4 ms·

Do you really need a full-time hire for that?

48 points by antichaos 15y ago

zeroonetwothree 15y ago
One problem with this idea is that most quality people aren't going to want to work as contractors part-time. Now if the work you need to do is not particularly hard or you don't need it done particularly well then this might work.
- _pius 15y ago
  One problem with this idea is that most quality people aren't going to want to work as contractors part-time. That's a strong assertion for which I see no evidence in the market. Plenty of great programmers and designers neither have to nor want to work for anyone else.
ComputerGuru 15y ago
I have the opposite problem - or more accurately, it's the opposite face of the same problem: same issues, opposite approach. I have a lot of different tasks that I would like to hire someone(s) to do, but nowhere near enough work to make it worth the overhead and inefficiencies of doing so. As such, I end doing the mail, finance, support calls (omg, the support calls and emails!), etc. for our startup, and can only hope to weather it out until the amount of work becomes enough to make it actually worth hiring someone. The real problem is that a lot of it is very domain-specific. This isn't generic stuff that can be freelanced - it's ongoing work that'll take up an hour of my (your) day and requires intimate familiarity with the how and what of our day-to-day routine and products. I still outsource/contract stuff like design work and other "parcelable" jobs, but most of the drudgery will remain on my shoulders until the problems outlined in TFA are no longer applicable for me.
- true_religion 15y ago
  I had this same problem but lately I've decided to emulate the model of my Uncle. He has been a fairly successful businessman since the late 70s, with ventures ranging from publishing to travel service to real estate. One thing he always did though was draw in members of the family to help. You'd be surprised how happily people will help you once asked, and being able to step away from a task for an hour or two is a huge relief. Also the quality of advise goes up highly once people become more involved with your business---from the outside looking in, everything seems hunky-dory and you're liable to just have family grin and say "its awesome!" if you ask for their help. Once they've worked on it for a little while too, maybe because they feel they've earned the right to have input they'll tell you what they really feel. This applies to your users/customers too--get buy-in from Day 1 and they'll be the best QA department you ever had. When you have someone right out a 3 page email detailing their thoughts, then you know you're onto something.
- adrianhoward 15y ago
  Interesting that you want to get rid of the support calls and e-mails. I'd hate to have to do that. I get so much useful feedback on what I'm doing wrong :-)
reilly3000 15y ago
I consider using outside resources a great strategy. Having an influential agency on your side rather an a full time designer can mean connections that wouldn't have happened otherwise. It also keep the focus on projects with a beginning and an end. FTE's are great for somebody that represents a core function of the business. In my services company we have 6 of them, end everybody is at 95-100% capacity and bought into what we're doing. Adding even one more person though can be treacherous, especially when building a product. The article is right, users will let you know endlessly about how to fix the UI, you don't need some UI god to figure that out before you have something built.
jackmcdade 15y ago
My thoughts exactly. Be smart with your hires.

48 points by antichaos 15y ago

One problem with this idea is that most quality people aren't going to want to work as contractors part-time. Now if the work you need to do is not particularly hard or you don't need it done particularly well then this might work.

_pius 15y ago
One problem with this idea is that most quality people aren't going to want to work as contractors part-time. That's a strong assertion for which I see no evidence in the market. Plenty of great programmers and designers neither have to nor want to work for anyone else.

ComputerGuru 15y ago

I have the opposite problem - or more accurately, it's the opposite face of the same problem: same issues, opposite approach. I have a lot of different tasks that I would like to hire someone(s) to do, but nowhere near enough work to make it worth the overhead and inefficiencies of doing so. As such, I end doing the mail, finance, support calls (omg, the support calls and emails!), etc. for our startup, and can only hope to weather it out until the amount of work becomes enough to make it actually worth hiring someone. The real problem is that a lot of it is very domain-specific. This isn't generic stuff that can be freelanced - it's ongoing work that'll take up an hour of my (your) day and requires intimate familiarity with the how and what of our day-to-day routine and products. I still outsource/contract stuff like design work and other "parcelable" jobs, but most of the drudgery will remain on my shoulders until the problems outlined in TFA are no longer applicable for me.

true_religion 15y ago
I had this same problem but lately I've decided to emulate the model of my Uncle. He has been a fairly successful businessman since the late 70s, with ventures ranging from publishing to travel service to real estate. One thing he always did though was draw in members of the family to help. You'd be surprised how happily people will help you once asked, and being able to step away from a task for an hour or two is a huge relief. Also the quality of advise goes up highly once people become more involved with your business---from the outside looking in, everything seems hunky-dory and you're liable to just have family grin and say "its awesome!" if you ask for their help. Once they've worked on it for a little while too, maybe because they feel they've earned the right to have input they'll tell you what they really feel. This applies to your users/customers too--get buy-in from Day 1 and they'll be the best QA department you ever had. When you have someone right out a 3 page email detailing their thoughts, then you know you're onto something.
adrianhoward 15y ago
Interesting that you want to get rid of the support calls and e-mails. I'd hate to have to do that. I get so much useful feedback on what I'm doing wrong :-)

reilly3000 15y ago

I consider using outside resources a great strategy. Having an influential agency on your side rather an a full time designer can mean connections that wouldn't have happened otherwise. It also keep the focus on projects with a beginning and an end. FTE's are great for somebody that represents a core function of the business. In my services company we have 6 of them, end everybody is at 95-100% capacity and bought into what we're doing. Adding even one more person though can be treacherous, especially when building a product. The article is right, users will let you know endlessly about how to fix the UI, you don't need some UI god to figure that out before you have something built.

jackmcdade 15y ago

My thoughts exactly. Be smart with your hires.