Entrepreneurs have two assets that we have to juggle frequently: time and money. If we don’t have the time, we tend to have to shell out to delegate the task. If we can’t afford to pay, we will have to invest a little sweat equity. And even if you’re just getting started, you know the DIY route ends up taking more time away from what you would rather be doing, not to mention skilled at.
The key take-away is time you could be using to make money is being used to save it. It’s up to each person to determine whether this is a worthwhile trade, time for money.
One way to analyze if it’s worthwhile to DIY is to consider your hourly rate. Even if you charge by the project, you tend to still have an idea of how much you would like to get paid to perform a task. Let’s say your hourly rate is $100/hr. For someone who has zero tech skills, no interest in design, and no idea where to start with developing a website, how long can it take? How much time would you have to set aside to build a site? Obligatory click-bait here: The answer may surprise you 👻
If you choose a modestly simple route, such as Squarespace, you would still end up watching countless tutorials and going down the Youtube and Pinterest rabbit hole reviewing color palettes, thinking up possible features, draining your brain on what to include on your site, and this is all without even getting to writing the content.
Let’s say you spend a day or two on cruising social media gathering tips and thinking about basic branding elements. 2 days = 16 hours x 100 is $1600. Yikes. I wouldn’t be a good Business Best Friend if I didn’t let you know at this point that I have a badass Branding + Web Design Service, done for you in 5 days, that you can learn all about here. But since you and I both are #teamcleanyourplate let’s see this example thru.
You’ve toiled away for two days; deciding on colors, fonts, maybe some images to include (because of course at this point you’re familiar with all the high-quality stock image sites, right?) and you have all this info filed away on various places on your computer and phone. And now it’s time to get to work. You sign up for your website builder of choice and now it’s time for even more research. Sun goes down, sun comes up and lookit that, you’ve spend another day (8 hrs: $800) just looking at all the possible templates, trying to decide if you need all these pages (hmm blog? 🤔 Am I starting a blog?) and whether the format fits your style, whatever that means.
At this point (2 hours in: $200) you decide to take a break and see what other people in your field are doing for the website (another 2 hours. Okay let’s be honest, 3: $300). You see the website quality runs a gamut from gorgeous to gross. And you earnestly want to be in the former category. So you start to hyperventilate. Coffee break: $7. Back to Youtube to check out reviews on web templates (2 hours: $200). You think you’ve found one that you can jive with, yay! So now it’s time to get to work. But. BUT you’re stuck staring at the color selector panel. Wth is a background overlay? And WTF is up with all these heading sizes?! Back to the google machine. Ah, okay (20 min: $20). *intense staring* (1 hour: $100). Some clicking + scrolling (2 hours: $200).
You look at the clock and realize that you extended your day unintentionally about 2 hours ago. You know it’s time to do some actual biz related shizz, but your brain hurts. Instead, you make a half hearted dinner,
brush your teeth, try to meditate, and lay tense in bed dreading more of the same tomorrow. That little color selector, mocking you.
***
You wake up with renewed resolve. You’re gonna show that website who’s boss today. And maybe your small business who’s boss….later? Yes, definitely later. Because you realize that your website is very crucial to your brand and your potential clients. Which is why you’re spending so much time on designing your site…instead of…on…your…clients? Huh. Yes, it’s super important, so you log in and it’s “stare at blocks” time. Click. Click. (3 hours: $300). You think you made something move. But the images you uploaded look super grainy. 🧐. Why? WHY WHY WHY?! You know what’s next: google machine time. Maybe a little Youtube action (1.75 hrs: $175).
Ahhh okay.
You don’t know what it means, so you decide to just switch the pics. Fuck it. You promise you’ll make it quick (90 min: $150). The pics aren’t perfect, but at this point, you just want it done. You have phone calls to return (bcuz BUSINESS) and your brain is fatigued notably earlier than it was yesterday. You call it a day for web design mystery time, chug some single-origin bold roast, and try to get some other business tasks done.
You’re working on your financial forecast, and it causes you to pause and think about the time you’ve invested so far in a website that isn’t even close to halfway done. I’ll do the math for you, which, btw is how I know I really like you. I don’t even do math for my cat. And she’s terrible with numbers. Ask meow I know. 😹.
You spent almost a week on something you still need to complete, with no deadline or plan for completion on the horizon, and to the detriment of your actual business needs. This equates to 40.45 hours or $4052 of your time. ~And you’re not even DONE yet~.
What are some things you could have accomplished in this time? How many leads could you have followed up on? Did you miss out on a time-sensitive inquiry? Too tired thinking of hex codes and *Boom* misquoted a client – costing more time and money to resolve (because we all know those ”I fucked up“ emails don’t write themselves).
What did a “cheaper” fix end up costing you? I hate bringing this up, but worst-case scenario, you’re 4k and a week in the hole, then still having to hire a web designer anyway. Major groan.
This is the space where I pitch my offer. What will working with me cost you? 3.5 hours and my signature service will get you on the road to a beautiful virtual space for your business. Built with your company in mind, super-polished + reflecting the exceptional work that you do. Looking dope as hell is crucial for scaling your small business, and I’m here to support your growth. It’s time to quit crying your way through Youtube tutorials and slam that contact button.
✌🏾 (peace),
Rosanna out.