Do you know what’s the greatest expense of a project? Manpower. Therefore, streamlining a business’ high expenses translates to savings. This is how I built a business that at its apex included 40 employees, with significantly lower employment costs. Thus, I was able to reroute my resources towards investment in market growth and project maintenance.
I have built a bootstrap startup. These types of projects require smart and efficient financial management due to no funding involved. Being a development manager, I have the technological orientation to recruit, manage development teams and lead the company’s technology. This also allows me to improve the efficiency of the precious resource that is technological manpower.
My secret weapon was to outsource employees from abroad. I used Fiverr – the largest global marketplace for short-term work, mediating between freelancers worldwide and clients. Thus, I managed to quickly and cheaply advance and cut costs. The easy accessibility to freelancers under one platform, is nothing less than world-altering, and as with any technology – those who use it will gain the upper hand.
I began working with a Ukraine-based freelance developer who helped me complete the first version of the system we took live (MVP). As the project progressed, we hired more employees, building different teams: development teams, software test teams, design teams, etc.
We didn’t mind where they were from, except for their time zone differences. I sought out workers according to my needs and their skills, interviewed candidates, and selected people regardless of their location. Despite never having met each other, we successfully managed a top-quality team. We successfully grew into a company of 40 employees spread worldwide. It’s amazing that today’s technology allows esteemed businesses to exist solely in a virtual space.
I have recently worked on a project about an Internet space review management system for business owners.
This project was also bootstrapped, my first investment in the project to go live with an initial version cost less than two thousand dollars!
For example, for front-end client development I paid someone on Fiverr $250.
My system dashboard, written in React based on a ready-made GitHub template
How do you budget the project? On Fiverr, you know the pricing in advance! I like this option because I know how much I’ll spend on the project beforehand. Another advantage in using this platform is that it holds onto the money until the work is completed, creating a safer work environment.
The number of tasks I can set up with a given budget allows me to progress faster without risking my funds. The fact that we have access to such a productive and economic resource that makes things so much more efficient. I am thrilled to live in an era where such a thing is possible.
To sum up, entrepreneurs and managers are not just responsible for development, but for maintaining the budgetary framework, and with a slight change in perception you can achieve significant development while saving money.
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