The short version
You probably didn’t start a business for the joy of answering developer questions all afternoon. But hire people to write code without anyone to handle the planning, coordination and testing, and you’ve accidentally created yourself another job. Check what your agency actually takes responsibility for, then agree who handles the rest. You don’t necessarily need more people, but you do need fewer jobs falling to you by default.
The (slightly) longer version
You've hired a software development agency. Brilliant. That's the software taken care of, so now you can get on with growing your business, finding customers and making sales.
Except that's not quite how it works out. Your developers keep coming back with questions. They need you to explain how features should work, decide what's important, check their work and tell them what to do next.
Before long, you're spending hours every week managing development. Wasn't hiring an agency supposed to take all this off your plate?
The problem is that hiring developers isn't necessarily the same as hiring someone to take care of your product. There are several other jobs involved in building good software, and if nobody's doing them, they tend to become your responsibility. Often without anyone telling you.
Think of it like building a house
I've definitely watched too much Grand Designs, but I think building a house is a useful analogy.
Imagine you've decided to build your dream home. You hire a builder, hand them some money and expect them to get on with it.
Except they need to know where the walls go, how many bedrooms you want, what materials to use and whether the upstairs bathroom should be pink or baby blue. You thought you'd hired someone to build your house, but hadn't realised quite how many other jobs were involved.
Software development is surprisingly similar.
The builder: Your software developers
The builder physically constructs the house, digging foundations, laying bricks and putting up walls. That's your software developer. They write the code that makes your product work.
Good developers can take on other responsibilities too, but writing software is a difficult enough job on its own.
The structural engineer: Your technical lead
Someone needs to make sure the house doesn't fall down. In software, that's usually an experienced developer who understands how to build clean, reliable software that can grow with your business.
Crucially, they also need the judgement to know how much engineering is actually necessary. Sometimes a little house made of sticks and Blu Tack is enough to test an idea. Other times, you need something solid, built from bricks and breeze blocks.
Knowing when "good enough" really is good enough, and when you're overengineering things, is a whole other article.
The architect: Your product manager and designer
An architect understands what the homeowner wants and turns it into plans. A good architect also challenges ideas, suggests improvements and works with the builders to figure out what's practical.
In software, this responsibility is usually split between two people.
A product manager works out what needs to be built and why. They understand your business goals, speak to customers, help prioritise improvements and turn ideas into something developers can actually build.
A designer works out how people will use the software. Not just making it look beautiful, but making sure customers can actually accomplish what they came to do.
There's one important difference from Grand Designs. You're not building this product for yourself, you're building it for your customers. What you think they need and what they actually need aren't always the same thing.
The project manager: Keeping everything moving
On a building site, someone needs to coordinate the tradespeople, make sure everyone has the latest plans and deal with problems as they arise.
In software, that means coordinating developers and designers, answering questions, tracking progress and making sure completed work is properly checked.
In smaller software businesses, the product manager often takes on much of this responsibility too.
The important thing is that these are all jobs that need doing, not necessarily separate people you need to hire. If nobody has taken responsibility for them, guess who gets the phone calls?
But isn't that what my development agency does?
It depends entirely on the agency.
Broadly speaking, there are development agencies and product studios, although there's plenty of overlap.
Development agencies primarily provide developers, saving you the trouble of recruiting your own. You might also get a project manager, but I've encountered some whose involvement barely extends beyond timesheets and billing. Others are excellent at coordinating development.
Some agencies are genuinely product-minded, while others expect you to arrive with detailed specifications and tell them exactly what to build.
Before hiring an agency, I'd recommend speaking to whoever you'll work with day to day, whether that's a project manager or a developer. Pay attention to their questions. Do they want to understand your customers, business model and what you're trying to achieve? Do they challenge your ideas or suggest better approaches? Or do they jump straight into asking how each button should work?
As the founder, you should understand your customers better than anyone and know where you want the product to go. You'll always need to be heavily involved, but having someone who contributes their own ideas, challenges your thinking and helps decide what matters can considerably lighten your workload.
It can also make development more consistent. New ideas and opportunities naturally come up, but constantly changing what developers are working on can slow everything down. A good product person can help weigh up those ideas while keeping the team making steady progress.
Product studios typically offer a fuller team, including product managers and designers alongside developers. That can be an excellent option, but generally comes with a considerably higher price tag.
So what are your options?
If you're on a shoestring budget, you can take on most of these responsibilities yourself. You might even use AI tools to help build a simple MVP. It's about making sensible trade-offs between what absolutely needs to be done well and where "good enough for now" will do. Just remember that coordinating everything still takes time.
If you have deeper pockets, a full product studio can take much of the day-to-day work off your hands.
There's also a middle ground, and it's an approach I particularly like (although I may be slightly biased!).
You can assemble your own small product team. Perhaps you've already got a development agency you're happy with and occasionally need a freelance designer. Add an experienced product person on a part-time basis to help decide what to build, coordinate everyone and make sure the work gets done properly.
You still own the vision and business goals. The product person helps turn those into a plan, works through the day-to-day decisions, challenges ideas and makes sure the developers are building the right things.
This is what I do for the founders I work with. For one client, I took over much of the coordination with their development agency, from writing requirements and answering questions to checking the finished work. That's freed up roughly ten hours a week or more for the founder to concentrate on customers, sales and running the business.
Who's doing all these jobs in your business?
Here's a quick exercise. Think about who's actually responsible for:
Deciding what to build: Understanding customer needs and choosing priorities.
Explaining what to build: Turning ideas into clear requirements and designs.
Building it properly: Making sure the software works reliably.
Keeping everything moving: Coordinating people, answering questions and following up.
Checking the results: Testing changes and making sure they solve the original problem.
If you're writing your own name next to almost everything, you've probably found out why development is taking up so much of your time.
That doesn't mean you need to hire five people. One experienced person might cover several of these responsibilities, or your existing team might be able to take on more.
The important thing is recognising that these jobs exist. Hiring good developers is important, but it doesn't automatically mean the rest is taken care of.
And if you're finding that everything still comes back to you, perhaps it's time to get some help with the parts that don't need your personal attention.
I work part-time with software founders to help decide what to build, manage developers and keep development moving. If that sounds like something you could use a hand with, feel free to get in touch.
