Ask Your Dev Team where their team is located

Where your developer’s team is physically located, and how they’re structured, has a direct impact on communication, quality, and your bottom line.

The three models

Onshore

The team is in the same country as you. Same time zone (or close), same business culture, and usually the easiest communication. It’s typically the most expensive option, but the reduced friction often makes up for it.

Nearshore

The team is in a nearby country, usually within a few time zones. You get some cost savings while maintaining reasonable overlap in working hours. Latin America is a common nearshore destination for US-based companies.

Offshore

The team is in a significantly different time zone, often eight to 12 hours apart. The cost savings can be substantial, but the communication challenges are real. Meetings require someone to work outside normal hours, and feedback loops get longer.

Red flags

The entire technical team is elsewhere

If the company you’re hiring has leadership and sales in your country but the entire production team is offshore, pay close attention. This isn’t automatically a dealbreaker, but you should understand:

Who is managing the offshore team day-to-day?
How do they handle the time zone gap?
What’s the communication cadence?
Have they successfully delivered projects in this model before?

The risk is that you’re paying onshore prices for an offshore team, or that there’s a communication layer between you and the people actually building your software.

Contractors vs. employees

Ask whether the developers working on your project are full-time employees or contractors. This matters because:

Continuity: Contractors may roll off your project at any time. Employees are more likely to see it through.
Investment: Companies invest more in training and supporting employees. Contractors are often expected to hit the ground running.
Accountability: It’s harder to maintain quality standards and processes with a rotating cast of contractors.

This doesn’t mean contractors are bad. Some of the best developers work independently. But you should know what you’re getting.

What to ask

“Where is the team that will be working on my project?” Get specifics, not generalities.
“Are they employees or contractors?” And if contractors, how long have they been working together?
“What’s your overlap with my time zone?” You need enough shared hours for real-time collaboration.
“How do you handle communication across time zones?” Look for established processes, not improvisation.
“Can I meet the team?” A good developer will introduce you to the people doing the work, not just the sales team.

Go build something and expect better from your developer.