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You Can Run Web Design Business from Home.

Web design will continue to be in high demand in this our technological age. In the past, having a web page could be considered as unnecessary investment. We all know that having a web page has a lot of benefits.

But those companies that have web page then could not fully tapped into the benefits as some of the customers they served didn’t have access to the internet. Now, things have changed. Any business that does not have a web page is not yet ready for business. To you, web design business may seem to have been saturated as almost all businesses have their own web page. I can tell you that there are still many businesses that are yet to have any web page. Besides, the rate at which people start new businesses every day is unprecedented. Most of these small businesses will like to have their own web page. That is a business opportunity for anyone who is into a web design business.  If you are tired of 9-5pm kind of job, web design business will offer you freedom and flexibility. You can successfully operate web design business from home. Therefore, you will not need to spend money on renting of office space and daily commuting to work.

How do you start a web design business?

You don’t need to be a programmer or a computer guru before you can start a web design business. I, too, used to think that you need to be able to write codes and understand all the technical jargons before you can start a web design business. Little did I know that I was wrong! I have come across people who are into the web design business but did not study any science related subject.  To start a web design business, you must take these steps:

Be passionate about it.

The most important thing you need if you want to start web design business is your interest and passion. If you have the passion, you will be able to learn fast. Web design business is not for lazy people. If the only reason you want to start a web design business is to make money, you can be frustrated. You should fall in love with web designing. It should become a hobby for you to the extent that if you are not getting paid for building a website, you will still do it passionately.

Learn the skill

I mentioned that you don’t need to be a programmer to start a web design business. This is true but you must learn the skill. You should be ready to invest your time especially at the initial stage so that you can understand the business very well. There are free resources on the internet on how to create a website. However, I will still advise you to get trained by people who are already in the business. You can then use the resources on the internet to further develop yourself.  Among popular Content Management Software (CMS) that you can learn include WordPress, Drupal, Joomla and Pligg. You can start with WordPress. When you start having customers from your web design business, you will have enough money to go for training on other software.

Read Also: A Guide to Starting an Online Business From Home

Network with other web designers

Internet provides you a platform for networking with others who are into web design business. Search the internet to locate forums and communities where you can interact with other web designers. In such forum, you can ask questions and get free answers from experts in the field. In such forums or communities, people share their experiences with other members.

Register your business

Remember that you are starting a business. Therefore you need to register your business name. You may not need to register your web design business as a limited liability company. You can just register it as an enterprise. Later, you can change it into a limited liability company. It makes you look professional when you approach customers as a company and not as an individual. The cost of the registration of the business name will form part of your initial set up costs.

Develop a Business Plan

You need to create a roadmap for your web design business. The way to do this is by preparing a business plan for the business.  There are various web design businesses around but all cannot choose the same target market. You need to choose your target market. This will depend on your skills, experience and the number of people you have to work with you. You should choose the target market that you have the ability and resources to support.

Buy your equipment.

The main investment you need to make is the acquisition of laptop and other necessary software. You will be like a toothless dog without these vital tools.

Create your portfolio websites

As a web designer, you need to have your own website including the portfolio websites where you can showcase your works to your prospective clients. There was a time a person approached me that he wanted to build a website for my company. He bragged of his skills and expertise. In my own assessment, he actually spoke with some levels of authority as a person who knew what he was doing. But to my amazement, when I asked him that I would like to see his own website, he didn’t have one. The rest is a story. There is no way you can market your web design business very well if you don’t have your portfolio websites. Your portfolio is the showcase of your web design skills. If you have nice looking designs, your chance of getting jobs will be high. Therefore, it makes sense to invest time and efforts into building quality portfolio websites.

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Set your price

You need to set a standard on how you will charge your clients. In web design business, there are no two projects that will be the same. Therefore, it may be difficult for you to have a price list for your web design business. To help you arrive at the right price to charge for web design, you may need to answer these questions: How many hours did it take you to make the sale? Of the web designs you’ve done to date, how much of that time was spent communicating with your client compared to the time used in doing the work? How will this web design help you get more web design jobs? How can this web design work help you raise your prices later?

Develop Contract document

In order to ensure you collect the fees you charge for your work, you need to create a standard contract document that you can use for every project. A contract document will specify the terms of agreement between the parties. This can save you some troubles when it comes to execution of projects and collection of payments from clients. Without a contract document there is no way each party can remember all the terms of the agreement they entered into. Having a contract document is a demonstration of professionalism.

Marketing

Before you can succeed in a web design business, you need to have a good marketing strategy in place. The competition in web design business is very stiff. Your potential customers should be aware of your services. You should know where your customers are. In most cases, people search internet to look for people who are into web design business. Therefore you need to concentrate on your own site through blogging, SEO, social shares and other way of building relationships.

Online Business

Tags: Business ideas, Online Business Ideas