A meeting of minds

dooardbhoy

Hi,

I am a sales and marketing manager who is looking at a new business idea for a website and whose website format is not currently available in the Irish market. I dont have the IT/website development background and I was wondering if there are any website developers who have experience in the likes of property / motoring websites such as building/running the website uploading data and the area of SEO who may be interested in a new venture. Thank you for taking the time to read my post and any advice would be gratefully received in relation to setting up a website, costs of running it, ease of uploading information etc

byrne0f56789

Even if you do find someone to develop your site. You need to understand the basics of web development yourself. It takes time for a website to break even and even longer if you have to pay people to maintain it. Think about learning web development yourself. It will pay off in the long run.

Byrne, where do you suggest people go to learn themselves? I'd be extremely interested in doing so. I've been recommended blogs and tutorials online and they've been a great help. Do you recommend any particular courses or are they generally over-priced and out of date?

dooardbhoy

Thanks Byrne for taking the time to answer. I have the idea and thats why I am looking for someone to look at the website and maintain same. However I would like to build a better knowledge of site management etc. This leaves me time to do what I know best and thats the sales and marketing as the majority of the revenue will be ploughed back into the site and advertising / SEO etc of the same. My background is selling on websites and magazines.

Alcatel

dooardbhoy wrote: »

Thanks Byrne for taking the time to answer. I have the idea and thats why I am looking for someone to look at the website and maintain same. However I would like to build a better knowledge of site management etc. This leaves me time to do what I know best and thats the sales and marketing as the majority of the revenue will be ploughed back into the site and advertising / SEO etc of the same. My background is selling on websites and magazines.

If you may forgive my bluntness (I'm not putting down your idea, just giving you my fair appraisal); you have a business idea and the ability to sell, and nothing else. What you're looking for is a web developer... Now you could pay someone to do it for you, and you keep it all for yourself - my preferred action - or you can get a partner, at which point you're giving a % of your business for what is essentially a commodity piece of knowledge from a web developer.

Don't give away too much for that.

dooardbhoy

Hi Alcatel, thanks for your reply you have hit it on the button, I have my idea borne from my experience in the media/online sector and based on that I am trying to move it on. I have had some good feedback and there is a growing demand for what I am proposing but my quandry is giving away a percentage to a potential partner who has the technical know how or paying a web developer which is probably going to take more than I have at present. If I had the website that I want i'd be confident in the sales and marketing end.

Alcatel

dooardbhoy wrote: »

Hi Alcatel, thanks for your reply you have hit it on the button, I have my idea borne from my experience in the media/online sector and based on that I am trying to move it on. I have had some good feedback and there is a growing demand for what I am proposing but my quandry is giving away a percentage to a potential partner who has the technical know how or paying a web developer which is probably going to take more than I have at present. If I had the website that I want i'd be confident in the sales and marketing end.

What's the $ cost for a commercial web developer to do the job for you?

PCPhoto

I've been in the same boat and have been quoted €2-5K for my website idea .... one place quoted me €15-20K (after I told them expansion plans)

dooardbhoy

Thats interesting, I suppose I was hoping to find a web developer who will build the website and look at traffic and I would look after subscriptions advertising sponsorship etc. I might be better to look at larger websites to see if they would diversify and given that they already have everything to hand.

byrne0f56789

The best way to learn web development is trial and error. There are plenty of free resources on the net.

It depends what kind of site you want to develop. If you have a content type site it's pretty easy to develop, if you are prepared to take the time to do it. However, if you have a more complicated site you may need to partner with a web developer. I think a property based site may be a bit complicated.

None the less, you are going to have to be able to upload your sales copy and not rely on a external web developer to do it.

calahans

Its an interesting question, do you give away some equity or pay for a developer. From my experience I would say that if your business will be based on the net then it may make sense to get a web developer with blogging skills - they will end up helping you with the marketing of your service, not just a site.

If you business is not really an ebusiness (or whatever), but just needs a site, then maybe just try and get the money for a brochure site which should not cost you much. A decent brochure site should be between 2 adn 5 k. If the site needs more of an engine then it too hard to specify.

couerdelion

dooardbhoy wrote: »

Thats interesting, I suppose I was hoping to find a web developer who will build the website and look at traffic and I would look after subscriptions advertising sponsorship etc. I might be better to look at larger websites to see if they would diversify and given that they already have everything to hand.

You might be able to find a developer who is willing to help, with the promise of payment if the company makes profit, or would be willing to the work for equity. But it's up to you to decide what suits you best. If you are looking for constant work and aren't able to pay a wage then equity may be the best way to go. It's still better to have a piece of a pie than no pie at all!

As for all the talk of learning web development, well that again is a decision only you can make. FWIW I would offer equity and aim to get to market as soon as possible rather than messing around learning skills which are of no benefit. If you grow you'll be focussing all your time on marketing and selling so would have to get someone in anyway(??)

If you get an off the shelf solution what is your competitive advantage? Barriers to entry; what's to stop someone copying your idea and getting to market quickly?

Sorry, probably not that constructive a post...

onedmc

byrne0f56789 wrote: »

Think about learning web development yourself. It will pay off in the long run.

I really think thats a daft idea, you dont need to know software development to run a web business. This is like saying you need to be a mechanic to manage a car sales room, you dont.

In some cases it helps to be a mechanic and you certainly need to understand whats under the hood. But if you try to learn 'on the side' you will never get the the level required anyway.

Likewise for software, its unlikly that you will get to the level needed to make a website really look and work well. Find someone that can do it for you and stick to what you know - selling I hope.

onedmc

But if you have the time and the inclination to learn, why not learn yourself? Way more profitable. Keep the costs down.