Imagine hiring a skilled engineer to develop embedded firmware for your latest IoT sensor. They dive into the project, complete the firmware in two months, and then… what? For the remaining ten months of the year, their workload diminishes, but their salary doesn’t. This scenario is more common than you might think, especially in small businesses and startups.
Many companies assume that having an in-house engineer is the best way to maintain control and quality. But when the work comes in unpredictable cycles—like it often does in small businesses—hiring a full-time engineer can be a costly decision that doesn’t always make financial sense.
The True Cost of Hiring an Engineer
Hiring a full-time engineer isn’t just about their take-home pay. There are many hidden costs:
- Salary – The average salary for an experienced firmware engineer is around $150,000+ per year, but that’s just the beginning.
- Benefits & Perks – Health insurance, 401(k) contributions, bonuses, and paid time off add another 30%+ to their total compensation.
- Overhead Costs – Office space, equipment, software licenses, and administrative costs push the true cost to around $250,000 per year.
- Idle Time – If your company develops a new product every few years, your engineer could spend long stretches without meaningful work.
Now, let’s say your company launches a new IoT sensor every five years. Your engineer spends two months writing the firmware—the job they were hired for—but then what? For the next four years and ten months, they’re likely maintaining older products or searching for work to stay busy.
Total cost to write firmware in-house? $1,250,000 over five years.
If you had used an outside firm for the same work, the total cost would have been around $25,000—a game-changing difference, especially for startups where every dollar counts.
The Problem of Underutilized Talent
Many engineers love what they do. They enjoy solving complex problems, working on cutting-edge technology, and making real contributions. But when they’re stuck with maintenance tasks or—worse—waiting for the next big project, they get frustrated. A bored engineer is an expensive engineer.
Think of it like an electronics enclosure: If you design a custom enclosure for just one product, the cost per unit is astronomical. But when you outsource to a firm that specializes in enclosures, they spread costs across multiple clients, giving you a better product at a lower cost.
The same is true for firmware development. Instead of hiring an in-house engineer, small companies can leverage a team of specialists on-demand.
How Finish Line PDS Works as an Extension of Your Team
At Finish Line Product Development Services, we understand the unique challenges small businesses and startups face. You don’t always need a full-time engineer, but you do need experts available when projects arise.
That’s exactly what we provide.
Flexible, On-Demand Engineering Support
- No Long-Term Commitments – Unlike hiring a full-time employee, you only pay for the hours you need.
- Turn Us On and Off as Needed – Need firmware for a new product? Turn us on. Done with the project? Turn us off. No wasted resources.
- Highly Specialized Team – Instead of relying on a single engineer, you get access to a team of experts in embedded firmware, IoT sensor development, hardware design, and product integration.
- Optimized Development Process – We’ve worked with dozens of small businesses, which means we’ve streamlined our process to deliver high-quality product development services, faster and more affordably.
Only Pay for the Time You Need
Hiring a full-time engineer locks you into a fixed salary (even when there’s no work to do). With Finish Line PDS, you only pay by the hour, ensuring your budget is spent wisely.
Example:
- Your company is developing a new IoT sensor that needs custom firmware.
- Hypothecally speaking, instead of spending over $250K per year on an in-house engineer, you engage Finish Line PDS for an around $25K project.
- Once the firmware is complete, you don’t pay for idle time—you only pay for what you use.
Why Working with Finish Line PDS is the Smarter Choice
1. Speed & Efficiency – With a team of engineers specializing in Electronics Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, we get it right the first time. No training, no ramp-up time, no trial and error.
2. High-Quality Code – A single engineer, no matter how skilled, can’t match the depth of experience that a dedicated software engineering team brings to the table.
3. Cost Savings – Rather than spending $1.25M over five years, you could spend a fraction of the cost per project, allowing you to allocate funds to marketing, sales, and business growth.
4. Scalable Support – As your company grows, our services scale with you. Whether it’s a small tweak to existing firmware or a completely new product, we’re ready when you are.
5. Avoiding the Engineering Bottleneck – Many small companies delay launching new products because they don’t have enough engineering bandwidth. By partnering with us, you remove this roadblock and accelerate product development.
Still Hiring? Think Twice.
If you’re about to hire an engineer, pause and ask yourself:
✅ Do you have enough ongoing work to keep them busy?
✅ Will hiring them slow down other areas of your business?
✅ Would partnering with an outside firm, free up resources for innovation, marketing, and sales?
If you’re unsure, talk to us first.
At Finish Line PDS, we help small businesses and startups build better products faster, for less. Whether you need embedded firmware, IoT sensor development, or a custom engineering solution, we’re here to help.
📞 Let’s chat about your next project. Contact us today at Finish Line Product Development Services to learn how we can help your business grow without unnecessary overhead costs.
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