Hello, I have recently decided to start a web development business. I say "development" because my artistic ability is somewhat lacking & I am refering to my role more as a space developer like a real estate developer. I may also develop some sites that I don't have a buyer for and then sell it to them.
My background from after college is about 12 years in sales and sales management & 5 years in production/general management.
I have been "playing" with code for years (I started writing code back in the 80s on a Apple IIe in BASIC) but have never earned any money doing it. I studied Fortran in college (*yuck*), learned a little Visual Basic & a few other things, but I never would have described myself as anything but a "power user" in the past. About a year and a half ago a friend asked me to help out with a website for a club we both belong to & I started learning html, css, & a little php. The next thing I knew I was updating sites for friends & did a couple from scratch.
Now I want to start a business doing it. I am humbly asking for a little feedback from you folks on my broadbrush plan.
Market niche- I have observed that the local web design/development firms tend to focus on the "big fish" located in the cities. I plan on selling to the small "mom & pop" businesses in the rural counties that are ignored by the established firms. I plan on selling them on "template customization" to keep the costs down and make the site design development more affordable for my target market.
sales door opener- a local community directory (I know clitche, but the ones around here suck). This is to be a very simple way for me to talk to the local owners and introduce myself to them with no pressure, as I will not be charging for a basic listing. If they want an image file or an advert I will charge for that. A long time ago I learned that it is not what you know, nore who you know, but rather it is how they know you. I have to have some way of getting the local small business owners to know me as a web developer. Plant the seed - kind of thing. I will also be going door to door for introductions and to ask how they want their listing to read... (Oh, & I will be imbeding a local news blog (with a few journalist wannabes writing) & a community forum). This will be based on one rural county per directory. Focusing on the county where I live at first.
networking tools- 1)I plan on starting a small non-profit to provide financial & economic literacy classes to people in my locality & ask other business owners to help by teaching, writing, & providing real world examples that people can learn from. I am naturally passionate about this & will do it anyway, but mention it because it has a great synergistic fit for my business plan. 2)my membership in other local clubs and organizations that I am truly interested in being involved with. This is something I enjoy & it will help me get people to know me as a web developer. (if anyone wants to do this it is a great way to network - just be genuine about what you do - don't do something like pick a church because the owners of your top three "wish that guy was my client" people go there, you will be transparant & look like a jerk, now if you truly are interested in the church because you think it is a great fit for you because you agree with their doctrine, like the people, etc.. & those 3 guys go there... by all means, JOIN! - just be genuine about why you are there!)
Workforce- There are several small colleges near me who have programs for web designers/developers but they .... suck at getting the kids internships and jobs. I plan on offering these students internships (pay them by the job). I am sure they write better code than I do & maybe if things go well I will be in a postion to offer them full time work when they graduate. Also, by using the students I can focus on my best skill, selling, and gain some benifit from skill specialization. I got this idea from some friends of mine who can do great artwork, design, developing, etc... but they can't sell the proverbial "fur coat to a naked man in the arctic". I can teach these youngsters how to sell (if they want to learn) & they can help me build a business while building a portfolio of work to help them get a job after college (& earn a little money).
Branding- I have chosen a brand & have worked up the whole deal based on what will appeal to local folks. It is based on local history that is fondly remembered by the locals.
hosting- I have looked at alot of hosting providers for a reseller account for shared hosting & I beleive I have settled on one. So I will be offering hosting services. I want to avoid the overselling business model & base my plan pricing on what the BW & data transfer really cost. Though I am not sure that many customers in my initial target market will require that much.
Pricing- I have gathered what data I could about my local competitors and picked a pricing plan based on my target market and by what my competitors are doing.
Personal Situation- my situation is very fortunate for starting a business. My wife is a successful CPA & we have structured our finances to live on one income. I have never seen a better time in my life to start a business. The income cut will be considerable at first but my wife is behind me taking the chance to build it back up and the chance to do what I want.
So far my "idea floating" with friends has resulted in agreements to do about 6 sites (everyone I asked about my idea) & I have quit floating my idea to people (I don't want to oversell myself). I was asking them what they thought about the idea for a business and they asked me if I would do a site for them...simple little static sties, but it is work!
I know how to sell, I am not really sure if my competitors have someone who has selling as their core competiency (one does I am friends with the owner, but he targets big fish & is more of a traditional marketing firm, with web as a sideline). Most of the others... it seems to be a skill of necesity & not something that they are necessarily good at.
Any feedback, thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I am really excited but want a reality check. This all seems... to good to be true...
BTW: Thanks to Stefan & all the posters here who have provided the info I needed in the past while figuring something out. I never found myself needing to post before because I allways found the answer somewhere!