Setting up a web development company

[Murfy-J]

Hi all, I’m looking for some advice. As the title says I want to setup a web development agency, although I have the skills required to do the job I am lacking in business skills. Is there any sites or material you could recommend.

Cheers
Murfy

 

[fisicx]

Hi @Murfy-J, two posts in 3 years has got to be a UKBF record!

An agency doing what? Web development encompasses a huge range from a simple html one-pager all the way up to an international database driven site with systems integration.

As the agency boss it's unlikely you would do any work yourself, it's your employees that would be writing code, doing graphic design, database development, writing copy and doing the marketing. Your job is to keep everything on track.

What's your budget for setting up the agency?

 

[Murfy-J]

Hi @fisicx, firstly let me say thank you, it’s now easy posting twice in 3yrs but with a lack of focus and zero interest I’ve managed it.

The company would build websites, everything from single static page sites to fully dynamic e-commerce sites. I have a designer and and a front end developer who would work along side me until we could employ more people. At the moment we all have full time jobs and do work on the side as a group, I’m looking to take the side jobs and turn them into a business but lack the business knowledge.

my budget is 5k

 

[fisicx]

Sorry to say but that £5K will get you a couple of months worth of marketing.

There are zillions of development agencies. All fighting for a tiny slice of the pie.

But go niche and you can do very well. I worked with a guy who only does websites for Baptist churches in the USA. He has become very rich by just doing one type of website.

If it's just a side job get the website up and running and start with adwords. That will get you visitors. Everything after that is marketing. If your website is convincing you will get leads.

 

[BringInLeads]

Talking about niches as mentioned by fisicx it could be interesting looking at your "higher end" ecommerce type sites as your mention - there are a ton of static/boilerplate website generators out there these days for those "lower end" type sites. You might also want to look into lead prospecting when people register new domain names, as they might be on the lookout for your type of service, I know I get a lot of emails offering website design when I buy a new domain

 

[Mark T Jones]

Another vote for go niche - the tighter the niche the better

Perhaps an area that particularly interests yoy

 

[SEO Lady]

Here's me chipping in:

• Dentists
• Therapists
• Recruitment agencies
• Restaurants

So in terms of SEO you would have a better chance of ranking a new domain in Google than for "web design agency [location]"

 

[R4Andrew]

Since you are still just starting and as the others already said there is too much competition. Why don't you try searching for leads or look for old sites that need some updating and contact their owners.

 

[tony84]

Running a business is not that difficult:
Insurance - Liability insurance being the big one.
An accountant - They will be a wealth of knowledge.
Register with the ICO.
Back office system to keep track of jobs and discussions etc.
Put aside 20% of any income to pay the tax man.

Everything else more or less is personal preference.

You do not need to spend £5k to bring in business. You have the skills to build your website, you just need to find a way to get your name out there. Sponsor a local football team, put some adverts up, do some ringing around local businesses, flyers - you can probably get some work in.

Maybe as suggested, go niche - build a website and show how you could brand it up for the company and then you are selling something you have already built which is probably an easier sell as people can see what they are getting.

 

[Frank the Insurance guy]

Insurance - Liability insurance being the big one.

For a web developer, Professional Indemnity would be the "big one" - it will protect you if any client's or third parties take legal action for compensation as a result of the failure of the services you provide.

Best to talk to an independent insurer broker for some professional advice based on your specific business and circumstances.

 

[SEODEV#338055]

I agree with @SEO Lady about restaurants, food outlets in general are an excellent specialist area for a website development company, and you'll have no shortage of customers

Try to find restaurants with outdated sites as @R4Andrew says, and look for problems in four key areas

1. Mobile friendly
2. Online payments
3. Online bookings
4. Menus

It's relatively straightforward to create a mobile friendly Wordpress website and connect a payment solution, that's relatively once you know how

Consider offering these four services as a package to any food outlet, especially for home delivery or consider specialising in one specific type of business like @fisicx says such as only kebap shops - this will make it easier to replicate your solutions

Test out your solution thoroughly before going to market

Angry restaurant owners with unhappy customers are not to be trifled with

That's why @Murfy-J you should absolutely follow the advice of @Frank the Insurance guy and take out professional indemnity cover

 

[tony84]

For a web developer, Professional Indemnity would be the "big one" - it will protect you if any client's or third parties take legal action for compensation as a result of the failure of the services you provide.

That is what I meant for liability insurance.