The checklist for starting a business from scratch is a daunting one. Where will you operate from? What will your identity look like? How will you win business? What will your budget be? With so many big questions to answer the task of starting a company sometimes looks nearly impossible. No matter how you plan to answer these big questions, near the top of the list of to-dos should be to get a website made.
How to get maximum bang for your buck
A website is a complex beast and here too are a multitude of options that can leave your head spinning. Chief among your concerns will be cost, and quite rightly too. Budget too little and you’ll end up with a badly performing eyesore. Spend too much and you’ll end up with redundant features and a hole in your budget.
I specialise in helping both new and established businesses get the most from their website budget. Whether it’s from the ground up or a reboot of an existing site I always start with the budget. A realistic understanding of what can be achieved is critical to the success of the project.
Having understood the requirements I take a long hard look at what features the budget will accommodate. It’s here that the trade-offs begin. There will be some elements of the site that are critical and some that a more of a wish list. Working out what can be included now, and what can come later, means that the site isn’t shunted down a dead end.
Having got the structure of the site agreed, we can move on to design and user experience. Here too are important compromises that must be made. While everyone wants a site that is totally unique and has all the latest bells and whistles, this may not be possible on the budget at hand. As long as the designer understands the long term plan a more generic design template can be used to begin with, then a more costly unique design applied later.
Getting all of what you need and some of what you want
The key here is your website meeting your business objectives. For example, if it needs a top quality e-commerce element then that is where the budget needs to go, rather than pure design. My understanding of the whole picture means that you’ll get a website that is perfect for your needs while not having to overreach on your budget requirements.
Please feel free to get in contact to discuss your website!