| A lot of small business owners balk at hiring a | | | | business owners have a very deep streak of control |
| professional web designer for a number of reasons | | | | freak hidden (or not so hidden) inside them. If they |
| that sounds pretty good and reasonable. The | | | | didn't, they wouldn't be running their own businesses. |
| problem is that in many cases, the reasons can also | | | | But how you want it done is not always the way |
| be completely bogus and may actually hobble your | | | | that it should be done. One mistake that a lot of |
| business. Here are four reasons why you're not hiring | | | | business owners make with their websites is that |
| professional web design help...and why it's a bad | | | | they design their sites to please themselves instead |
| reason. | | | | of designing a site that will appeal to their customers. |
| 1. I can do it/figure it out myself- Because you're a | | | | If you're doing all of your design work, then it's hard |
| small business owner, you're used to doing a lot of | | | | to see beyond the picture you have in your head. A |
| things yourself. Usually it's because you want to save | | | | good web designer can bring a new perspective and |
| money. But one thing that many small business | | | | experience to what will be best way to appeal to |
| owners forget is often saving time is a lot more | | | | your customers and will often come up with |
| important than saving money. Can you figure out | | | | something that you may not had imagined. |
| how to design your own website? Of course you | | | | |
| can. The question is, should you? Is your time best | | | | 4. By the time I teach someone to do it, I could |
| spent in "figuring something out"? | | | | have done it myself- This is a common excuse that a |
| While you can make more money, you can't make | | | | lot of small business owners make, not only with |
| more time. You can spend twice or three times as | | | | getting a website done, but with other things that |
| long figuring out something that a professional can do | | | | they could easily delegate. This excuse is based on |
| for you quickly. And that's time you could have been | | | | the notion that time spent on training someone or |
| doing things that can't be done by anyone other than | | | | learning to work with someone is not worth the time. |
| you, like planning your marketing strategy and | | | | Nothing can be further from the truth. The fact is, |
| developing strategic goals for your business. | | | | the time you spend on learning to work with a good |
| | | | web designer means that you'll eventually create a |
| 2. It costs too much- Cash is a precious resource for | | | | valuable team member that requires very little |
| a small business owner So to preserve it, many small | | | | supervision once they learn what you like and how |
| business owners will nickel and dime a lot of things. | | | | you prefer things done. Instead of viewing a web |
| Instead of investing the money to get your website | | | | designer just as someone who's there to do one |
| done correctly, you'll try to build the site yourself, or | | | | project and leave, think of them as a potential team |
| you'll pass on getting a merchant account or a decent | | | | member that you can easily delegate work to and |
| shopping cart. While you're saving money now, you | | | | free up your precious time and effort. |
| end up costing yourself in the long run with a poorly | | | | Now of course, all of this depends on finding |
| designed site that's not built to capture traffic, add to | | | | someone who can be a valuable part of your team |
| your mailing list, or to increase sales. That's not the | | | | instead of someone who drags your business down. |
| true way to save money or time. | | | | Finding a good web designer to become part of your |
| | | | team takes some effort and you have to know how |
| 3. No one can do like I envision it- A lot of small | | | | to find them and what to look for. |