I wouldn't guess in mom and pop businesses but I would think in small financial services, real estate firns, or other where the design might matter more.
Ask HN: Is there any money in website design for small businesses anymore?
31–40 of 209 posts
Re: Ask HN: Is there any money in website design for small businesses anymore?
#32I think you should move to designing UI/UX for web apps instead of relatively static websites. There are a opportunities there and good pay.
Re: Ask HN: Is there any money in website design for small businesses anymore?
#33There are two questions that need to be addressed here. One, whether the web design business model can be sustainable in the long run, and secondly what a freelance developer can do. The problem with the web design business is that a big percentage of the job that needs to be done is ad hoc which makes it unaffordable in the long term. There are too many hidden costs in communication and negotiations not to mention t…
> Another very lucrative niche is building themes for WordPress sites.
I guess barrier of entry is a bit higher into themes requiring software development, graphic design and even a bit of UX expertise. So there is less competition. You would still be competing globally though.
Re: Ask HN: Is there any money in website design for small businesses anymore?
#34There is lots of opportunity out there, but it depends on what you mean by ‘small business’. Super small companies (under 10 to 15 people in this context) are usually best off with SquareSpace or Wix. Companies slightly larger than this invariably end up wanting/needing things that these platforms can’t offer, and have the kind of budgets that can support a solo operator or small team. At this level, you are competin…
Curious - which is a more profitable relationship, the agencies or serving a mid-sized business directly?
I imagine there's a longer selling cycle for the mid-sized business, offset by higher pricing? Which group is harder to serve? (eg. more iterations and drama inserted into the job vs. shaking hands, getting it done, and getting paid)
Re: Ask HN: Is there any money in website design for small businesses anymore?
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The kind of clients you want to work with will pay this without blinking. Sometimes they won't even know about the bill because it goes straight to AP. I agree #3, but on #2 - I've never dealt with any business of individual who operated like a blank check ("just send the bill to AP"). They all have budgets - implicit or explicit - and all want a rough idea of range at the very least. Is this a $3k project or a $20…
> taking hours to explain how web hosting works, and that no, we can build a custom ERP system on your godaddy account that you prepaid for 4 years in advance last week when you bought your domain name, and that if this really is a "million dollar idea", you will need to spend more than $200 for an MVP. You joke, but I was in this exact position on Wednesday. It's natural to think that web consulting is dying or that…
Well... I don't joke :) The $200/MVP is a slight exaggeration, but not much. I've been approached by people about MVP, but they only focus on the M, not the V or P.
Re: Ask HN: Is there any money in website design for small businesses anymore?
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
The other factor is website quality. When all the competition uses a Squarespace or Wix site for their marketing pages, your site can stand out using something like Gatsby JS to be ungodly fast. But this involves writing the whole thing from scratch specific to the customer. I’ve had very good success with this marketing pitch. Customers love to see how their sites are faster and better looking than their dime-a-doze…
Clients don’t see nor will they pay for the difference between Squarespce fast and Gatsby fast.
Exactly. 98+% of their users won’t care and less than 25% are even likely to notice.
Re: Ask HN: Is there any money in website design for small businesses anymore?
#37they still need someone to copy the text from the office doc into the website builder ...
Re: Ask HN: Is there any money in website design for small businesses anymore?
#38Ad agencies here in NYC sub-contract out work all the time. They are sick of outsourcing to 3rd world. I'd connect with ad agencies in your area see if you can get sub-contract work. And you can charge $1,500-$3k to set up a SquareSpace site. Target dentist, interior designers, yoga studios. Forget the local pizza shop as a customer. If your building with WP then offer support. WP is being updated all the time and with so many plug-ins, who can keep track of that? not the small business owner. Offer monthly support. Just don't offer TXT messaging support , they'll never leave you alone. Bill for your time. Goto your local meet ups and present yourself as an expert. You help grow the small business. If its a restaurant help them with optimizing their yelp listing or bad reviews. What delivery company to use. You need to help with small business's market online with the goal of helping them get more customers and less bad reviews. Help with setting them up with a google business page and reviews, same with FB... a website is only the beginning. Have a goal to have lets say 20 customers who pay you $250/month = $5k. There is mad money out there you just need to up your game and adapt to the needs of the business. They need to make more money get more customers get more positive reviews and less bad reviews. You charge for a small discovery phase like your a doctor diagnosing a business problem , then layout it out for them. Good lucky!
Re: Ask HN: Is there any money in website design for small businesses anymore?
#39I think a) no or b) at least not in America. You cant make a living earning $100 a pop, which is what you're competing with.
Re: Ask HN: Is there any money in website design for small businesses anymore?
#40There is lots of opportunity out there, but it depends on what you mean by ‘small business’. Super small companies (under 10 to 15 people in this context) are usually best off with SquareSpace or Wix. Companies slightly larger than this invariably end up wanting/needing things that these platforms can’t offer, and have the kind of budgets that can support a solo operator or small team. At this level, you are competin…
I did well over 200k last year building, fixing and maintaining WordPress websites Does this involve making themes? Plugins? Is it only client billing or are you selling anything else like, reselling themes, affiliate etc? My clients are a mix of agencies I've heard this mentioned many times. How does one get agencies as clients?
You contact them. They are typically pretty vocal online, so finding them is not that difficult.