When you start a new company, you will initially be too busy getting it off the ground to think much about how to organize your company’s information. But at some point, when your business is running well, you might realize how important it is for you to improve how you store and access your business information.

After talking to other business people or conducting your own research on how to manage your accumulating electronic and paper files, it might dawn on you that you need to build a database for your company.  While it is possible for you to learn how to build a database on your own using a free database builder, you might not have the time or inclination to do it, especially if your business constantly needs your attention. In that case, consider hiring a database developer to set up a database for you.

Before you hire a database developer to do it for you, it’s always a good idea to get a clear understanding of why building and maintaining a database is important for your business.   

What Exactly Is a Database?    

A database is a collection of information organized in a way that makes it easy for you to retrieve the information you need through your computer. A data management system (DBMS) structures a database to make it easier for you to store, retrieve, change, or delete information in your data processing system.  

Fortunately, using a database support service will make it easy for the database developer you hire to get technical help, especially if you’re planning on using a Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS), also known as a “Managed Databases,” from a provider such as Amazon Web Services (News - Alert) (AWS).

A common example of a database is the digital electronic records used by hospitals for patient care called Electronic Health Records (EHR). A doctor’s ready access to medical information on a new patient will make it easier to diagnose the patient and create a suitable medical treatment plan based on the patient’s medical history which is summarized in the patient’s electronic health records. This record will tell the doctor everything they need to know about previous diagnoses, laboratory reports, prescriptions, hospital visits, and medical treatments. 

Why a Database Will Help Your Company Prosper 

Since your company’s information is unique, the database developer that you hire will have to tailor the database to specifically suit all your business needs, such as making it easier for you to query information about sales, payments, business performance, and projects.

Once the database developer has set up your database management system, you will notice an immediate improvement in how quickly and well you can run your business compared to the manual methods you previously used to search, manage, and store your information.

Because a database organizes your business information systematically, it will be easy to access all your information when you need it fast. Besides increasing your efficiency at work, a database will improve the profitability of your business. For instance, creating a comprehensive customer database will make it easier to increase sales.

What Information to Organize

Here is a sample of some things that you might want to ask your database developer to organize for you:  

• Client records 
• Customer profiles, 
• Business contracts
• Customer’s recent activities. 
• Business document archives. 

How to Hire a Freelance Database Developer

When hiring a freelance database developer to build a database for your company, you could advertise your job opening on an online job board or look through a freelance skills directory. 

Here are four steps to take to hire a database developer: 

1. Research the details of the job position so that you can write a good job description.
2. Create a list of qualifications for the job and subdivide this into qualifications that they must have and the qualities that it would be nice for them to have. 
3. Conduct Skype (News - Alert), Zoom, or phone interviews to save time when developing your shortlist of candidates.
4. Develop a criterion of what you are looking for, such as education, qualifications, experience, references, and a portfolio of previous work done.

Creating a database will make it easy for you to collect, keep, extract, and update any information about your company, and it will empower you to run a more efficient and profitable business.