Brian Chesky, the co-founder of Airbnb.
Tim Westergren, the founder of Pandora Music.
Walker Williams, the founder of Teespring.
Together, these three companies have hundreds of employees and generate over $2 billion in revenues every year.
You know what else those three guys have in common?
They had no coding skills when they started their companies. Although their business ideas were related to the creation of digital products, they managed to get them off the ground and achieve unbelievable success.
So can you. A lack of coding skills shouldn’t be an obstacle if you’re passionate about your business idea. Keep reading to know how to start a tech company as a non-technical founder.
Where to Start
So, let’s address the elephant in the room:
“How can a person without coding skills actually build a tech product?”
Well, you'd be surprised to learn that there are multiple ways: no-code applications, outstaffing, and outsourcing. These options differ in terms of commitment, budget, and outcome, but work well for creating tech products.
The three successful founders that we mentioned used all three options at some point, so the best choice depends on your needs.
Let’s quickly take a look at each option.
3 Ways to Build a Tech Business With No Coding Skills
Here’s what you need to know about the three options to make the best choice.
No-Code Development Platforms
A no-code development platform is an application you can use to create tech products without code. Basically, it’s a drag-and-drop editor where you can move design objects around to create websites, applications, and automations — the app does coding for you.
Each no-code development platform comes with pre-made templates of websites, applications, and other digital products to speed up the creation process. Say, you can choose a template of an online store, change colors, add your brand’s logo, move website elements around, and bam — you’ve got an eCommerce website.
The most important advantages of using no-code platforms are:
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No coding skills needed — you actually need no coding skills to create complex technical products
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Lower costs — you can save some money at the beginning of your business by doing “the coding” yourself
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Easily changeable product — no-code platforms allow to change any design elements just within minutes, without making code changes
The biggest disadvantages of no-code platforms:
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Time loss — major time commitment might be required to create a technical product, even with a simple drag-and-drop editor
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Code maintenance — “no-code”” doesn’t mean there’s no code, so you’ll need developers to ensure that your product stays healthy after the launch
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Security issues — doing “no code means you’re trusting someone else to keep your product safe and stable
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Owner rights — no-code vendors might make it challenging to change providers and move the code to another platform
Outstaffing
Outstaffing means that you hire a third-party developer or a team of developers to do coding for you. You will have complete control over the entire process and its scope as well as all the rights to the final product.
So, basically, you are the leader of your tech startup development team. You supply the business expertise and customer research insights while someone with web development skills “translates” them into features.
Advantages of outstaffing:
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No need to have coding skills — your developer or team handle all coding work
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No need to rent an office — you can hire a remote team of developers and manage them without spending money on rent
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Flexible hiring — hire as many people as you want, for a specific amount of weekly involvement, for your budget
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Code rights — the code made by developers belong to you, so you can do pretty much everything you need with it
There are also some disadvantages to outstaffing:
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Higher costs — outstaffing requires hiring people, which translates into higher business costs compared to using a no-code platform
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More responsibility — you’re in charge of the project, so you’ll have to manage the progress and your developers
Outsourcing
Outsourcing is a business practice of using an external vendor to do coding work. Using outsourcing is a common strategy to get access to talented developers in other countries, which reduces the cost of building a tech product.
Deloitte’s 2020 Global Outsourcing Survey found that reducing business costs is the main goal for 70% of companies choosing this strategy. In many cases, the cost of hiring developers overseas could be up to 40% cheaper than using domestic talent.
This means that you can also hire an outsourcing partner to build a tech product for you. You stay in charge of the project — often as a project manager who manages a remote team — and coordinate the progress.
The biggest advantages of using outsourcing are:
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Reduced business costs — when you hire developers overseas, you can build your digital product for much lower costs; there are no costs of renting an office or buying supplies, either
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You stay in charge — outsourcing partners are responsible for building the product in accordance with your requirements
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Developers are responsible for code quality — developers who sign a contract with you bear 100% responsibility for creating a quality product
The disadvantages of using outsourcing:
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Unfamiliar working schedule — since a team of developers working on your project is overseas, you’d have to adjust to a new schedule of communicating with them
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Communication — you’d have to adjust to communicate with developers via texting or video meetings.
If you decide to go with outsourcing, choosing a partner could take some time. Brainberry is an example of a reliable company: this outsourcing partner has a whopping 4.9 rating on Clutch.co and many positive reviews from U.S.-based clients.
How to Build a Tech Startup with No Coding Skills: Summary
There you go, now you know better how to start a tech company without coding skills.
In fact, you have multiple options for any kind of budget. If you’re a non-technical founder, consider reviewing all the three options — no-code platforms, outstaffing, and outsourcing — and learning how each can help you achieve your business goals.