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Why software developers leave you

zooboole

Published By zooboole

Everybody leaves when they are not well paid. In 2016, I wrote this article on 6 types of jobs you should never take. It's surprising to see that that still hold true. Today I would like us to see another type of clients: Clients whom developers/designers always leave.

When people tell me, oh my developer left me and my project is incomplete or we barely started the project. I ask them this simple question: Were you paying them well? Of course, in most cases, they will start murmur that yes they did.

There are so many developers out there. But, it's still hard to find a good one. The good ones are always taken. Ask yourself why are the good ones always taken? Based on my experience, developers are in general hard-working people. And in most cases, they even sacrifice more than they earn, especially in Africa and India. When a client has a serious need and finds a developer who they know has all it takes to get the job done, all that's left is to put in funds. Enough funds to keep him. Or, in most cases, the developers realize that freelancing pays them better. So they decide to hide out and change their status into "busy".

Let's admit this. Few people can leave a job if it pays them very well. And I guess this is the time for us to ask ourselves what exactly is well-paid?

The answer is relative to the people and the context. A $x salary can be the price a developer D would take to build a better project P. In contrast, another developer W would be ready to do and perform better with $x/2 as price, or vice-versa. While this might seem like a negotiation ground for a business person, it's an incredible challenge that leads them to fail with developers.

Ask yourself this. If a mobile application is built at USD100k in the USA or France, would I expect the same results if I pay USD1000 in Africa or India? Don't tell me that the developers there don't have the right/same qualifications. Yes, you have the right to say it anyways. But, also ask yourself this again. Isn't it possible that the developers in the USA and France are qualified because they are well paid? Think.

The foundation of our pricing is already broken. Developers in our regions are underpaid. The other aspect of things we need to look at is the personal life of a developer you are working with. Software development and many other artworks require a lot of brain activity. And any brain-related job needs a lot of peace of mind. Ask yourself if your developer would have or do they have their peace of mind working with you? I ask this because I know our people here. Most entrepreneurs believe that they have to keep their workers dependant to keep them. Hence, they restrict their resources. This is a damaging mistake with software developers. The reason is that you have much to lose when they leave. You waste your time and you risk losing your ideas.

Protect your ideas with contracts and a comfortable work environment. That will enable developers to undertake your projects to the end. COntracts will protect you from the actual bad people as well. Because we can't say that all these issues are only salary-related. Then make your projects as realistic as possible. When you ask a developer to build something like AliExpress you must be ready to pay for the whole AliExpress. Enquire how much is it to buy AliExpress. Also, tell yourself that AliExpress is a giant that is built over many years involving thousands of developers and great engineers of many horizons, who were well paid also.

Do not believe you win if you manage to convince a developer, who doesn't know how to price, to take $x/2 for project P. Don't be surprised if the results do not meet your needs or the developer gives up in the middle of the work.

Another factor I want entrepreneurs to consider is time value. When you expect a project to take a whole year of the life of a programmer, it would be reasonable to make sure such a person becomes successful after that. What I mean is this. A developer can't stick to one project for a whole year, then in the end they end up with debts left and right. No. This means they used their funds and effort to support your project. Your project budget was in their pocket. Developers do look at that every time.

To wrap things up, I would remind entrepreneurs that most projects you request are destined to pay you continuously. You must have that in mind when you are making your budget. This will help you to understand that you don't lose by paying well. We do understand that the environment is not that auspicious, but, don't you think that this is the time to change the narrative by taking the first step and creating a connection of trust with developers?. To developers, let's also start taking our job more seriously by always focusing on offering quality results. If a price given by the client would not allow you to get good results, simply reject the offer.