In-house development – Is it a proposition worth taking?

Building software completely in-house can be a tempting option for many young startups.

It comes with loads of additive advantages: The idea of having complete control over the development process, being able to make quick decisions, and having direct access to the team can be very appealing, especially if you are at your growth stage.

However, before jumping into this approach, it is important to consider whether your product team is ready for this type of undertaking.

One of the main risks of building software completely in-house is the lack of expertise. Building a software product requires a diverse set of skills –

From MVP ideation and

Felicitating the user experience for a growing user base

To developmental changes with

Testing features of every product change now and then.

Building software in-house is difficult, especially while keeping up with changing customer needs and the up-to-date technology required to build one. Most of the in-house teams lack an understanding of product scalability, and hiring additional employees is becoming a piling exercise that they will abandon when the next funding winter arrives. This is putting a strain on investors' capital, and the only solution their portfolio can come up with is to waste money on futile marketing gimmicks.

Hiring for your growth needs rather a mere 9-5

In the early growth stages of any startup, the scenario is full of a chaotic bombardment of responsibilities which will further require early growth members to wear multi-tasking hats. Even with a dedicated talent acquisition team, it may be difficult to find individuals who possess all of the skills for the required development.

Therefore, streamlining recruitment strategies is still one of the biggest challenges for startups in growth staging. Recruiters have reported this as a “skill crunch” in the market with demands for these specific roles at their pinnacle. Startups are already coming up with HR tech solutions to probe into these hiring challenges. However, it is more of a humane issue that requires a change in strategy rather than a change in the tech stack you are deploying. With the tech market flourishing with trillions of businesses every year and subsequently software development: the most in-demand skill set to have, this is pushing the ball in job seekers’ favor. If you are a startup in talks with an applicant with multiple job offers, there is a high probability he is cross-shopping with you. For him/her, you are just one of the money-churning machines and it will not be viable for you to completely rely on just one profile for your growing production needs. The usual time taken by candidates on arriving at their decision station would surely make your startup miss catching up to the growth train which is extremely crucial for monetizing your customer retention.