home-based web design business..help please

[anam8r]

I'm currently in college for an associates degree in web design...
I'm also working a job that is related to web design. It pretty much consists of making hundreds of templates for use with items being sold on ebay. Also I've made a couple templates to market products that this company has direct rights to, such as some software, and ipod products. This has involved some hand-drawn animations then done in Flash. I enjoy the job, but it just isnt challenging me. I get paid a meager $7.50 an hour and I'm 25 yrs old/married. =O
My skills are mainly in the graphics area. I have some pretty good skills with 3d animation software as well (3d Studio Max). My programming knowledge is almost zilch. Software I use: Dreamweaver, Photoshop, 3dsmax, Flash.
Anyways lately i have been thinking of creating a portfolio/site for a home-based web design business consisting of just myself. I was thinking of targeting the ma-and-pa businesses around here to start with and work myself up as my experience/confidence progress. Basically if i can just pay the bills ill be happy, since 7.50 im barely getting by.
Here are my questions:
1. Can I get by without the programming for awhile? (still studying this one)
2. How much should I charge roughly? Hourly/Flatrate?
3. should i break up the costs into phases? concept/html/graphics/flash?

Important one:
4. How long should it take me to make a site? For one person. I'm afraid I will either charge too little or too much, or take too long to complete the project.
Let's say I work 8 hrs a day on a project. If the client wants just 4-5 pages, a flash animation or two (of moderate difficulty), custom photoshop graphics, possibly some pictures taken, how long is a reasonable time to complete a project such as this? From concept to finish.

5. Should I host their site, or should they host the site and just give me the server account info?

I don't plan to quit my dayjob to start with, but do this on the side, until I'm confident it can be done full-time. thanks in advance for any input....

[nishant_kalia85]

hey nice quest even i like to ask the same from any expert plz help!!

[LeeU]

You need to be careful about discussions about pricing and how much to charge. They are not allowed on this forum (see the link in my signature).

[anam8r]

no one has any helpful information? there were lots of questions along with the pricing one. If noone can comment on pricing, does anyone have any helpful info on the other areas?

[Compguy Pete]

Well there is helpful information you can find here!

I charge what works for me and when a client asks why I charge that amount I have to have a very solid and straight answer for them. Once I give them the reply some are satisfied and others are not.

Important point #1 "a whole lotta Math"
There are a number of books and websites out there to help you find what your time is worth. Bit of math goes like billable hours, expenses, how much you think you can actually work and come up with your "hourly rate".

Important point #2 "the nut"
Another method is to look at how much do you want/have to make in a month, how big is that "Nut" you got to crack? If you know that number you can divide that by how many hours you think you can bill for each month on a regular basis once you've "ramped up" your business.

Important point #3 Speaking of Ramping up:
It's harder than you would believe to work for yourself in your house... I work harder for myself than I have ever worked for another person or company. Now at the same time I am not suggesting renting an office but some people need that change of space. However when it's just you it's just you and nobody else. If your doing the laundry, changing diapers, bringing the offspring to the doctor during the day your not working and your also not making money. You need to set aside at least 10-12 hours a day to get things going.

Important point #4 "always be selling"
Now this is a quote from a not so well known movie :) however there are some interesting lesions in "Boiler Room". However you got to let everyone know 2 or 3 times what you know and can do before they'll remember. The best advertising you have is word of mouth.

Important point #5 "Mom and Pop Shops"
OH I won't spend a ton of time on this one but you mentioned marketing to mom and pop businesses... Well I hate to break this but they don't have money at least most of them... The ones that do are the ones that the owner is never around... if they work every day and are closed on Sundays and Monday's because they need time off, stay away they may hire ya but good luck getting paid in most cases.

Important point #6 "relationships"
Try to partner up with some guys that are local techs that do service work, swapping referrals is a good way to get bigger clients.

Important point #7 "when to give it away"
Bartering & doing free work doesn't help your kids to go to bed with a full belly.


Important point #8 "relationships part 2"
You asked about programming... I've had a saying I've had on my invoices and business cards for the last 9 years "If we can't do it, we'll find someone who can"


Important point #9 "how much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood"
On how long should it take you to make a site...? Well the length of time it will take you to do your first 5 page site will be about 4x-100x longer than when you get good at it.

Important point #10 "To host or not to host"
Don't know how much you like to eat? This doesn't mean you have to go broke doing this... check out http://www.thelist.com look for ones that offer a reseller account. I found my provider there many moons ago.

Important point #11 "Free at last"
You can work another job while getting this puppy going however depending what your hours are it's hard to market and meet with clients when it's after 5pm.

One last thought... one that could have been the simple answer that would have avoided this 11 point post. Get out there and start selling and adjust as you go.

Don't worry about the other stuff, do what feels right for you and your family. You may never get to a point to where you feel it can support you full time... then again it could happen sooner than you would have thought. It all depends on if you have the "lobes for business"

Man I need to stop posting at 2am... I get way to wordy, but I hope this helps!

[Ubik]

Design vs. Programming

Looks like you design people need a programmer to partner with.

I have the opposite problem. I can program web based applications, but I have no design expertise.

Maybe there can be some place for people to go to establish relationships between programers and designers.

Maybe.

I hope this post is alright, I am not specifically advertising for a design partner, but it seems like two problems that when partnered, solve each other.

[NetNerd85]

Design vs. Programming

Looks like you design people need a programmer to partner with.

I have the opposite problem. I can program web based applications, but I have no design expertise.

Maybe there can be some place for people to go to establish relationships between programers and designers.

Maybe.

I hope this post is alright, I am not specifically advertising for a design partner, but it seems like two problems that when partnered, solve each other.

Yeah I know exactly what you mean! Those designers must hide or something!

[WessonInfoSys]

All you really have to do is pick a number you feel comfortable with. Ask yourself what you're worth. If you don't think you're worth what you're billing out then you should adjust the rate.

If I were you, pick a rate that is lower than what you think your time is worth. Stick with that rate for a few projects at least...especially since you're just starting out.

And everyone I know hates estimating. Guess what -- you get to do it too. Get a specification from the client before you estimate on that spec....the order is sort of important there....but don't worry, you will screw it up like every other newbie just to get some work flowing. After you've been knocked around enough you'll get tough and you'll have a stance that isn't as easily moved.

Have fun and if you feel the least bit funny about a deal you better sleep on it before you fax or mail any signed documents.

All this really is is a conversation between you and the market. Once the market is ok with what you charge and once you are ok with what you charge -- you'll be in a good spot and can build up from there.

[Zipline]

I think starting a home-based web design business is very feasible. What I think will be important to remember when doing this is to not take on jobs that you cannot handle. Many clients will require advanced programming for content management, password protected areas, and much more. I have seen a lot of designers advise their clients against doing these things because they didn’t have the technical ability to complete the task. To be successful I think it is paramount to remember your client’s best interest. If you cannot handle the entire task consider outsourcing the programming to another company so that your client gets the product they deserve. Most companies expect more than an online brochure these days and if you can’t deliver results you’re going to have a tough time succeeding. Your goal is to create the perfect web site for your client. A website that helps their business, supports their brand image, and makes the money. Not a just any old website with their logo on it because if you’re not making your clients successful you’re not going to be successful.

[Reli4nt]

Yeah I know exactly what you mean! Those designers must hide or something!
That'a funny, I have the opposite problem. I am surrounded by designers. All good but most of them can't even handle proper html much less css, much less programming.

[buntine]

That'a funny, I have the opposite problem. I am surrounded by designers. All good but most of them can't even handle proper html much less css, much less programming.

I would love to meet someone who can do both exceptionally well. Your either a programmer or a designer, never both. The only one I can think of is Michaelangelo (obviously replacing programming with mathematics, engineering, etc).

Regards.

[acorbelli]

Get an artist for his vision, and an engineer for his skills. The artist draws the concept, the engineer follows it up with code. That's the only way that's worked for me, I've got a visually inclined friend who can't code...and I wear mismatched socks but have been coding for years.

[Reli4nt]

The jack of all trades is a detrimental advantage. True he can do anything and everthing, but there will always be many people much better than he is in any one job.

Team work is certainly the best option. Though certainly not the only one.

[ellicit]

I started my own at home business few months ago... I also sell web templates. I'm very good with graphicsm, and I know HTML. But when it comes to Php, CGI etc... I can only install scripts, I can't code them. Its works out OK for me as because my friend is pretty good with them. I haven't made much yet ... its probably cause I really didn't spent any money on promotions / advertisement.


I usually give my clients a flat rate, and a down payment of 50% due before I start on any projects. Yes, there are times when I feel as if I've charged them less, But that something I have to live with.

[EasyWeb]

Look around fellow slaves to the eternal internet there are many sites now offering Bulk sales of Web templates cheaper than you can build or buy a single template and most of them are reasonable also i have found a lot of companies are switching to oscommerce sites because they just plug in any feature they want and away they go.
it's only the larger corporations that have very large networked sites that still require us humble workers of the brush or ruler the trend is to these cheaper bulk resources where if the site does not appeal you simply pick another from your collection and fill in the blanks shove it on your server via one of the simple ftp proggies and keep your cash in your pocket.
If you want work regardless of whether your a coder or a designer join a freelancing site (i know one or two) it's a lot easier than trying to promote yourself and your site and often you find work immediately