Should Startups Outsource Software Development?

"Why would we hire an agency instead of simply employing developers that will work full-time for us?" … is a question we often hear when we pitch ourselves to startups. And it’s a completely valid question! Why would somebody want to pay an outsourced team, when it could be cheaper or easier to have somebody on the inside? But is this really the case?

Who are we? Firstly, let’s introduce ourselves - we are zerodays, a custom software development team based in Slovenia, with extensive experience in working with startups. They have been a part of our story right from the beginning of our company.

Some of the more notable startups we worked on since the early startup days were for example Astra AI (AI powered math tutor), Proky.io (online platform that connected clients and horeca suppliers) and LlamaJET (pharmaceutical marker for laboratory labware).

Should you outsource? So do we believe that outsourcing is the right choice for all startups? Well, the answer differs a bit based on the founders - are they themselves a technical founder and do they already have a team or not, and of course based on the industry they operate in, but shortly - yes. Outsourcing the development team is beneficial in each case. We can only speak from experience, but in our work with startups, we've gained valuable insights that make us believe outsourcing to a partner is the best move for startups for multiple reasons:

1. Worked Across Different Niches: An outsourced agency has probably worked in various industries, which means they’ve seen a lot and can quickly adapt to different challenges.

2. Learning from Mistakes and Gaining Knowledge: Outsourced development partners witness the ups and downs of startup life while working with startups, so they know what works and what doesn’t. Additionally, by partnering with an established team, you gain access to extensive knowledge, including valuable resources like code templates that we have crafted for the best performance, which you would otherwise have to develop on your own.

3. Efficient Resource Use: Instead of hiring full-time staff for everything, an agency can cover all your needs with fewer people. For example, providing a third of the time for frontend, backend, and DevOps each month rather than having to hire three separate in-house full-time developers.

4. Flexible Work Model: The startup world is unpredictable, and when work slows down, you don’t have to worry about layoffs with an outsourced development partner. You can just scale back the work, pause it, or ramp it up as needed—whatever works best for you.

5. Agencies Stick Around: Unlike in-house developers who might leave and take their knowledge with them, agencies should ensure that all the expertise stays with your project. Even if someone from the team moves on, the knowledge stays, so you don’t lose any momentum.

6. Faster Turnaround: Agencies usually already have an established team that can get to work quickly, saving you time and costs associated with building your own team from scratch. The shorter learning curve also allows to start projects swiftly, without the delays of assembling and onboarding a new team.

7. Comprehensive Service and Quality: Outsourced partners should focus on finding and training top developers, taking care of all employment aspects, so you can concentrate solely on your product. Finding and onboarding new developers is challenging, but with the right partner, you won’t have to build your dream team - they handle it all for you.

So should startups without tech founders or already established team outsource their software development? That’s obviously a pretty clear-cut case—it’s easy to see why someone with limited tech knowledge would choose to trust their software development to an outsourced team. These teams bring in experts from different areas of software development, make smart tech decisions, and can even lead the project on their own. So, for all the reasons we’ve talked about, outsourcing is definitely the way to go.

How about startups which have a tech founder/team? If the startup already has a technical team or founders who take on the main development roles, an agency might not always be the perfect fit. However, there are still some advantages to outsourcing, mainly when it comes to the increase in the amount of work—instead of temporarily employing someone, an outsourced agency can easily cover the spikes for them.

All in all, we can say that outsourcing is the right path for many startups. From extensive experience, to faster turnaround the benefits of having a great development partner who is committed to delivering outstanding results is the key advantage in the volatile startup world. And let’s not forget the most important thing - the passion for work and creating amazing digital products.

If you are looking for a top notch development partner with experience and passion, reach out to us, and let’s make something great together!

This blog was made by the awesome team at zerodays.dev.