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We’ve all had the annoying experience of clicking on a website or opening an app only to find it’s down for maintenance or not working. In that situation, we’re either left frustrated that we couldn’t do what we needed to, or even in some cases, look for what we want elsewhere. 

That’s why downtime is such a serious business: ultimately, it can mean lost sales and spoilt customer relationships. While updates and maintenance are necessary, users want an uninterrupted service, which makes zero downtime deployment (ZDD) the ideal approach. 

ZDD allows you to make the required changes in the background without affecting the user experience. But how does it work in practice? We’re going to cover strategies, tools, and best practices that can help you achieve successful zero-downtime deployment. 

What is Zero Downtime Deployment? 

Traditional deployment methods usually require that a web application goes temporarily offline whenever any updates need to be made. This is counterproductive to overall business objectives and therefore something that senior management and business architects are keen for development teams to avoid. 

A zero downtime deployment strategy makes it possible to make changes without disrupting usual service, with techniques like blue-green deployments or canary releases. We’ll go into more detail on those later, but the general idea is to introduce changes gradually, and closely monitor the progress. 

This means there is less risk of things going wrong and users get a continuous experience, which helps keep them happy and engaged. Plus, it can make the difference between a customer choosing your business or straying to a competitor.

Zero downtime deployment also improves operational efficiency, as the pressure and the risks that come with traditional deployment are minimized. No elaborate planning is needed to take the system offline and coordinate multiple teams, as automated processes and continuous integration are used for a faster development cycle and less stressful deployment. 

Key Strategies for Zero Downtime Deployment 

ZDD is not just a single technique but a combination of strategies that take different approaches to minimizing disruption to user experience (UX) during deployment. 

Blue-Green Deployments

For this method, two identical environments are maintained: the active (blue) environment and the idle (green) environment. Initially, updates are deployed to the idle environment, allowing teams to conduct thorough testing without any impact on users. 

Once everything has been verified, the traffic is switched to the green environment, and so the updated version goes live without any downtime. The main upside of this approach is that if any issues arise, it’s possible to quickly revert back to the blue environment. The downside is that blue-green deployments require double the infrastructure, which makes it an expensive choice. 

Canary Releases

In the case of a canary release, updates are rolled out to a small group of users, known as the canary group, before they are deployed to the entire user base. The team can then monitor the stability and performance of the new release under controlled conditions. Any issues that come up will only have minimal impact in the context of the wider user base. 

This is a great way to validate new features or changes without risking all users encountering potential bugs. However, it’s important to note that very careful monitoring and a quick response system are essential to tackle any issues that arise in the canary group. 

Rolling Updates

A rolling update makes incremental changes to applications across servers, one or a few at a time. Traffic is, therefore, able to continue uninterrupted through the unaffected servers. This creates a balance between canary releases and blue-green deployments, as there is an incremental update alongside targeting specific servers (as opposed to users). 

The result is a continuous deployment model that copes with live traffic effectively. Rolling updates are popular because they’re resource-efficient, as there is no need for duplicate environments. However, they do require careful management of load balancers and monitoring systems so that updated and non-updated servers can interact without causing problems. 

Feature Toggles

Feature toggles are used to deploy code changes with new features that are turned off by default. The idea is that they can then be selectively turned on for specific users or environments, giving teams control over the visibility of features without full deployment. 

It’s an approach that supports iterative testing and experimentation, meaning it aligns well with a broader UX strategy by allowing features to be tested and refined based on real user feedback. The drawback is that managing toggles can become complicated, particularly when the number of toggles increases, requiring disciplined cleanup and version control. 

Technical Considerations and Challenges 

When implementing zero downtime deployment, you need to be prepared for these technical considerations and common challenges. 

Database Changes

Updating a database schema with zero downtime represents a significant challenge. There are a few strategies you could try to tackle this issue, such as: 

• Using backward-compatible changes
• Using new fields rather than altering existing ones
• Using database versioning techniques. 

It may also be wise to adopt a phased approach, whereby the database is updated in stages – first to support the old and new application versions and then to refine it once the transition is complete. This keeps the application functional throughout the deployment. 

Load Balancing

When you’re managing traffic flow during updates, effective load balancing is of utmost importance. Load balancers always play an important role in distributing traffic evenly among servers, to avoid overloading and potentially ruining your website’s user experience. During ZDD, they become even more important, as they must direct traffic only to the servers working correctly.

To make sure service continuity is maintained, employ techniques like session affinity to keep users sessions on the same server, or health checks to automatically redirect traffic away from a problematic server. When properly configured, load balancers help prevent disruption and keep performance levels consistent. 

Monitoring and Rollbacks

The impact of deployment must be closely monitored to spot any issues early before they cause major problems. Real time monitoring tools should be used to flag when any errors crop up or performance degradation occurs.

A rollback plan should also be established, so that when issues arise, you can revert back to the stable version. Wherever possible, automate rollbacks to minimize reaction time: problems will then be nipped in the bud as swiftly as possible and the effect on UX will be negligible.

Tools and Testing

The effectiveness of zero downtime deployment is highly dependent on the tools and practices employed. 

Essential tools

These are three of the technologies most vital to zero downtime deployment. 

• Kubernetes: This tool manages containerized applications across multiple hosts, making it easier to handle scaling and deployment without downtime. 
• Docker: Lightweight containers create consistent environments from development through to production, allowing this solution to reduce issues related to differences in configuration.
• Jenkins: A technology that automates the CI/CD pipeline, handles builds, tests, and deployments to speed up release cycles and reduce human mistakes.

Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD)

Much of the deployment workflow can be automated with CI/CD pipelines. Continuously integrating new code changes and deploying them automatically means these pipelines can be rolled out quickly and with little risk of disruption. This is an approach that is considered integral to ZDD, as it keeps the user experience reliable and stable. 

Testing

Automating testing provides the chance to check updates for problems before deployment. Testing can be integrated into the CI/CD pipeline to catch any issues early on, creating a safety net that stops faulty updates from reaching users. 

In the future, this is likely to be an area where we increasingly see the impact of machine learning in web development, as it optimizes and speeds up the development cycle and makes testing more efficient and accurate.

Implementation Tips and Best Practices

The best place to start to make sure zero downtime deployment runs smoothly is with gradual implementation. Begin with non-critical services first, before scaling up as the team gains experience and confidence with the process. This gives everyone the opportunity to learn and make adjustments in the early stages, so you have the best chance of success when it comes down to the big changes. 

With ZDD, it’s also important to remember that team collaboration is vital. All relevant parties, including developers and operations teams, must be aligned on the deployment strategy and should fully understand the potential effects. Tools like Ardoq can help you map dependencies and visualize the impact of deployment across the organization, all of which support better communication and collaboration. 

Finally, as with any kind of deployment, risk management is essential. Although you can take every precaution to make sure everything goes well, you need a plan for dealing with potential failure that includes a solid recovery plan. Consider automated rollbacks or failover strategies to help deal with the unexpected and protect the continuity of user experience. 

Keep UX consistent with ZDD

With zero downtime deployment as an option, interrupted user experience is no longer necessary. You can update applications whilst still maintaining a continuous service. 

This keeps users happy with an uninterrupted service and stops customers from taking their business elsewhere. Zero downtime deployment really is the best solution for both web development teams and the wider business. 

Featured image by Nangialai Stoman on Unsplash

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2025 is around the corner and the market has been preparing for it. However, businesses are already embracing stunning software solutions. Establishing a strong back of technical features is a great aspect for businesses. Enterprises with optimized technological functions will be sustained in the upcoming years. The audience is looking for services or products in the digital marketplace. So, the present and future of businesses’ success is impacted by customer experience. 

The more efficiently you hook your audience, the more enhanced progress you will achieve. So, it’s crystal clear that businesses will give utmost importance to tech trends for better user engagement. Accordingly, we have brought the list of technologies you need to prioritize. So, let’s get into it.

List of Leading Future Technologies For Businesses

The following list of technologies will be dominating trends, especially in 2025. Hence, consider them to get remarkable results.

1. Augmented Analytics

The foremost strategic technology is Augmented analytics. It is a thriving solution. As you develop an AI model and machine learning-based approach, you can leverage it for your business. Making your business smoothly manage workflow by utilizing the data effectively. It enhances your business capabilities to make accurate decisions.  

You can consider that augmented analytics is designed with support from high-end AI ML models. So, it strengthens enterprises with Business intelligence (BI). Using the advancement of various models you can analyze data. Therefore, businesses have already geared up to implement AI/ML solutions for Augmented analytics. 

Reports have even predicted that its market size will be around USD 11.66 billion in 2024 & surpass USD 91.46 billion by 2032. So, from preparing data and business reports to showcasing results, augmented analytics has superbly improved business intelligence. Accordingly, if you want to make a difference, you should definitely consider it right now. 

2. Internet of Things

Secondly, the Internet of Things (IoT) is a best-in-class aspect to increase productivity. You can gain the potential edge over others with faster task completion. Few of the industries like agriculture, healthcare, transportation, etc, are top-tier firms that immensely reap IoT benefits. 

By connecting the devices to the internet, businesses can remotely monitor, manage, and perform tasks automatically. It allows your business to streamline the workflow and stay ahead of the curve. The increased sales and customer trust would be smoothly managed with utmost accuracy. Moreover, IoT development services will make your business gather higher ROI in less turnaround time. 

3. Hyperautomation 

Hyperautomation is the blend of diverse automation software or solutions. It is a core essential of business with far-reaching visions. Harnessing the automated tool that manages your tasks smoothly is what businesses look for. In the coming years, hyper-automation will be widely executed and uplift business operations. Following are the major tech solutions brought together in hyper-automation for your business success.

• AI-chatbot 
• Automated tools
• Robotic process automation (RPA)
• Big Data

The above technologies can bring a bunch of automation efficiency. It simply prevents human intervention in the task processing. The hyper-automation would fasten and organize operations. Your business can buckle up to survive and even excel in any market scenario. Therefore, hyper-automation surrounds your business as the shield of automated options. It will smoothly turn out as the best tool to deliver the task in a time-saving manner.

4. Extended Reality 

Extended reality (XR) is a visually appealing presence that lets your business connect with the physical world. Kudos to the Apple Vision Pro’s invention, it has given a great push to XR. In simple terms, it links the digital and actual world which emerge business opportunities. From redefining as the top competitor to optimized user experience, your business can accelerate seamlessly. 

The power of XR makes your business trailblazing in terms of offering user interaction. It keeps users engaged with your brand and establishes a longer session. If you have used Apple Vision Pro, you can understand how customers will perceive your digital presence as reality. So, you can effortlessly unlock better customer satisfaction standards with excellent visualization in real-time. 

5. Cloud Computing 

Cloud computing will expand among businesses as a cost-saving tool. It stores and processes data without any physical infrastructure. It boosts flexibility and amplifies your business scalability. Exceptional cloud computing examples like Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have proved their significance. 

With secure data management among computing devices, cloud-based solutions boost accessibility. Businesses can remain rest assured and with hassle-free storage of sensitive data at a centralized place. Hence, it overcomes the traditional storage aspects and integrates top-notch cloud computing into business applications.

6. Cybersecurity

Security and privacy are the basic yet bigger aspects of delivering a high-end customer experience. With secure data management among the computing devices, cloud-based solutions boost accessibility. Businesses can remain rest assured and with hassle-free storage of sensitive data at a centralized place. Hence, it overcomes the traditional storage aspects and integrates top-notch cloud computing into business applications. 

Businesses search for the platforms to double the protection shields. There are a range of applications to help them with it. See, the increased tech solutions has also enhanced the cyber threats and risks of data branches. So, it’s high-time to think on this factor and drive practical improvements. Cybersecurity technologies will impact your business goals in the long run. 

The Bottom-Line

Although the most-prime list is over, your business possibilities are endless. So, you can explore others as well. The more technology strength you have the better your business roots become. It will be a strategic business move for you to have the right solution. However, you have to consider the major factors like scalability, sustainability, and credibility. 
No matter what industry you belong to, the aim to outshine in the competitive market is apparent. So, you might also need the help of renowned service providers. You should search for a custom web app development company. Because they have comprehensive resources from experts and strategic viewpoints. It would be of wonderful help to enhance your business. Also, such partners provide you with solutions to retain the market position in adversity. Best of Luck with your research and exploration!

Featured image by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

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For those who want to develop great-looking and intuitive Android applications, Material Design is the best choice. Material Design is an approach in designing interfaces that was designed by Google and it gives priority in its design to the experience of the user across the various devices. In this blog post, you will learn all about Material Design and what you need to know to make the best of it when creating Android apps. As a business person, you know the need to provide your clients with an app that has as many features as possible, is safe, and can expand as the business grows. 

Understanding Material Design

Material Design can be described as a language of designing applications, although it does not operate with words, but with the help of elements. Think of it as a guide that makes your app look good and functional on different devices including phones and tablets. It’s all about presenting the app in a way that is easy to understand for the users and they should not get lost while using it. 

Material Design is not only about aesthetics but it also has intelligence involved in it. This way, it employs shadow, movement, and depth to lead the users; thus, the app is both aesthetically pleasing and functional. The way buttons appear on the screen, the way menus slide in and out and all such actions feel smooth and real. 

In adopting Material Design, you are not only making your application beautiful but also friendly and easy to use. It is a method of how to make sure that people do not only download your app, but also use it and enjoy it. 

The Principles of Material Design

Material Design in mobile app development is based on some principles that allow not only to make the application beautiful but also logical. These are as follows:

• First of all, there is a concept of ‘materiality’ referring to the metaphorical meaning. This idea is all about treating items on the screen as if they are made of physical material. As with real life, such materials can grow and shrink, and while doing so they can even transform their shape, but they cannot pop in out of nowhere and they cannot dematerialize into thin air either. This is useful to the users as it teaches them how to conduct themselves around your app since it is modeled on the physical world. 
• This principle is about ensuring that every element in the app has a function and is easy to comprehend by the users. The use of colors, typography, and imagery is such that they attract attention and direct the user’s attention to the necessary information. It is all about ensuring that your app is sending out the right message and at the same time it is well designed. 
• Finally, there is the motion that is also very essential in the whole process. The movement of things in your app is not just an aesthetic, it has purpose. Navigation is applied to lead people, to tell them where to move and what to do, in an unobtrusive manner. Some are like when a person beckons you to come with him or her, it is a sign as to what the next step is without having to tell you. 

Material Design Components and How to Use Them

Material Design is a gold mine of components that are like lego pieces for your Android application. It is like having a set of clothes that are already made and you simply select the one that you want and join them to create a new product. Such components can be buttons which the users can click, cards which can contain some information or tabs to switch between different parts of your application. They are intended to ensure that the application not only looks great but is also easy and simple to use for the users. 

The above components are central to the design of a good app. For example, the button should be put in the place where it is easy to find it and click and the design of the button should give a clue that it can be clicked. Cards are good when it comes to presenting some pieces of information in a clear and structured manner for the user to comprehend. Tabs are useful in breaking down the content into different sections that the users can easily flip between without getting confused. 

These components are very versatile, and this is the beauty of it. They can be made to match the rest of the app’s layout and design, thus creating continuity in your app. This implies that one can be able to change colors, shapes, and sizes to correspond with the style of the app, ensuring that all the features are well coordinated. 

Best Practices for Implementing Material Design

Choosing some of the top mobile app ideas isn’t enough by itself to drive success for your business. It might look like a daunting task to get Material Design right in your Android apps, but you should know that it is very much possible with the right strategies in mind. Below are some tips that you should consider to ensure that the process is as efficient as possible and the app is as user-friendly as possible. 

• First of all, it is necessary to follow the guidelines that Google offers within Material Design. These are like your guide to the promised land, or in this case, how to make your app not just pretty to look at, but also easy to use. These guidelines should be viewed more as a recipe book for the chef, which is necessary to produce something brilliant. 
• After that, it is vital to check your app on different devices and their screens. This helps to make sure that your app is going to look good on both a normal phone as well as a tablet. Suppose you invited people over for a party and ensured that everyone could be comfortably accommodated regardless of the turnout. 
• Finally, do not forget about your app performance. Users like smooth animation and fast transitions between screens. It is like ensuring that the elevator in a tall building is fast and efficient – it just improves everyone’s day. 

Overcoming Common Challenges in Material Design Implementation

As you incorporate Material Design in your Android applications, there are some issues that you are likely to encounter. One of the big problems is to maintain the application’s interface consistent across the screens. There are various sizes and resolutions of the screens on every phone and tablet. This means that your app can appear well-designed on one device and not so well on the other. To correct this, one has to test the app on many devices so that the problem does not occur frequently. Thus, it is possible to ensure that it always stays neat, regardless of where it is being utilized. 

Another challenge that you may experience is the compatibility of your app with the older versions of the devices. Not all users have the newest phone or tablet, thus it is necessary to test your app on older models as well. This may mean spending some time to ensure that your animations do not cause the app to lag on these devices. 

Finally, it is often challenging to keep everything neat and clean, and all the elements homogeneous. Since there are many parts of your app such as menus, buttons, and screens, it becomes possible to have a mismatched design. One must remember that it is a good practice to verify that all the elements correspond to Material Design from time to time. This is beneficial in maintaining the neatness and consistency of your app’s interface. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, it can be said that Material Design integration into your Android apps is a wise decision. It is all about creating applications that not only are aesthetically appealing but are also easy to use by the users. When employing Material Design, what you are doing is submerging yourself in the basic concepts, toying with the elements and components, and adhering to some of the fundamental guidelines, you are already on the right track. Of course, you will face some obstacles on the way, for example, to make your app look gorgeous on all the devices or to make it run on the older ones. However, with a little experimentation, all these barriers can be crossed. So, why wait? Implement material design right now and see how it affects your Android applications. 

Featured Image by Jotform on Unsplash

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Today, to accelerate business growth and explore new success heights, the technology backbone must be powerful. You can’t take a chance on merely completing the web or software development for the sake of early launch. To gain a competitive edge having the expertise development process is a precondition. Outsourcing is one of the solutions to access high-tech services. 

Google, Alibaba, Skype, Accenture, and many others have leveraged the benefits of outsourcing services. Eventually, they scaled in the market seamlessly. So you can also consider outsourcing as the secret sauce for the success of your web development projects. 

The recent survey shows IT outsourcing revenue is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.99% in 2024-2028. As a result, the market volume would be USD 777.70bn by 2028. Hence, you should have the idea of outsourcing services for web projects, and this article covers all aspects of it.

What is Outsourcing Web Development?

The efficient and highly demanding solution for assigning or handing over web development projects to a third-party IT firm. Usually, that web service provider has a reliable and vast team of developers with expertise in various technologies. So, based on your project you can choose or interview the developers to select the appropriate ones.

Moreover, it is also termed IT outsourcing and works as a strategy to make the project cost-effective and eliminate the hassle of in-house development. However, outsourcing the development services to an outside vendor has resulted in preserving the control of the project.

In simple terms, you will be connected with vendors throughout the development process. It even allows you to focus thoroughly on your primary business needs. Alongside there are numerous benefits of outsourcing web development for both startups and large businesses. To make it the first choice for your project, let’s elaborate on its advantages.

Benefits of Outsourcing Web Development

Decreases Turnaround time

The time-saving aspect is the most common for any project. By delegating the web development tasks as per your time duration, it delivers on-time services. As you hire the experts, it fastens the development time and gives quick time to market your website.

Edge of Industry-Specific Functions  

Even after having an in-house team, outsourcing allows you to open the horizons for projects. As the client project is processed by experienced portfolios in various domains, it is a win-win for web development. 

For example, if you want to develop a fintech web app, consider outsourcing the IT vendor services with past knowledge in that sector. So, it provides better worth to your fintech software development project.

Reduces development costs

This benefit also stands as one of the compelling reasons for outsourcing over in-house development. It is among the potential strategies to reduce software development costs for your organization. 

Moreover, to make the outsourcing cut development costs, you need to even consider countries that have lower hourly rates. As a result, it will make your outsourcing web development successful and completed within the pre-decided budget. 

Deliver High-Quality Solutions 

When it comes to maintaining or improving the quality, you should definitely prioritize the outsourcing model. It drives the development process to streamline and align with the industry standards. Furthermore, the development team has testers who follow the proper quality control process. So, they will ensure to verify each stage carefully and offer error-free and better-quality services.

Integrating new tools and technologies

Outsourcing your project to the external company, leverage the new technology or tools capability. Based on your web development requirements and current trends, the outsourced team will utilize tools. So, you can be rest assured about the final outcomes, it will be backed with unique approaches and new tech solutions.  

Eliminates risks or uncertainties

Delegating web projects to outsourced teams also distributes the risk linked with development. Thus, it becomes crucial for the team to debug or manage the errors. Hence, outsourcing emerges as a solution to prevent the potential risks.

Access to global talents

From inside your country or its outer countries, outsourcing gives you access to explore global services. As it disappears the barrier of location, outsourcing has probably upscaled as the primary choice by various enterprises. You can easily search for reliable developers from platforms like Clutch, GoodFirms, LinkedIn, etc. 

Now, as we move ahead, it is essential to understand that outsourcing has been categorized into two major forms. So, here are the detailed insights on the types to make your selection easy. 

Types of Outsourcing Models 

The outsourcing model types are better defined with the two segments. However, these segments also have 3 sub-sections which are widely used outsourcing methods. 

Location-based Model 

Firstly the location-based model defines the outsourcing partners’ distance from you. It is divided into three forms as given below.

1. Onshore

Onshore outsourcing is the process of outsourcing the project to an exterior IT provider but inside the country. It distributes the project workload to other companies and makes the web development manageable.

2. Offshore

The offshore outsourcing model gives the privilege to assign development tasks to IT firms beyond the country boundary. It even crosses the time zone and gets to work with developers belonging to different time zones or continents. 

3. Nearshore

Nearshore outsourcing focuses on choosing third-party providers from neighboring countries that share the same time zone. It targets the convenience of communicating the needs smoothly. Alongside, the nearby country has a slightly similar culture which establishes better team networking.

Relationship-based Model

This type of outsourcing derives the ownership and accountability of the projects and bridges the gap between the client and the outsourcing service provider. The company has to manage both parties for the successful project. 

1. Project-specific

It involves project-based outsourcing solutions. As the company enters into the contract for decentralizing the project ownership to an outside vendor. However, the company will get a report of the progress and hand over the authority to the client after the development. 

2. Dedicated Team

The dedicated team model is majorly opted for by the client. It is majorly the first agreement between the IT service provider and clients on hiring a dedicated development team for their project. Moreover, the clients reserve the team exclusively for long-duration projects.

3. Staff Augmentation 

Usually, the staff augmentation model is chosen to fill the resource gap for a short duration. It is considered to onboard the outsourced team to partner with you in-house in order to furnish the project needs. So, it is also referred to as external hiring. It follows the time and material contract between the client and the company. 

Further, you will need to know about the appropriate time when going for outsourcing is beneficial or required. It will help you to select the right type of outsourcing model as well. 

When should you Outsource a project?

Outsourcing web development projects is a critical decision that needs to be taken based on circumstances. To make it concise, the following situations are best to go for outsourcing solutions.

• When your in-house team is insufficient to meet the client’s project needs. You have to look for a remote software development team
• The time when you want to reduce development costs with dedicated developers. As you outsource to countries with lower rates, your web development project falls under the range.
• If you discover an urgent deadline task that is inevitable to finish on time, selecting an outsourced team will eliminate the challenge. It will deliver your project needs as per your criteria within the stipulated time frame.

The above scenarios might raise the question of the process of outsourcing the web development project. So, here we have you covered with a brief overview of it. 

How to Outsource Web Development Projects?

• Decide and plan your project goals 
• Conduct research for outsourcing partners 
• Shortlist the potential providers
• Discuss your project scope and budget 
• Select based on your project needs
• Maintain regular communication of tasks
• Review the development progress

So, as you have to perform the steps to finalize the best outsourcing partner, we thought to decrease your burden. The below companies offer top-notch outsourcing services and reduce software development costs for your client/project.

Top Outsourcing Partners for Your Project

• Rlogical Techsoft
• Glorium Technologies
• Technource
• Hastechy
• Prismetric

Summing Up

That is all about the importance of outsourcing for web development projects today. These companies have been recognized for custom-tailored software services. However, you can also unleash other providers based on their customer reviews and ratings. The quick top would be to perform the interview round of the developers before starting your project. As it will give you a brief insight into their knowledge. So, all the best for your outsourcing project. If you liked the article do share it on your network!

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It’s a great time to start a small business. Although many Americans feel pretty gloomy about the 2024 economic outlook, a majority think it’s primed for a rebound in the near future. Most Americans are already spending like boom times are back anyway, according to a recent study on spending habits. 

One-man startups that could be looking to scale up in response to consumer spending may be wondering when and how to hire their first employee. There’s no easy, one-size-fits-all answer to this question. 

If you wait too long to hire that first employee, you could be putting them in a workplace environment of low morale because of missed deadlines and heavy workloads. If you hire them too early, you’re wasting money and time devising work to keep them busy.

Here’s when and how to properly hire your first employees.

Crunch the numbers

Start with the fundamental questions: Will hiring new employees help your business save money or generate more money? If you’re just starting out, increasing your business’ income is more important than saving money, but both are important. If you can’t firmly answer yes to at least one of those questions, hiring someone may not make sense for you right now.

Take your emotional temperature

Objectively ask yourself why you’re thinking of hiring a new employee. Is it because it’ll help you level up your business, or is it for more emotional reasons?

If you’re desperately behind, overworked, or lonely being the sole employee of your business, those are valid concerns, but they aren’t necessarily good reasons to hire someone — especially if your desperation leads you to rush your recruitment process. 

If you’re hiring because your business simply isn’t bringing in enough revenue, it’s doubtful that the generative effects of bringing on a new employee will surpass their compensation. It might make more sense for you to enhance your cash flow through some lucrative side hustles to make extra money until your revenue increases.

Some common signs that you may be hiring prematurely or for the wrong reasons are that you can’t define a specific role for your first employee or you have very low standards for who you’ll hire. If you feel like you just need to get someone in the door, step back and think about why you feel that way and what your business actually needs.

Consider a co-founder

Your first hire doesn’t necessarily need to be an employee. They could just as well be a partner. If you come across someone who perfectly shares and complements your skills, values, and vision as a founder and entrepreneur, consider bringing them on board as a co-founder. Empowering a talented entrepreneur as an equal partner can often unlock hidden potential and put your business on the fast track to success.

Test drive a contractor

On the other end of the spectrum, you might want to take things slow. In that case, a contractor could be a great test case for what you need out of your early hires. 

The commitment to a contractor is limited and usually quite short — usually between a month and a year depending on the agreement. In that time, you can try them out in different roles and evaluate their overall performance. If they prove themselves to be a valuable asset, you can always transition them into a permanent full-time role.

You could also interview a freelancer. In general, freelancers work on much shorter terms than contractors. You could bring them aboard to work only on a specific project and conclude their employment when that project is finished. 

Think skills, not job titles

Alongside considering what you want your early hires to do, consider what kinds of skills and experiences will enable them to excel in that role. The more specific you can be, the better. Make a list and target only candidates who check all the boxes.

Understand that hiring is a two-way process

You know why you want to hire your first employees, and you probably have a pretty specific idea of the skills and experiences you want those first employees to have. But during the interview process, don’t forget that candidates are evaluating you as much as you’re evaluating them. 

Employees want to know that you have a defined role for them. Before you start interviewing, sit down and define the role you’re hiring for, including how you plan to measure their performance, the outcomes and deliverables that role will be responsible for, and the processes they’ll be expected to perform.

Think about the role on different timelines, too. How will that role work in the next year, and how might it evolve in the next two, three, or five years? For someone interviewing for a job, there’s no such thing as too much information.

Widen your hiring horizons

When you’re searching for that perfect hire, think globally. There’s elite talent all over the world, especially when it comes to qualified tech workers. If their role can be performed remotely, you could tap into serious savings, especially if they live in a country with public health care. Foreign employees also offer valuable insights into their local markets and can dramatically increase your business’ availability if they’re in a different time zone.

Consider tapping into youthful energy by hiring a promising college student. If the role you’re looking to fill can be performed by a recent grad or even a college intern, they could provide a huge amount of hustle and motivation, as well as novel perspectives and ideas that could be valuable to forward-thinking industries.

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