual salary of $114,808. On the other hand, in India, the average annual salary for software engineers of the same competency is just around $6,590.21. Quite a difference, right? Additionally, you don’t have to worry about additional costs from:

• Perks and benefits,
• Special equipment,
• Software,
• And upskilling.

Leave behind the recruitment burden

Choosing to recruit in-house developers for a company involves more thought than offshoring. For a full-time hire, you’ll have to think about whether the applicant possesses both the hard and soft skills to match the team and thrive in the company culture for years to come. Finding such prospects and making a choice are difficult tasks.

However, when you hire contract developers by offshoring, it becomes significantly easier. The only thing you must take into account is if they can get your job done and have the necessary skill sets and tools to take on the present project. 

How anglara can help?  

As your outsourcing partner for software development, Anglara has all the means to be a great companion through the process of creating a unique digital solution for your startup. We have a team of professionals with over seven years of experience working with 40+ companies in different sectors.

We deeply care about our clients and our relationships. Therefore, we customize our digital services to meet your demands and the needs of your users. Our team of engineers and designers will exert every effort to realize your vision for the digital solution that you wish your business to thrive on.

Take advantage of our free 30-minute consultation to talk with us about the details of your project. We will be pleased to answer any queries or address any doubts. Complete the form below to set up a virtual appointment, and we’ll get in touch with you right away.