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You’re a Founder Building Your Startup? Why Nearshore Outsourcing Could Be The Right Choice

So you’re a startup CEO/Founder and you’re looking to build the next great app. You know what you need to build and you have the funds to do it. You start looking into building a great development team to get your product to market as soon as possible. You encounter the first roadblock to the development of your app: good US based developers are expensive.

You look at a second option, you’ve read that offshore development might be a good, cheap alternative. You start looking at offshore companies in Eastern Europe, India and the Middle East. The alternatives are very cheap but you encounter two main issues, first the time difference, you find that working closely with developers from the other side of the world might be hard, they work while you sleep and vice versa. But you find a bigger issue, you’ve done your research and found that there are mixed reviews about developers from other regions, a lot of reviews online about how what seemed to be a great deal ended up being a huge headache.

You’re stuck, US developers are out of your budget or shorten your runway in a very significant way and devs from the other side of the world are cheap but unreliable to say the least. Any other alternative?

Do what so many fortune 500 companies are doing. Go nearshore.

Nearshore development firms based in Latin America have a great track record of getting great results at great prices, both just as important for startup founders and CEOs that have limited time and resources to get their product out the door and into user’s hands. whether you need to outsource the entire development process or you need to build a team that will be led by in-house executives, LATAM outsourcing might just be the best possible choice.

We understand the pressure that startup founders and CEOs are under. In many cases they have raised capital and have to get results as soon as possible. At early stages of a startup its founders have to wear many hats. Juggling fund management, sales, networking, marketing, strategy, development and so much more. Startup founders are asked for constant updates as to how things are going and how quickly they can start to generate traction with their user base, they must report progress on a regular basis and are ultimately responsible if funds run out before they achieve profits.

Of course in most cases the most important part of the first stages of getting to market is actually building great software that users want to use. Generally, most of the initial funds go to development and as we’ve said, funds can run out fast if costs get out of hand or if developers are too expensive. This is one of the main reasons that as a startup founder you need to seriously consider looking to Latin American nearshore development as a very real alternative to get a great product to market.

We’ve covered all the reasons companies are choosing LATAM for nearshore development and team outsourcing, you can check that blog out here. Today we want to go over the reasons a startup founder that is building an app or a team to build an app should consider nearshore, looking well into a founding team’s needs and the solutions nearshore can give them.

Let’s look at six reasons to look for Nearshore development firms if you are a startup founder/CEO

Timezone

Possibly the most important thing you need as a founder and CEO is a development team that works as closely with you as possible, so that exactly what you have in mind gets built. That can be an issue with offshore teams that are on the other side of the planet. Working, coordinating and having productive meetings with teams that work while you sleep can be difficult. That’s not an issue with a nearshore team from latam. The nearshore team can work with you directly, and in most cases are up and working before you get into the office. This means you can see more of the work being done and you can be on the same page with your nearshore dev team every step of the way, making sure that everything you want done gets done.

It's even better if you have a local team that needs to work with the nearshore team, it allows them to have many productive hours together, every single day, and in every step of the development process, from daily SCRUM meetings to bugs to testing to production.

Quality

As a startup founder quality is at the top of your mind all of the time. Having a product that works as is intended, that has great design and great speed is key. American users expect it and will settle for nothing less. LATAM nearshore teams work with all the stacks that are currently being used in the US, allowing them to choose the right stack for your specific needs.

If you are looking to outsource you surely have read horror stories about offshore development as it relates to quality, performance, security and scalability.

The right nearshore team consists of world-class engineers that know how to build great software and they generally have the track record to show it. Huge American companies are looking to LATAM for software development and outsourcing because they know that the software being built is of the highest standards.

LATAM teams understand compliance issues and regulatory issues that impact different industries and will know how to work closely with you to build a product that meets all of the standards that need to be met for the American market.

Communication

As a founder and CEO good communication is extremely important and we’ve all heard of communication issues with offshore teams that are in other regions. That’s not an issue with LATAM nearshore teams. Teams from Latin America (Argentina and Mexico, for example) are known for having a very high level of english proficiency and great overall communication skills, fundamental elements in building great teams and great communication while building your amazing product.

Culture

There’s also the cultural aspects to take into account. As a founder and/or CEO you know that building a healthy company culture is one of the most important things in your agenda, a great culture at your company can make all the difference, it can be the determining factor on whether you succeed or fail. Tech startups that are built with a great culture are generally the teams that grow and stay around for years to come. Working with LATAM teams will allow you to work with teams that share many cultural and social aspects and points of view, allowing them to integrate themselves much better with your existing team and to have a well-rounded relationship long term, allowing for more commitment and overall better output and performance from your nearshore team and your on-premise team.

Legal aspects

As a startup founder you probably have a great idea that you want to protect and build into a success story. So having clear legal clarity is extremely important. Most times when you work with offshore teams they have their companies set up in countries that might have different laws when it comes to intellectual property, if you hit a snag in your relationship that can turn into a very big issue. Luckily with nearshore teams, that’s not going to be an issue. Nearshore dev shops will many times have their company set up in the US for this very reason, to give US based founding teams more confidence in legal matters that could arise. By having your dev outsourcing team set up with a US based company you and your legal team can create contracts and documents for the development of your product that you know will have your best interests in mind and that will be 100% enforceable in case something happens. Simply put, nearshore teams with US incorporation equals peace of mind for you as a founder.

Happy Investors

Like we mentioned at the start, as a founder you have limited funds to build a great product. Offshore is a cheap alternative but can be a big gamble. Nearshore on the other hand is the best of both worlds, allowing you to build great software at a fraction of the cost. So you have an experienced team working closely with you to get a great product to market as soon as possible and they cost you a fraction of what a team with the same amount of experience would cost you in the US.

Getting your product to market and doing it under budget is music to your investor's ears, they are going to be very happy and will know that you can get things done. Surely a good precedent to set so that next time you go out to look for funds when you are looking to scale they’ll know what you’re all about ;)

Conclusion

As a founder of a tech startup you have a lot on your plate and you have to get results as soon as possible and generally with limited funds. When US development teams are out of your budget or shorten your runway too much for you to feel comfortable and when offshore teams on the other side of the world don’t generate the confidence you need, for communicational, quality, legal or cultural reasons, Nearshore dev teams are definitely an alternative you need to consider as it can be the factor that allows you to have success in getting a great product to market.