Not every startup needs a dedicated software tester. In the last three years of building my own startup, we’ve been able to manage without one by using a team approach to testing and other unconventional strategies. I discuss one of them in my article, "Even Your Mom Can Be a Tester in Your Team"
But your startup’s situation might be different. Maybe in your case, the lack of a dedicated tester could have significant consequences, be it financial loss, customer churn or complete shutdown of your startup. To help you make the decision to hire a software tester, I’ve highlighted five critical factors that you can consider.
Let’s start with the first.
As a startup, your ability to efficiently allocate your resources determines how long you’ll survive, including the decision to invest in a software tester.
Before deciding to invest in a dedicated software tester, consider whether it contributes to your primary goal, such as increasing revenue or addressing specific customer complaints, regardless of whether you’re running on investor funding or you’re bootstrapped. If your goal is to make more money, does getting a software tester help you achieve that? If you're thinking about preventing customer complaints, are the complaints significant enough to hire a dedicated software tester?
If the answer to any of these questions is “No”, you might be better off leaving your testing to your developers.
If you’re building in a high-risk industry like finance and health and you don’t have a software tester, stop reading this post, go on Linkedin and put out a post for a software tester vacancy!
According to IBM, the cost of fixing a bug detected during maintenance is 100 times higher than at the time of introduction. For high-risk industries, I’ll make the bold claim of saying it’s 1,000 times higher because. There’s a reason standards are created for these industries. For instance, in the health industry, HIPAA sets standards for protecting patient-sensitive information, you can’t leave that compliance to your developers. When you’re dealing with people’s lives or critical aspects of their lives, the cost of fixing issues post-production outweighs any benefit you might be gaining by saving on a software tester right now.
So, if you're in a high-risk industry, don't even think about it, get a software tester!
If you notice slower iterations and release cycles because your developers are spending time on tests, you should probably consider hiring dedicated testers.
One of your goals as a startup is to build and iterate quickly. This also gives you opportunities to test your products, fail quickly, learn what works and what doesn't, and gain a competitive advantage in your market. However, when developers are overloaded with testing tasks, it can significantly slow down development and hinder your development velocity, costing you in the long run. Giving your developers focus and allowing them to think about just what they need to build will increase their productivity and enable you to ship faster.
This doesn't mean that developers would stop testing entirely, though. It only means that they would focus on testing what they need to test.
When your startup is in the growth stage and has a significant user base, bugs in your system can negatively impact your brand image or cause financial loss.
Failures during this phase of your startup can have far-reaching consequences. As your startup grows, your product has an increasing impact on more people, which means flaws in your product are more likely to be shared, potentially damaging your reputation. In addition to a damaged reputation, you could also incur financial losses, which I’d guess isn’t part of your company’s milestone. To maintain a good brand image, don’t leave your software testing to developers alone—hire a tester.
Getting a dedicated tester means fewer bugs and fewer apology tweets.
Retaining existing customers is far more cost-effective than acquiring new ones, which is all the more reason to hire a software tester, especially when your customer acquisition costs are high.
A software tester goes beyond merely verifying product functionality. They ensure that your product delivers optimal customer satisfaction. Satisfied customers mean customer loyalty and retention. And to be fair, if you can pay a premium for new customers, you should be able to afford a dedicated tester as well.
So, to save costs in the long run, getting a dedicated software tester is a must!
This is in no way an exhaustive list of factors to consider when deciding on hiring a software tester. But it gives you a starting point on the things you need to consider, depending on your startup circumstances.
As I mentioned earlier, every startup is different, so there's a possibility that considering the criteria we've discussed doesn’t bring you to a concrete decision. If you’re in this boat, one solution, although a slower one, is hiring a tester on a short-term contract. Monitor their work and impact on your startup, and see if it helps you achieve your goals or brings you closer to them.
That way, you can still try out having a dedicated tester on your team without overcommitting.