In an age when the global marketplace is the default market for materials, services, and labor, it’s easy to overlook local talent. Since web searches and freelance websites share information from the global market, you might find your business overlooked if you work primarily online. For instance, unless you specifically search for a local software developer, you are unlikely to see results from any local sources on the first few pages of results. Finding a local software development team, however, has a number of unique, practical benefits. If you are looking to create new software for your business, update existing systems, or develop a mobile or web app, it’s well worth your time to look for custom software development services locally.
Local Developers Know Your Audience
Local developers know your market, because their market is the same as yours. Although there are talented developers all over the world, none of them possesses the unique understanding of your region and audience that a local developer brings to the table. Local software developers can go beyond remote research about the demographics your business aims to draw. They know what kinds of restaurants are popular in the area, what sort of ads audiences react to, the seasonal changes that influence shopping habits, and more. This intrinsic knowledge adds to the skills a talented developer can offer. Granted, developers still find work on the global market, but they don’t enjoy the same advantages they do while working for local clients. After all, working with a local partner befits both sides of an agreement. For instance, it’s comforting for both parties to know that a client or software developer is close enough to meet face-to-face, which leads to the next point.
Local Developers Know You
It’s easier for local software developers to get to know your goals, achievements, and style than it is for a company across an ocean. This enables local developers to create the best possible representation for your business through custom software. They may even be customers of yours. A developer separated by an ocean, a continent, or even a few states must rely on the information you provide them; it’s impossible for a few photos and a paragraph or two to compare to an actual visit. Even if a local developer does not visit your business in person, local experience offers unparalleled context from which to build.
The Best of Both Worlds
Outsourcing locally gives you the best of outsourcing overseas and hiring an in-house developer. Like any outsourcing contract, you do not commit to a long-term relationship. You also avoid the costs of hiring regular staff, such as vacation hours, healthcare, and taxes. However, it’s worth noting that the cost of outsourcing overseas is constantly on the rise, particularly when compared to the price of American labor. Outsourcing locally takes advantage of the steadier American labor market without the burden of employee benefits.
Unlike an over-seas outsourcing job, a local developer is nearby and potentially available for periodic meetings. They are also more likely to be vetted by other local businesses, and they are far easier to communicate with. Like in-house developers, local developers work in the same time-zone, are easy to contact, and know the region you serve. Any feedback or review you offer will also affect the developers’ future, much like a letter of reference and good quarterly reviews help your employees win promotions and higher-paying roles. Unlike your employees, however, you expect a contracted developer to leave once a project is completed, and while you have the option to hire the same developers for future work, their absence does not negatively affect your company, as the loss of an employee would.
Investing in the Local Economy
By supporting a local business, you are also supporting the economy of which your business is a part. Rather than investing your time and money in a different region, state, or even country, it makes sense to build up the region that provides your income. All of this comes as an extra incentive for businesses that already stand to gain so much from hiring locally.
The current trend may be to outsource work overseas, but the closer to home you hire, the more benefits you gain. Hiring local developers is an opportunity to build strong business relationships within your local economy while acquiring top of the line software tailor-made to fit your business. A talented seamstress could probably make a fitted dress based on a few pictures and a string of numbers, but a seamstress who can fit the dress to the buyer in person will have a better finished product. The same is true for custom software development.
Local developers are eager for your business and come armed with formidable benefits, and are never far away.