Help naming my web design business

[Farley93]

My business will be installing wordpress themes, so maybe it's not technically a web design business, but nonetheless, I would like some help deciding on a name as this is the only thing holding me back at the moment as I need to buy the domain to get starter building my site.

It can be completely random, it doesn't have to represent the service. My site is about creating 10/10 professional looking websites within 48 hours for only £150. So it's high quality, affordable, quick and stress-free.

Feel free to suggest anything, as I have no good names whatsoever so far!

Thanks in advance!

 

[NickGrogan]

bodgit-and-scarper.co.uk

 

[Farley93]

This might be the least productive forum on the internet. Nothing but ridicule and put downs. Pathetic bunch of people.

 

[Farley93]

bodgit-and-scarper.co.uk

Looking at your website, you could use my help.

 

[NickGrogan]

Farley, it's the internet, it's hasn't been productive in years.

You have what at best could be called a poor offering, and don't like people pointing it out. The name of your business is not going to make much difference, and you can't come up with one yourself.

how about

wordpress-installers.co.uk - it's what you're offering to do, and it's available.

 

[NickGrogan]

Looking at your website, you could use my help.

Given that it doesn't run on Wordpress and you claim to have no design skills, programming skills or technical knowledge, I'd love to hear how you can help.

 

[ryedale]

Nick's website is clean and gets to the point with the information - something you could learn from when using over bloated themes

 

[Farley93]

Nick's website is clean and gets to the point with the information - something you could learn from when using over bloated themes

Weren't you the guy who sent me an example of your work and I couldn't work out whether you were using it to prove my websites were better or whether you genuinely thought yours were better? Don't make me laugh.

 

[ryedale]

I was actually trying to help you understand the sort of requests people make back when I thought you were actually wanting advice.

Given I've been doing this for over 8 years and have hundreds of clients across Europe, I think I might be doing something right and be in a position to help you

But you know best.

 

[Farley93]

It's clear now that the majority of the put downs and ridicule I've had to put up with is from old school web design companies who know of the threat of Wordpress themes and don't want a business starting up which totally blows theirs out of the water when you know what the customers ACTUALLY want.

The small businesses which I'm targeting DON'T want to wait weeks for their site to be complete. They DON'T want much say over the design, just a professional site. They DON'T want to pay nearly £1000.

I can honestly say I would never ridicule a young person trying to get into business, it's shameful really.

 

[NickGrogan]

You know that wordpress has been around since 2003 right? That it's used by nearly 25% of ALL websites right?

Wordpress themes are not some great new discovery you've made.

 

[DesignerNick]

It's clear now that the majority of the put downs and ridicule I've had to put up with is from old school web design companies who know of the threat of Wordpress themes and don't want a business starting up which totally blows theirs out of the water when you know what the customers ACTUALLY want.

The small businesses which I'm targeting DON'T want to wait weeks for their site to be complete. They DON'T want much say over the design, just a professional site. They DON'T want to pay nearly £1000.

I can honestly say I would never ridicule a young person trying to get into business, it's shameful really.

I think 99% of web design companies know all about Wordpress Themes, they are nothing new at all.

You are forgetting that the customers want to get business because of their website, how do you plan to do that? It is ok saying you know exactly want people want, but you never mention that they want more business / leads / customers from their website.

 

[Farley93]

@DesignerNick And surely having a new, professional website will help them achieve that?

 

[DesignerNick]

@DesignerNick And surely having a new, professional website will help them achieve that?

How will it? What is your plan to get them business through the website? Will you offer any sort of analytics to them so that they can see how many leads they are getting?

Will the themes be optimised for Local SEO, any rich snippets etc?

Will they get any advice on how to rank well in Google Maps and things like that or are you just going to install Wordpress, install a theme and then hand it over? What are you going to do when they want something bespoke or ask for advice on something?

What happens when they don't keep it up to date and it gets hacked? Are you just going to tell them to do one so they go to somebody who can help and stay with them and probably spend a lot more money with them?

I know people who will give the service you are for around $10 - $15, they will then be able to get deeper into it with coding / design if required. How can you compete with that?

 

[Farley93]

This is what I'm talking about. I was looking for name ideas and I get questions about the business model. That's why I say this forum, or at least the users who are replying me to, are unproductive.

 

[DesignerNick]

This is what I'm talking about. I was looking for name ideas and I get questions about the business model. That's why I say this forum, or at least the users who are replying me to, are unproductive.

Actually, it is trying to help you as it is questions you should be asking yourself to be able to provide the best service. There isn't any point going into anything as a know it all as nobody knows it all, just listen to the advice and take as much as you can on board.

You obviously don't like people asking you questions so how will you be when a potential customer asks you how you will help their business get more leads, will you just say because its a good template? Go for it as I can guarantee that your customers will have gone somewhere else within 3 months to get the job finished, it is only the customers who are losing out in all of it.

 

[NickGrogan]

To quote myself...

how about

wordpress-installers.co.uk - it's what you're offering to do, and it's available.

 

[NickGrogan]

Don't remember suggesting I had.

Maybe this will help your memory...

It's clear now that the majority of the put downs and ridicule I've had to put up with is from old school web design companies who know of the threat of Wordpress themes and don't want a business starting up which totally blows theirs out of the water when you know what the customers ACTUALLY want.

 

[Faevilangel]

Farley, you have no idea what you're doing and you're basically conning your customers, you don't know anything about website apart from installing a theme, you don't know how the technology works on the website, you have no idea how to fix issues when they arise, you have no idea on how to optimise a website to increase visitors and sales and you have a poor attitude "my idea is great, other web designers are crap".

Do you know why customers come to us and pay us £1000 for a site? They want someone experienced who knows what they are talking about and can offer advice on what they may need.

I am not putting you down, I am offering advice on my experience of being in the same industry, offering the same service as you and having hundreds of clients, you are going into this idea in the wrong frame of mind, you need to be supplying a service and fulfilling a need, at the moment you're not as there are people who already do what you do who actually have an idea of how to build websites and have experience of building a site.

One example, I installed a theme for the client but their options panel for the theme didn't work, we contacted the theme author and he gave the client a couple of reasons, I then implemented the ideas and it worked, it only worked after we had to tweak a setting on their web host.

Can you really say you can offer a better service than someone like Wearewattle or Fisicx who have years experience and know all the pitfalls in the industry?

 

[SwindonSteve]

This thread is better than the joke thread in the time out forum...

 

[MartynKeigher]

I think the traffic that you have driven here @Farley93, (between your 2 threads/topics) is going to be more than any of the Wordpress sites you install, or maybe even all of the installs combined!?

ALL THAT ADVICE that (it seems like) you have disregarded is astonishing!!

 

[iconic]

faevilangel

Pictures on your website don't seem to load?

 

[Excel Expert]

I think the problem is that installing Wordpress and a theme is a skill. I would say just about everyone here has the ability to follow the instructions and install it for ourselves. Most business owners would have this ability.

This leaves a small sector of the market who don't know what they are doing. They know they need a website - they don't know about SEO, online marketing etc. It would be easy to separate these people from a couple of hundred quid, however in their minds they are expecting an all singing all dancing website that will improve their business. In fact and in reality they are just getting a dead end site that does not attract cleint's - i.e they have just wasted a couple of hundred quid on a site that does nothing for them at all. As a result most of us start to think rip off (that may not be your intention, I fully accept that, but that is how it works out).

If you were offering a service where you customise Wordpress and actually help drive traffic to their websites, then you would have a worthwhile business most of us could get behind.

You may see the advice here as negative but negative feedback is the best advice out there. All your family and friends will say "Yeah, go for it, its a great idea" - next thing you know you have wasted a lot of time, money and effort on something that was doomed to fail from the start. We are not family or friends so the advice you are getting here is probably the most honest you will get

 

[Farley93]

...

 

[Excel Expert]

You will need to develop a thicker skin if you want to go in to business. You will not like all the advice you are given or like the way it is given, but it is advice from experienced people.

If people think an idea is a bad idea or think you are going down the wrong path, they will say. They will say it very bluntly at times, but it is based on experience. When so many experienced people are questioning your idea it should tell you something and to be careful. Advice like this is a million times more valuable than friends and families telling you "What a great idea, go for it". They are doing it out of the best intentions and would say that regardless of how bad the plan is.

No one here is saying give up and don't go in to business. You need to look at the idea again or go for a different idea altogether.

For a Wordpress business to be viable in most peoples eyes you will need elements of being able to modify Wordpress its self, be a bit of a graphic designer and a bit of an SEO expert. You will probably have your hands full learning the backend of Wordpress and how to program it from scratch, so perhaps find a graphic designer and SEO expert and team up for some projects.

 

[Farley93]

I can deal with someone saying it's a bad idea if they think it is, but I've had nothing but ridicule. It's taught me a life lesson though, people on ukbusinessforums.co.uk are very sad, lonely people who have nothing better to do during working hours (shows how their businesses are doing really) than to endlessly and shamelessly ridicule a 20-year-old looking to start his first real business. I'm not talking about those who gave advice, I'm talking about the ones making jokes about me, putting me down, telling me I'm clueless, that I'm doomed to fail, that I'm 'conning' people. I'd be utterly ashamed of myself if I knew I'd done that to someone looking to get into business.

As if Agoraphobia and depression weren't bad enough. I finally find something I'm passionate about and that makes me happy, I come onto a forum of what I thought were decent people, and I get laughed at and mocked. Biggest mistake of my life and I won't be attempting it now, I'll spend the next 2 years like I spent the last, living off my unemployed but looking for a job mother and playing video games in my underwear.

Thanks guys, thanks a lot.

 

[Excel Expert]

Think of what the alternatives were. You could spend the next two years working on the idea and getting nowhere other than gaining a bad reputation. I know you are not out to con people, and I don't think anyone is suggesting that, it is just the feeling you will create. This is down to what the market want s and your offering not quite meshing. People who don't have the skills to install Wordpress will use your service but they will also expect it to bring a lot of extra business in. Your offering does not address the later part so it will leave the customer feeling disappointed. (Again its not your intention, it is just what will happen in the real world).

BTW - Your current plan would probably not generate enough income for you to live on. I don't know what you are charging for the service but I would guess you would need to sell 2 or 3 a week, week in, week out to earn a wage. No matter how good you get at installing Wordpress and themes you will never be able to put your prices up - so you will kind of end up in a vicious circle of working and not being able to grow.

Use your time to learn the programming element. Spend a good couple months spending everyday learning Wordpress skills and before you know it you should gain some real sellable skills. Team up with others to fill in those skill gaps (graphics, SEO etc) and you will have a real offering you can earn a great deal more money from and give you the foundations of a real business.

 

[SwindonSteve]

I can deal with someone saying it's a bad idea if they think it is, but I've had nothing but ridicule. It's taught me a life lesson though, people on ukbusinessforums.co.uk are very sad, lonely people who have nothing better to do during working hours (shows how their businesses are doing really) than to endlessly and shamelessly ridicule a 20-year-old looking to start his first real business. I'm not talking about those who gave advice, I'm talking about the ones making jokes about me, putting me down, telling me I'm clueless, that I'm doomed to fail, that I'm 'conning' people. I'd be utterly ashamed of myself if I knew I'd done that to someone looking to get into business.

As if Agoraphobia and depression weren't bad enough. I finally find something I'm passionate about and that makes me happy, I come onto a forum of what I thought were decent people, and I get laughed at and mocked. Biggest mistake of my life and I won't be attempting it now, I'll spend the next 2 years like I spent the last, living off my unemployed but looking for a job mother and playing video games in my underwear.

Thanks guys, thanks a lot.

Grow up, pick your toys up and think again.

Instead of spending the next two years in your underwear, spend it getting yourself skilled up and qualified. Pick up a little bit of experience along the way and then maybe, just maybe, you might be able to offer someone a service that goes beyond doing something a half-whit can do themselves in a few minutes.

You can stop whining about those nasty boys on the forum bullying you as well. I can assure you that business, and the real world in general is a lot rougher than the treatment you have received here. You've been given good advice that will have hopefully stopped you wasting any more time and money on a fantasy.

If you want to go ahead then go for it. Alternatively you can have a long hard think about what people have said here, explore your options in more detail and come back with something better.

 

[fisicx]

I finally find something I'm passionate about and that makes me happy, I come onto a forum of what I thought were decent people, and I get laughed at and mocked.

It's good to be passionalte about something. But being passionate about this venture doesn't mean it's a good business proposition. You want to set up wordpress sites by installing and customisng themes. Nothing wrong with that, there are loads of small businesses doing this. What is going to hamper your progress is meeting the expectations of your clients.

However...

Call the business Farley93 - it's got an intriguing ring to it and won't hamper you future should you decide to expand into theme developemnrt or Joomla or SEO or consulting or whatever.

 

[DesignerNick]

I can deal with someone saying it's a bad idea if they think it is, but I've had nothing but ridicule. It's taught me a life lesson though, people on ukbusinessforums.co.uk are very sad, lonely people who have nothing better to do during working hours (shows how their businesses are doing really) than to endlessly and shamelessly ridicule a 20-year-old looking to start his first real business. I'm not talking about those who gave advice, I'm talking about the ones making jokes about me, putting me down, telling me I'm clueless, that I'm doomed to fail, that I'm 'conning' people. I'd be utterly ashamed of myself if I knew I'd done that to someone looking to get into business.

As if Agoraphobia and depression weren't bad enough. I finally find something I'm passionate about and that makes me happy, I come onto a forum of what I thought were decent people, and I get laughed at and mocked. Biggest mistake of my life and I won't be attempting it now, I'll spend the next 2 years like I spent the last, living off my unemployed but looking for a job mother and playing video games in my underwear.

Thanks guys, thanks a lot.

Where have you been ridiculed on a personal level?

It seems like you throwing insults about when you don't like advice.

Before dealing with any customer i suggest you learn how to deal with people.

 

[Glenn Rodgers]

Choose the domain which spells easily, easy to remember and try to use relevant keywords with your brand name.

 

[ryedale]

I don't see that anyone has insulted you at all

To the contrary, people have gone out of their way to help you with very sound advice.

Just wish you'd listen

You have a lot of spare time yes?

Even just learning the very basics of html /css would massively increase the things you could do for people and the business.

I have an 16 year old apprentice. He started at the start of August knowing absolutely nothing about html/css but was keen for a career in IT

Two months later, he's doing lots of CSS styling work and edits and can build the framework of a site by himself so it can be mastered quickly. We haven't really had much time to spend with him so he's learned it himself mostly from online courses like Code Academy and books

You say you are passionate about it so don't waste an opportunity. If you don't have much money to pay out at the moment and you are living at home, then make a career for yourself while you have the spare time

 

[fisicx]

If you don't have much money to pay out at the moment and you are living at home...

They earn £14K per year from twitter. Spending some of that at the WP Academy would build a very useful set of skills.

 

[ethical PR]

Farley if you have mental health issues, then I would focus on looking at how you get support for them. Organisations like Young Minds and speaking to your GP about what support they can refer you to are good steps to take.

If you are earning the thousands you indicated through your social media activities, you shouldn't be on job seekers allowance but should be declaring this and set yourself up as being self-employed.

If you are earning the thousands indicated, then why not focus your skills in this area and develop a business model around your success with social media.

Contact someone like the Prince's Trust who specialise in helping young entrepreneurs they have business courses and mentors you can access. You can apply online.

Take up the incredibly generous offer you were given on another thread to get work experience with an established designer. After all if you are just sitting there playing games online in your underwear (what a lovely vision), what have you got to lose?

 

[DazRave]

I'm pretty sure, @Farley93, that you were quite rude to @ethical PR in your previous topic, and yet she has just given you the nicest reply to this thread so far.

I understand how difficult of a fight you have on your hands, so starting a business and also taking on so much negative feedback must have been a pretty strong punch in the face.

Stop separating replies into positive or negative groups and instead, bunch it all up together simply as feedback. Take the feedback however you choose to take it. If you choose not to listen, so be it, and we ALL have wished you the best of luck what ever you do (not a single person has said they want to see you fail).

We all just hope you take on board our FEEDBACK and process it in such a way it helps you re-think and come back stronger, with a better plan of action.

To make this post on topic, in terms of a name/domain... as above has mentioned, just use your own name, it's not really that important!

 

[WP Blade]

I wouldn't suggest getting into any WordPress based business unless you have seriously solid php and mysql skills. You'll also need a good working experience of css and html.

You're going to need them to do anything interesting for your customers! And by interesting I mean valuable. Which is the only way money gets exchanged.

I disagree with anyone who suggests you are conning people though - I just think you're business model doesn't provide the required value to enough people to make it viable in the long term.

And stop playing games and get out and learn some skills - don't be a wantrepreneur

 

[JasonMoe]

Nice animated thread. To get to the point, how about leaving wordpress alone? People who know about it can use it by themselves. I believe your target is people who actually don't have any clue on how to build a website. How about sitebuilders.co.uk, or maybe, if you consider charging your clients with just an annual maintenance fee, than you could install wordpress for free, so you could use something like free-website.co.uk

 

[Websitehandyman]

I've got this available http://leadingcreatives.co.uk

Also http://websitehandyman.co.uk which gets decent traffic. I now don't do any website work, well not as a business.