Why should startups invest in a dedicated Product Engineer?

If you’re planning for a start-up, or already have one, chances are that you’ll need a Product Engineer on your team. And if you’re thinking that you don’t require yet another team-member as you already have a software team for your brand, trust me you’re not the first one.

Many people have skipped hiring a Product Engineer for their start-ups only to change their decision later.

So who is a Product Engineer; what is the role of a Product Engineer, you ask? Don't worry, we’ve got you covered.

What is Product Engineering? Who is a Product Engineer?

Put in simple words, Product Engineering is the process of designing and developing a product, device, or system for its sale in the market.

From this, you must’ve been able to understand that a Product Engineer is one who designs, processes, and takes an active part in the manufacturing process.

Typically, every manufacturing industry needs Product Engineers for working right from the ideation of a particular product as per the customer’s requirements, to its manufacturing, and ultimately forming the final product.

So why on Earth would you need a Product Engineer?

Now that you’ve seen (or read) who a Product Engineer and what his job is, let’s quickly get you through what are those important points that’ll make you think twice about whether or not you’d want to take risks in not having a Product Engineer for your start-up.

• Professional Approach

A Product Engineer is trained to think analytically and in an “engineer” way, a skill you (if you’re not from the Engineering background) or any other of your team members will not possess. A Product Engineer will be able to build and improve the products, with the help of their unique and technical ideas that will help in product maintenance, with you having to spend less on it

• Quality Development

A professional engineer will be better than your in-house development team. A professional product engineer will be more efficient, and more aware of the best engineering practices as they will have the responsibility to work solely on that part. Their approach will be more result-oriented, rather than experimental.

• Customer-Focused Approach

Throughout the building of the product, your product engineer will keep your customers a priority. The product engineer needs to maintain communication with the users so that they understand the requirements and also the pain points of the customers. This is very essential in building a product that solves the problems and matches the requirements of the end-user. Even after the product is released, feedback should be used to identify areas for improvement.

• A Shift of Focus onto Business Goals

Let’s be honest here, working with an in-house engineering team can be hectic. Keeping a check on them can be exhausting. When you outsource these, you free up more of your time and energy and can use those for coming up with innovative business ideas, or for other things that require more importance. You have a fresh mind to enhance your core products and services.

• Improvement in Overall Work Efficiency

Specialization in work increases its efficiency and quality. A good product engineer will have a strong technical background and they will understand areas related to their field in many ways, thus making better decisions. It is also important to note that your engineer should have good communication skills to be able to understand the business lingo and also convey their ideas to other engineers and team members. All these attributes lead to higher quality products and the overall work becomes more efficient.

Final Thoughts

Now that you’ve read the points on why Product Engineers are important for your start-up, there’s a question we’d like to ask you, “Do you still think that your start-up can do without a Product Engineer or that the IT team that you already have is enough?” The answer is for you to think about. But one thing is certain, a Product Engineer for your start-up is an investment, not an expense.