Hiring a PHP programmer for a startup web design company, how much should I pay them?

December 28, 2008 4:30 PM

Hiring a PHP programmer for a startup web design company, how much should I pay them?

I'm looking to bring on one or more part-time PHP programmers who will also be doing some work with Flash and video encoding. My applicant pool is primarily college students with 2-4 years experience. As I budget for expenses and look to set prices, I have been unable to find solid numbers on the Internet for what type of wage this work merits.

posted by dcams to computers & internet (7 comments total)

I'm not a web dev; I do applications and systems. As I understand it, web devs get paid less on average and at the low end. I reckon this is because there're more "competent" web devs than there are competent applications hackers. At the high end, I'm lead to believe that pay scales are similar.

But, when I first started working (about 4 years ago, after completing a BS in compsci), most people were offering me about $45k-55k. With 4 years' experience, if I took another job (instead of continuing freelancing), I'd ask for somewhere around $70k.

Most of my friends are making from between $55k and $75k.

This was all in the Philadelphia area. You may be able to get away with less if you're in the stix and there're few other shops around. You'll have to pay more if the developer pool is fairly shallow.
posted by Netzapper at 4:58 PM on December 28, 2008

The question you should be asking is this one: "How important is this person to the success of your start-up?"

If the answer is: "absolutely vital, we need the app done expertly and TWO WEEKS AGO", then you go find a person who is good enough to do this and pay them what they're worth. Depending on the stakes of the project, you could easily be talking about $60-70k even up into the six figures.

If the answer is: "Meh, we just need to get this thing out the door" then set a price and find someone who will provide you with serviceable work at that price.

The sheer number of PHP programmers doesn't help you in the first case, because for every ONE decent PHP programmer there are several dozen who rise just above "suck". In any event, you need to identify the kind of person you're looking to hire and then see what the cheapest candidate you can find is who fits your profile.

You should pay as little as the market will bear for the quality of candidate that you need, and not a penny more.
posted by toomuchpete at 5:16 PM on December 28, 2008

Eh, I guess I somewhat mis-read the question the first time around. The advice above goes for a start-up website of some variety. It's a little different for you.

First, is this person going to also be designing? If you don't have a designer, expect to pay significantly more for a PHP programmer who has some design skill. If you already have a designer, you don't need that skillset (although it might still be useful).

Second, the relevant factor is the complexity of the work you intend to do. If you're going to be pumping out basic websites for mom-and-pop firms, you can get away with some fool who has a "Learn PHP in 24 hours" book on his shelf. If you're going to be doing more advanced work, you need a more advanced coder.

In the end the principle is the same, though: you're coming at it backwards. Find out what you need first and then set the price. If that's not a question you can answer, you're probably not prepared to start hiring people yet anyway.
posted by toomuchpete at 5:23 PM on December 28, 2008

Are you asking for an hourly wage? salary? Where are you?
posted by bitdamaged at 5:29 PM on December 28, 2008

I'll just say it: It depends. What will they be doing? Will they be building an application form scratch or will they be modifying some existing tools. Will they have input to the business or development process? Contractor or employee? On site or remote? Are you providing all the equipment and software they need or do they have to fend for themselves? Are they full time or part-time? Do they need to admin a database? How about HTML? CSS? Design? Production art? You pay more of each extra skill they need.

And speaking of extra skills: You really won't find someone who is really good at PHP, Flash and video encoding. Okay, there are a few people out there, but they are rare and expensive. In general these skills do not overlap competently. Get one person who's good at PHP and contract out the stuff you don't need a lot of. I am very serious about this. Yes, it's more work vetting and managing more employees/contractors, but you're not putting all your eggs in one basket and overpaying for them.

If you're looking for a contractor I wouldn't expect to pay any less than $70 an hour unless you go offshore. But 2nding toomuchpete's advice: If you can't have your business without this person then you should pay them an amount that reflects that (And then a little more). If they flake or fail to deliver at any point in the project you're 10 ways screwed and have thrown your money down a hole.
posted by Ookseer at 5:45 PM on December 28, 2008

To clarify, this person would be a part-time employee working remotely on PHP, HTML, and CSS. They will not be responsible for design unless they demonstrate an overwhelming desire to do so and all the business development will be on my end. Ideally I would like someone who I can hand a design to and say, "now make it for real." Like I said, I'm pulling from current college students and I'd like to pinpoint a fair hourly wage for this type of work.
posted by dcams at 10:55 AM on December 29, 2008

Remember, you will get what you pay for. There is a significant difference between a college student, who has little real world development experience and a seasoned developer who has been involved in the launch of several PHP based sites. It will be the difference between the college student figuring out how do to what you want and the experienced developer just getting it done, drawing on past experience. Also, a college student will enevitably have time demands that supersede your project, where as a profesional developer will be developing your site as a job, and thus - hopefully - giving the the attention it is due.

That being said, as a developer I have contracted out simple projects to a college students at 25-40/hour (as a 1099 to me) and I charge between 85-125/hour depending on the job and other factors.

Hope this helps!
posted by Fuzzy Dog at 12:36 PM on December 29, 2008