Hire a Designer or build your own website?

I was chatting with a client recently about the silly mistakes we all make when we first start out in business.  He had learned one valuable lesson and he asked that I share it with others so they wouldn’t repeat his mistake.

Here is his story;

‘Mark’ was working in the corporate world and had become disillusioned and wondered if there was more to life than commutes and meetings.  He had often toyed with the idea of being his own boss and had a cracking idea for a business.  He decided to take the plunge and handed in his notice.  He decided to take a month off to go travelling before he would knuckle down to launching the business.  Having spent a little more than planned on holiday he decided he would save some money by building his own website.  Weeks turned to months as he watched YouTube tutorials and took his time building his website.  He went to some courses, did some market research and suddenly he realised it was 6 months since his last paycheque and was still without a sale.

The sales drive then started in earnest, with networking events and cold calling.  However, he was always a little bit embarrassed sending a potential new customer to his home made website.  When he made his first significant sale he knew where he was going to invest it – a new website.

Mark reckons that if he had only paid that €1,000 the day he left his corporate job he would not have lost over half a year’s potential sales.   That ‘saving money’ by building his own website had cost him dearly.

DIY Websites

Learning to build your own WordPress website is certainly achievable for most people.  But why would you want to?  You are a business person that has seen the value in your product for others.  Do the tasks that you do best – like selling your product.  Hire others to do the rest of the chores such as accountants, printers and web designers.

Your time has a cost and you have to consider the cost of having a website that looks amateurish.  The potential sales lost because your website is taking too long will far outweigh the small cost of a professional website.

A professional will give you something to be proud of, add the little touches that make it sparkle.  They will know about SEO and linking up with social media.  They will know the ‘tricks of the trade’ and that will stand to you.

You are passionate about your business so make your business shine with the best website you cannot afford not to have!