Advice on Starting Web Development Business

[gib99]

Hello,

I'm an aspiring Web Developer thinking of starting my own web development business. I plan to develop and host websites on my own server. I plan to run it out of my own house. Along with web development and hosting, I plan to offer email, database management systems, server side programming (like ASP.NET), and maybe run my server as a DNS as well.

If there is anyone out there who has had experience in this line of business, I would surely appreciate some advice. Specifically, I'm wondering what the typical initial expenses are based on what I described above (not just for the hardware and software, but for getting a business like this off the ground all together).

[muse]

I don't know about the hardware and software aspects of starting a web design business, but I do know that you should incorporate your business. If you do it in Nevada, it will cost you somewhere between $300 and $1500. The range depends on how much of the work you are willing to do yourself and whether or not you actually live in Nevada. If you don't, you'll have to pay someone to be the Registered Agent. Nevada is a great place to incorporate because it offers the strongest legal protection and you can save money on taxes.

You might also consider having someone put together a business plan for you. Those who do this will ask you all the right questions and essentially prepare a map for you to follow. You'll know whether you are on track or not and you'll know early on where you might need to make course corrections. A business plan for a small business can run anywhere from $2500 to $10,000. Sometimes you can get it thrown in as part of your marketing program. The business plan will tell you early on whether the business is viable and will open your eyes as to all the stuff involved in running your own business. The rewards are worth it, but it's a lot of work!

[Brahmac]

You will also need to invest in your company's image. You'll need a logo, business cards, brochures, banners, and other types of promotional materials. We can help you when it comes to these needs (check link in sig). So if you are interested, feel free to contact us.
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Julius Designs - Advertising and Business branding.
[No links in Sig Please]

[nighthawk]

I dont know much about the business ide, but from the hardware / software side your costs are relatively low.

First of all you will need a server for the hosting, I would suggest going with a VPS (virtual private server) initially rather than a full blown server. This will cost around $80 a month for a decent windows based server.

As for software, you can either use notepad for free, or invest in a decent piece of software that will do most of the work for you. Dreamweaver is the standard for web design, but will cost about $1,000 per license. For ASP.NET you might be able to use one of the free Microsoft Express compilers, otherwide you will need visual studio, which will cost from $200 - $2000 depending on what you need.

The biggest expense however is going to be advertising. There are a lot of web design companies out there, the market is very saturated, so getting people aware of your company is going to be very difficult.

[assaf]

It is very important that you do the whole process of checking and have some estimations with all costs and activities that your business requires.

Actually, you have to prepare a business plan. It will remove some uncertainties and you will feel more confident after you will have the plan finished.

Good luck with your business

[mackyinc]

I agree you need a business plan. That small investment upfront will save you time, money, a engery spent on anger later. Also you can get a quality business plan perpared for your business, by experinced professionals for about $1,500.