How Do Small Companies Benefit From Hiring Remote Developers?

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As I write this article, Americans are quitting their jobs in record numbers. The Great Resignation, predicted by Professor Anthony Klotz of Texas A&M, shows no sign of slowing down and is almost a year old.

Well, of course, I don’t mean to suggest that the millions who quit are all software developers, but a fair number are. The high cost of living in big cities, a large part of the day wasted stuck in traffic, and stress is the reason many developers are turning freelancers.

On the other side of the coin, thousands of small businesses are shifting away from hiring in-house staff and relying more on remote developers.

How does hiring a remote WordPress developer help your business? We take an inside look.

Benefits of hiring remote WordPress developers

  1. Slash overheads in a big way

The traditional way is expensive. Imagine you need a team of twenty developers to manage a new ecommerce store. 

Now think in terms of cubicle space—at least 3000 sq ft. Add to it a kitchen and restroom and you are easily looking at 4500 sq ft.

Rent is not the only consideration. There is heating and lighting to be considered.

You have to provide lunch, snacks, and coffee. No one is going to rinse the coffeemaker, so add in the cost of part-time housekeeping! 

The overheads show no sign of easing and meager profit margin gets eaten away.

As a business owner, you have to be competitive and that means reducing costs where you can.

Freelancers don’t sit in your office. They use their laptop and work from their kitchen table. Not only do you save on the cost of rent, but equipment and depreciation.

  1. Skilled workforce at a fraction of the cost

The cost of living in the west is high. Everyone is used to a certain lifestyle (rightly so) but this drives up wages beyond reach.

Let’s look at data from Mexico. 

Audi pays its auto workers in San José Chiapa, Mexico, only $2 an hour to build Q5 priced at $40,000 in Los Angeles.  

The average annual paycheck is $6000 at most. In the USA, that would have been closer to $45,000. Why? Because Mexicans who make Audi SUVs don’t aspire to buy them. At most, they dream of buying a dusty and beat-up Ford Fusion.

You can find an experienced Java developer in India for as little as $10 per hour, the wage charged by a McDonald’s fry cook in Austin, Texas.

Why India alone? Philippines, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic. They all offer the same advantage.

Ask yourself, do you want to hire a developer in Seattle for $65,000 plus benefits, or pay $8,000 to someone in Delhi to get it done?

Whatever the cons, the cheaper cost of labor outweighs them all, especially when you are outsourcing a team of several developers.

  1. Better quality work from home

Before the pandemic happened, small businesses had some qualms about recruiting remote developers.

Was the quality of work as good? Do employees get work done from home? How do I know they are working and not playing in the yard with their dog?

The last point is right. You don’t know if they are playing when they are supposed to be working.

But guess what, a recent Stanford study has shown that work from home improves productivity by 13%.

That is about 9 more minutes per shift or four hours a month.

Moreover, with a remote developer, you can opt to work on an hourly basis. No need to factor in sick days and leaves. 

You pay for the quanta of work done, not if they showed up at the office and used up a dozen Keurig pods and cup cakes. 

And that is exactly as it should be in this competitive era. The days of large signing bonuses, paid vacation time, coverage for health, and dental are gone.

No one can afford it. Look what cost escalation did to auto companies in Detroit.

  1. Faster delivery due to narrow focus

You don’t task a remote developer with all of a project.

Instead, you break the project into manageable chunks and hand it to three of them.

They can work as a team, or individually, with you or a manager maintaining the roster and managing the flow.

If you employed someone full time, the huge cost of employment also meant you burdened them with large tasks. A job that needs a hundred hours could stretch into a month’s wait.

Three remote developers can do it in a week or at most ten days.

That means you are faster, your business can turn on a dime and go where it wants.

No longer do you have to wait for the rest of the business process to catch up with your thoughts. They move as quickly as you.

Getting things done in the shortest possible lead time is the best thing that can happen to any business.

With the help of remote developers, you get access to it 24×7.

  1. Reduce both teeth and tail

The US Army has 480,893 regular soldiers.

In case there is a war, all the half a million don’t take up arms.

There are only about 70,000 fighting men (those who carry an M4 rifle and backpack).

The other 410,000 are the tail, i.e. supply and support personnel.

After all, the men in combat need food, ammunition, clothing, boots, etc. the army also needs accountants, logistics experts, drivers, mechanics, cleaners, managers, HR personnel, payroll experts.

With remote development, you not only can be free of the teeth (software developers on permanent salary) but also the tail (office managers who look after HR and pay).

Fewer people and fewer emails! Less pay, and less hassle.

Leaves you plenty of time to do opposition research, investigate the market, and take a bite out of the rival’s share.

A lean and mean business that has a single-minded focus—growing profits 2X annually.

  1. A new perspective from the world over

There is no one way to do a task. Someone else’s viewpoint helps.

This is especially true of programming.

Why not get a fresh perspective from someone with a different kind of critical thinking skill?

After all, our upbringing and circumstances color our knowledge. Someone from a different place can teach you to do something in a better way, more sustainable, and far cheaper than you have been used to.

Freelancers do not have a legacy mindset. That is a huge plus as it brings innovation. An ample amount of eager, new energy is what makes a market leader different from the also-rans.

Find the best remote developers with a click

Where do you find the best remote developers?

Who will build your dream WordPress site at a fraction of your budgeted cost?

You can search on popular job boards. Even take the help of social media, e.g.Reddit and LinkedIn, and reach out to a few whose knowledge base seems substantial.

Better still, use the services of a marketplace of vetted remote developers

Sources

https://www.upwork.com/resources/why-companies-hire-freelancers

https://www.zenesys.com/blog/advantages-of-hiring-remote-developers

https://kodytechnolab.com/blog/hire-remote-developers/

https://www.monitask.com/en/blog/advantages-of-a-hire-remote-developers