Hiring other programmers

[Tonearm]

I have always been the only programmer working on my site, and the only person with any kind of access to the server and code. It has worked out great, but it's been almost 10 years and I really feel like the business could grow a lot faster if I remove the bottleneck (me).

Has anyone found themself in a similar situation? I'm having a hard time accepting the fact that I need to give other people access to my code. It's such a huge part of what makes up my business, I worry that someone would set up a website of their own with my code.

[Marshall]

If you hire someone, you could always invoke some form of non-disclosure agreement and proprietary rights protection with the "what you do when you work for me belongs to me" clause. I know a few WebmasterWorld members have given me access to their sites doing a few odd forms and such, but I'm the type who really doesn't care about an individuals site beyond what I am doing for him/her. To me it's bad business. Just my humble opinion.

[simstar]

Ensure you get a contract written up and the people you do hire to code for you are from a reputable or at least traceable source.

[janharders]

Just get people you trust or who are trusted by people you trust. And ease into it. At some point, of course, you'll have to let control go for them to become really efficient, but it doesn't have to be the starting point. Of course, it surely helps if the person is local and you can meet face to face.

[Marshall]

Bottom line - CYA with whatever you think is necessary to protect your sites.

[Tonearm]

Thanks for the advice. It sounds like I should get people from a reliable source, have them sign a contract, start slow, and go local if possible (probably not possible).

Has anyone here gone through this?

[Habtom]

I have always divided a project into tasks which on their own won't be anything significant to a few freelancers, and that way I know I am the only one who gets the whole picture. If you think through the whole process, it can be easier than it sounds.

[StoutFiles]

have them sign a contract

This is honestly the only thing that matters. Once money is involved, no one can be 100% trusted.

[janharders]

The problem with contracts is their enforability. If the programmer is in a different country and decides to run with your code and setup a competing website, you can sue them ... but you will have to spend quite some cash.

[Tonearm]

Even in the US and under a contract, a programmer could easily use my code to set up their own website and I'd never know.

As for dividing projects into unrecognizable tasks, I've thought about that a lot. Ideally, I would have a programmer write modules that I could plug into my "main system" of code. The more I imagine it though, the more I think it could be really slow and ineffective. Hopefully I'm wrong. Has anyone tried something like that?