Once upon a time we all lived in small towns, or at least tight knit communities and neighborhoods. If you needed your hair cut you’d go to Kelly’s Barber Shop, you bought your sandwiches from Sub Shop #10, and the pharmacy on the corner didn’t belong to Walgreens. Businesses didn’t have to market, network, advertise, tweet or blog about their services to get and keep their customers. They offered their goods and services, and people came for them. It’s how business was done.
That was then. Welcome to the modern world! If you think you can rely on your business surviving the old fashioned way, where people buy from you because they always have, stop and think again! Even if you’re located in a sparsely populated burg, the town folk now have the internet, smart phones and all kinds of other techie gadgets… they can find it cheaper, better and quicker on Amazon if you don’t get your head in the game and convince them they want their money flowing in your direction.
Are you going to just trust fate? You basically have two choices: To be passive or to be proactive. Obviously choosing to do nothing is about as passive as you can get… might as well throw in the towel now and save yourself the hassle and grief. If you are immobile and stuck, you are in serious trouble. The protective bubble you are wrapped in may feel comfy, but this cloak is indeed deceiving. You are trapped in a time warp and will eventually lose your business to the competition. Make sure these obvious issues don’t apply to you:
RESISTING TECHNOLOGY: This is how you’ve always done things and this is how it shall be done. You just keep it status quo and let the other guys use the new technology and processes. Stay in this time warp and watch your clients high tail it away from you quicker than you can say 8-track tape or plastic pink yard flamingo.
AVOIDING SOCIAL MEDIA: Can you say “FREE ADVERTISING”? If you don’t have time to post things yourself, find someone to do it for you. Take advantage of all the resources that are available. Keep your name out there. Let people look for YOU to see what you have to say… Don’t let them find your competitors because you don’t want to take the time…
TRYING TO DO EVERYTHING YOURSELF: Why would you try to do it all? Delegate! If you can’t afford a staff, or if you don’t want one, at least get a Virtual Assistant to do the things you don’t like to do (or that suck up all your time!)
USING A ROLODEX: Seriously? How about a CRM or at the very least pop those numbers into your phone! Get an app like Inigo and exchange contact info with a simple text message even if you forgot or ran out of business cards! Who even has a Rolodex anymore?!
GETTING THE SAME RESULTS AND STILL DOING IT THE SAME WAY: Hello… McFly! If what you have done has been ineffectual, or at the very least yielding minimal results, why are you doing it the same way again and again and again? Find what works! Move on from what you have been doing.
FORGETTING YOUR PURPOSE: Remember why you wanted to be an entrepreneur. Maybe it’s time to reevaluate those goals and recall what got you onto the path of being a small business owner in the first place.
NOT NETWORKING: You say you’re not a people person? Well who do you think buys your goods and services? Exactly! Step outside your comfort zone and put yourself out there. Use the opportunity to rub elbows with some people who may be able to help you grow your business. Listen to other people… what are their stories?
LIVING BY THE CLOCK: Business ownership is not for the meek. It’s also not for the basic nine-to-fiver. If you’re looking for a 9-5 gig, perhaps being an entrepreneur isn’t your thing. You don’t have to breathe business 24/7, but you have to be open to the occasional early phone call or late appointment if you want your business to thrive.
STAYING DISORGANIZED: Simple things like losing phone numbers, forgetting appointments and not being able to find important documentation will destroy you. Can’t do it alone? Get a Virtual Assistant to help you get your act together. Don’t let your ADD stand in the way of your personal and professional success.
RANDOMLY SWITCHING IT UP: Switching it up from time to time may sound like a good thing, but you need to let your ideas come to fruition too. Constantly changing things around will not let you get an accurate feel for what works and what doesn’t. Make sure you are constantly evaluating progress.
KEEPING YOUR POSSE: Are some of your partners, staff or even the vendors holding you back? You may love them but make certain you share the same goals and passion. If not figure out an amicable way to go your own way. Keeping your posse when they no longer share your dream is a big mistake.
ALWAYS PLAYING IT SAFE: You need to take a risk from time to time. Look around you. What is your competition doing? Why are you playing it so safe that you are blending into the background?
Being an entrepreneur takes courage. It takes knowing when to walk, when to sprint, and when it’s time to run away from the habits that have you stuck… It’s knowing how to get out of your own way, how to move on, and how to get out of the time warp before you lose your butt to the competition.
00Stephen Proffitthttps://gorgedesignstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/gorgedesignstudio_transparent_small-1.pngStephen Proffitt2017-07-16 18:37:332017-07-16 18:37:33Is Your Business Trapped In A Time Warp? 12 Signs that You Are Stuck & Will Lose Business To The Competition
Why Should You Hire a Professional Web Design Agency?
In recent posts we went over the problems with small business websites and things to do before you hire a web developer. Many of the problems we outlined in these posts came from not hiring a professional web design agency to handle your project in the first place. Yes, professionals are more expensive. But if you think professionals are expensive just wait until you hire an amateur!
98% of business owners who attempt to build their own website fail at the task and never launch a website at all! US Small Business Administration
In today’s digital and increasingly mobile world your website is no longer static, but rather an interactive online presence that needs to constantly adapt. This includes optimizing for new mobile devices, updating content and keeping it fresh, and adapting search tactics to the latest Google algorithm changes. And of course you still need a killer design to stand out in the market!
Yes, you can figure most of this out by yourself. But the result may not be all that good. Roughly 97% of websites designed by amateurs fail. Doesn’t your brand deserve better than that? By hiring a professional web design agency you can focus on running your business and not learning the intricacies of web coding and SEO.
6 Reasons for Hiring a Professional Web Design Agency
By hiring a professional web design agency all the components of your new website will work together from the start. A modern website is a lot more than just a bit of code with a few words and images added. A professional web design agency has all the resources you need to succeed at a lower cost than you might expect.
1. Vision
Professional web design agencies work with innovative technology. What will your website look like in two years from now? A professional web design agency not only designs and develops websites, it also keeps an eye on future developments. With many new apps and ever-increasing web functionality to appeal to the social-mobile-local shopper a professional web design agency can show you how to plan and not get left in the digital world.
Even if you only have a vague vision of what you have in mind a professional web design agency can help you refine it and make sure it works in life; the latter comes in really handy! And if you don’t have an idea a professional web design agency can help you create your own unique look.
2. Experience
Building a mobile friendly responsive websites is no easy task. If you don’t believe me you should try it yourself! Unless you are highly skilled in software applications, the latest web standards, and speak a few machine languages (Parlez-vous PhP?) you have a learning curve ahead of you. A professional web design agency is already experienced, so you don’t have to pay them to learn.
And what if you get stuck? There are any number of problems during the design and development of a website. Some of them are fixed relatively easily, but others may need looking through 1000s of lines of code or even creating custom solutions. That is best left to a professional web design agency.
It takes a lot of different resources to create an engaging online presence in the digital age! A professional web design agency usually combines the ability and vision of different creatives and strategists to offer the desired results. Depending on the scope of your project you will need experts ranging from content creators and digital marketers to web designers and developers to SEO experts and social media strategists. A professional web design agency has all of them in-house or on-call. That ensures continuity from beginning to end while greatly reducing the risk of delays.
Have all required professionals involved in your project from the beginning. This allows you to anticipate problems and shortcomings in advance in advance instead of fixing them in the development phase. Having non-designers involved in the creative process is very helpful in developing creative solutions. And our content strategists learned a lot since they started hanging out with our SEO team!
4. Process
Building a website is a complicated project, and careful planning definitely helps. A professional web design agency usually has an established process based on their experience. This makes sure your project keeps moving forward without overlooking any details. A typical process workflow could go like this:
Strategy – The research and preparation in this step is the foundation for the design and development work.
Design – The visual look of the website begins to take shape and any custom design elements created.
Build – This is where the creative vision turns into reality. Developers build the website functionality and add the content.
Test – This is where the new site undergoes extensive beta testing, including functionality on different browsers and devices.
Launch – This includes any last touches and moving the site to a live server.
Report – The last step is tracking the new site’s performance and making required tweaks and content updates. Repeat this step as needed.
The process usually includes timelines for design and development of the new website from beginning to end. Here is a sample outline showing the individual responsibilities of the client and the designer. A professional web design agency can develop a custom time line for your project based on your specific requirements.
5. Scalability
Many first business websites are relatively small in scale. In some cases there are just a few pages and maybe a contact form. But that usually doesn’t last long. Soon business owners want to add other essential website elements such as a blog, enhance social interaction through video chat, and sell both real and virtual products. Add some enhanced interactivity such as payment options and maintenance requests or custom search functionality and you are talking about a pretty complex digital presence. And how will all that work with the first website?
A professional web design agency not only can help you with your first online presence, but with future enhancements as well. By keeping a close eye on professional developments in their field a professional web design agency can help you expect future trends and help you plan to take advantage of them as they emerge. Your first online presence is more limited, but our experience has shown that clients quickly want to take add content and functionality to their site. By planning ahead you can do this quickly and easily and avoid having to re-develop all or part of your site.
6. Cost
Yes, you read correctly! Cost savings are a big part of hiring a professional web design agency. Here is how it works: You try on your own, and you really give it your all. But after about 200 hours* you give up. Instead you ask your neighbor’s kid to help. And after a few days (or weeks) he gives up. You go on Craigslist and hire a “professional.” Most likely they will just take your money. So here you are, a few months and a few thousand dollars (*yes, your time costs money!) with really nothing to show for it.
A professional web design agency costs a few thousand dollars as well, or even more depending on your project scope. But after about 2 months a professional web design agency completed your project, which means you start earning money and not paying it out. Isn’t that what you wanted in the first place?
And a professional web design agency will design your site based on a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress. This will allow you to update and keep up your website yourself, thereby eliminating the need for a webmaster. This will cut both time and cost required for making updates. A professional web design agency can always help you with more difficult tasks, such as adding a new product gallery or shopping cart, but you can save money by making your own content updates.
The Benefits of Hiring a Professional Web Design Agency
The above are only the most important benefits of hiring a professional web design agency. Depending on your specific project there can others, such as developing a custom mobile app for your business, creating a custom shopping cart, or helping you get the most out of your blog. If you are not sure what a professional web design agency can do for you just ask one!
Of course, you have some responsibility for working with a professional web design agency. If you are not sure what your professional web design agency expects from you go ahead and ask them. They will prefer explaining their process to you up front than having your project derail later.
Regardless of the type of website your business needs you can count on a professional web design agency to deliver on time and on budget. But the benefits don’t end there. Most professional web design agencies offer ongoing support and training, website maintenance programs, and are very helpful in third-party vendor conflict resolution as well.
And many offer related services such as content curation, search engine optimization, and social media services as well. By working with just one vendor you ensure continuity in your online presence and simplify the process for yourself. And that’s what you wanted in the first place, isn’t it?
What To Do Next
You have the facts, now you need to decide. If you really want to design and develop your own site we admire you and wish you the best of luck. We mean that! If your new site turns out awesome let us know!
But if you are like most business owners we know you already have enough to do just running your business. So search for a professional web design agency in your city, or simply reach out to us and we will be happy to help you!
We are experts at carefully crafting custom mobile-friendly websites to meet (almost) any budget. From highly customized corporate sites, to responsive e-Commerce websites to small business websites and personal blogs we work directly with the client to prepare them for the ever increasingly social, mobile and local consumer. Why not get started by requesting your free web design estimate or get a quick estimate of what your site might cost.
And if you are still not sure why or if you need to hire a professional web design agency don’t worry! Simply reach out and contact us. Our expert team will listen to you, answer your questions, and find the best way for your business to get the online presence you need. As a professional web design agency it is one of our specialties, after all!
Do you have anything to add to our reasons for hiring a professional web design agency? Please leave your comments below so our audience can benefit as well, and grab our feed so you don’t miss our next post! And feel free to share our post with your audience!
We appreciate your help in eliminating bad business websites, one pixel at a time! Thank you!
00Stephen Proffitthttps://gorgedesignstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/gorgedesignstudio_transparent_small-1.pngStephen Proffitt2017-07-14 08:35:552017-07-14 08:35:556 Reasons Why You Should Hire a Professional Web Design Agency
