How to find a web-design partner?

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J

JGC

Free Member
May 12, 2008
12
1
  • #1
    I've been working on a low cost start-up for a few months and have a business plan and part of my team in place. From my research I can see that I have lots of competitors but none that are very successful. I understand this to be because they have done great work on the web/ web marketing side of things but have neglected the real-world/ real-world sales & marketing. An area in which I, and my Sales partner, have experience.

    The proposition is a web-based service that replaces a real-world service, and our competitors have created the online product/ facility but are not reaching their prospect customers because people are not traditionally or intuitively looking on the web for this service. (sorry to be so generic - but this IP is my key differentiator).

    I'm looking for a web design partner with experience of hosting, database creation/ mngt (mySQL), HTML, Java and a bit of an all-rounder in this field. Preferably I'd like this person to be within my extended network but I can't seem to find anyone with the skill AND the time/ passion to invest. I know there are loads of great webdesigners (+mySQL) out there but how can i find one? Its made harder because I'm not currently based in the UK and need to find someone I can trust.

    As this is a low-cost/ low risk start-up venture I don't want to pay a company up front but would rather give a profit share or a share of the business to the right person/ company.

    So, after all that background info, my questions are:

    1. Do web design companies have the flexibility to think and work like this? 2. How would you go about finding a reliable individual in this field to partner, without being in the UK? (they could be based anywhere).

    Any general advice or experience in this area greatly appreciated.

    JGC
     
    C

    C.Pearse

  • #3
    Hi JGC

    Where are you based?

    I have done exactly this in the past for a 50% share in the business. I took care of the web development side of things while they took care of everything else. I still continue to update the website every day and add in features when necessary.

    I must admit that I personally knew them which made things easier.

    I have five web development projects on the go at the moment but you are more than welcome to send over more details, I'm not promising anything but I can certainly take a look.

    Regards
    Chris
     
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    R

    realmaverick

  • #4
    I've done similar things, when a business is in the early stages and not profitable. It can work well.

    It would be useful to know more about the business but I understand why you've not disclosed too much, on a public forum.

    I'm a web developer and SEO. I guess it depends on the field, as to whether SEO would come in handy.
     
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    B

    brownie

  • #5
    JGC said:
    I don't want to pay a company up front but would rather give a profit share or a share of the business to the right person/ company.
    Click to expand...

    Give me one good reason why I should partner with you? What is your track record?

    There are plenty of people with the skills you desire however the above the first couple of questions I would want answering before considering working with you on the terms you want.
     
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    OldWelshGuy

    OldWelshGuy

    Free Member
    • Jun 12, 2008
    15,873
    6,835
    South West Wales
    www.owgmarketing.co.uk
  • #6
    Every day I get 'offers that are dead certs' I get about 20 a week. they boil down to this.

    Will you take a great risk and spend a load of your money in time building a website for a person ytou don't know?

    Normally they work, but in the last case I took on the guy (living locally) wanted to set up a short term property letting business he was already in the industry so had all the contacts etc.

    I set the site up, scripted it, got everything in place, then he went quiet. This guy had been calling me constantly to get this rolling, had told me about all the accounts he had in place from his pre launcha ctivity etc.

    I couldn't get hold of him, phoned friends and was told he had gone to Dubai to take a sales job there in recruitment. When he comes back to the Uk, he will find a high court writ sitting on his mat for breach of contract!
     
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  • #7
    OldWelshGuy said:
    Every day I get 'offers that are dead certs' I get about 20 a week. they boil down to this.

    Will you take a great risk and spend a load of your money in time building a website for a person ytou don't know?

    Normally they work, but in the last case I took on the guy (living locally) wanted to set up a short term property letting business he was already in the industry so had all the contacts etc.

    I set the site up, scripted it, got everything in place, then he went quiet. This guy had been calling me constantly to get this rolling, had told me about all the accounts he had in place from his pre launcha ctivity etc.

    I couldn't get hold of him, phoned friends and was told he had gone to Dubai to take a sales job there in recruitment. When he comes back to the Uk, he will find a high court writ sitting on his mat for breach of contract!
    Click to expand...

    Ah well there you go ,you don't only need to be a web /business developer.

    You need to be a character assessor,partnerships are like marriages.

    I mean you wouldn't marry a chicken would you.? ( not sure about welshmen though.:rolleyes: )

    Earl
     
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    N

    NuBlue

  • #9
    If you send the following:

    * Overview of the concept/idea
    * Biography/background of the people involved
    * Breakdown of costs
    * Projections of turnover and profit
    * Full marketing plan
    * Overview of website requirements.

    through to our investment company - www.nufuture.co.uk then it will be considered on its merit. happy to sign NDA's
     
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    J

    JGC

    Free Member
    May 12, 2008
    12
    1
  • #10
    Thanks for everyone's input. Its interesting to see all the advice is from the web design side of the partnership when I was hoping for advice from the other side as well.

    NDAs are good advice - thanks stender.

    NuBlue I may come back to you at a later date - I like your professional approach but want to exhaust other options first.
     
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  • #11
    JGC said:
    Thanks for everyone's input. Its interesting to see all the advice is from the web design side of the partnership when I was hoping for advice from the other side as well.

    NDAs are good advice - thanks stender.

    NuBlue I may come back to you at a later date - I like your professional approach but want to exhaust other options first.
    Click to expand...

    well not quite ,The worlds greatest SEO here.

    Which does bring quite a bit to the table.:rolleyes:

    "volkswagen parts"

    http://www.google.co.uk/search?sour...=GGLG,GGLG:2006-07,GGLG:en&q=volkswagen+parts

    Earl
     
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    S

    ShadowCat

  • #16
    I'm a local developer with all the skills and experience you, if you want to send me more details I'll happilly advise further if I can.

    I'm more than happy to sign an NDA if that would make you more comfortable sharing ideas.

    Regards

    Robin
     
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    S

    ShadowCat

  • #21
    Normally I say "local" when the person starting the conversation is local to me. In my experience being local to the client is of huge benefit to both parties as misunderstandings are much easier to correct with a face to face conversation
     
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    J

    Julian

    Free Member
    Jun 27, 2007
    98
    17
    London
  • #23
    Can I just add another perspective to this. Let's look at what you're really asking for.

    Assuming that you want a good developer to partner with then they probably have a full order book so if the web site would cost <x> thousand pounds at commercial rates to develop then you really are asking a developer to forsake <x> thousand pounds of revenue-generating business in return for a percentage of your profit. What you're really doing is looking for an investment of <x> thousand pounds in your start-up, in return for a percentage of the profits, and to then spend that money on the web site development.

    Where I'm going with this is, if you boil it down to the fact that you need seed funding to develop the web site, then have you tried raising funds via traditional means (business angels, prince's trust, business link, etc) and then using those funds to pay a web-design company? This way you are dealing with people whose intention and expertise is to invest in businesses and it also, once you have the money, gives you a much wider choice of people to look at to develop your web site. Another benefit is that you are more likely to get mentoring and networking benefits from getting a professional investor on board whereas you are unlikely to get that from a web-design partner. Also, a danger in your current approach is that you might end up with a sub-optimal choice of web-design partner since you are forced to choose one who is willing to go with a profit-share scheme and that might not be one with the capabilities to do the best job for you.

    Just a thought.....

    - Julian
     
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    D

    Deleted member 35011

  • #26
    I too would love to know if this went anywhere - if nothing else as a good/bad case study for others who want this type of arrangement with web design companies.

    NuBlue I may come back to you at a later date - I like your professional approach but want to exhaust other options first.
    Click to expand...

    This frightened me. Exhausting the other options before taking the "professional approach"?

    Julian's points are good - this is an investment and web folks are usually not seasoned investors. If someone came to me saying they'd tried the banks (low risk takers, particularly now), angels or VCs (open to risks) but no-one would put up the money for development, then as a non-investment-savvy web developer, what impression would I be left with of the "investment opportunity"?
     
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