When Should You D-I-Y Your Own Small Business Website?
Some people like to tinker with their own cars, build their own houses and fix their own lawnmowers. It’s true that many people don’t. But some do.
I do. Or at least I did, before I became an entrepreneur (that’s someone who, perhaps like you, is crazy enough to follow their dream and really make a go at starting and then running their own small business)!
That brings me to the topic of building your own small business website. There are many viable options for building a small business website other than looking to working with a company like IWS.
For example:
- Costco and Sam’s Club offer build your own web site services to their members.
- Many ISP’s offer website tools to their domain name or hosting package customers. Two examples are GoDaddy.com and Networksolutions.com.
- There are many independent web-based businesses that offer website building tools, for example, web.com.
You should definitely consider this option for your small business website project if all of the following are true for you.
- You have the TIME to do it. (Its often not as quick and easy as the marketing ads say, if you do it right.)
- You have the ENERGY to do it. (You’ll need to fit it into your already exhausting schedule.)
- You have the CREATIVITY to do it. (A good site for your business will have just the right mix of something new to differentiate you from your competitors, something really unique to brand your business, and a lot to make visiting your site a good experience for your visitors.)
- You have the PATIENCE to do it. (Lots of steps to take, many issues to address, etc.)
- You have the ENDURANCE to do it. (1-4 above)
However, you will probably find that your time would be better spent developing products and services, and of course working with your leads and your customers, rather than digging into the nuts and bolts of the backend systems of your business – like your website.
Small business owners, of all people, have the greatest need to focus on the main things that will drive the success of the business. There really isn’t any time to waste on building tools and refining systems if you never make it out into the field to get the real work of the business done.
To continue the farming imagagery, what good does it do to have a barn full of high tech tractors and the latest and greatest tools if the fields don’t get plowed, the seed doesn’t ever get planted and the harvest is not brought in. If you are working in the fields, it can really help to upgrade your tractor, or even to buy one if you’re looking at the south-end of a north bound farm animal all day. If you have the time, skills and opportunity to make it happen by yourself, then that may be the best thing for you to do. But if working on the machine keeps you so occupied that you don’t have time to get out into the fields, well, the results are very predictable – and it happens to small businesses every day.
So, should you do-it-yourself when it comes to building your own website and managing your online marketing? Sometimes the answer is yes, often times the better answer is no. You would be better off finding some who would help you carry that load and get that set of business tools up and running to assist you in your work with your customers and products so you don’t lose moment, you just gain it where it matters most – in the marketplace!
