You can’t have it all!
A couple of weeks ago I had a client approach me with a website project. The business owner had attempted to do a website for the company on his own using a hosted template system. The end result was not what they were looking for at all. After a meeting with their Board, it was decided that before their next big sales presentation they needed to do something about the website.
Problem: Next big sales presentation was in two weeks.
The client called Cybervise to ask if we could pull off a custom designed website, with a content management system and we only had two weeks to do it AND they only wanted to spend $500.
Now you would think this prospective client would have learned their lesson by trying to create their own website. They chose cheap and fast, which is fine. But they also expected high quality, which doesn’t usually follow cheap and fast.
You can get a high quality website for a cheap price, but chances are you will be working on the developer’s timeline, not yours. If you want high quality and you need it fast, then typically you are going to pay more so the developer can drop all their other projects and make you a priority.
I think this a matter of expectations. If you have never been through a website development project before you don’t know what to expect. Be very clear about what is the most important and biggest reason you are spending money on a website. Is it the deadline? Is it the budget? Is it the impression you are trying to make? Take leadership and decide. Any of these are fine, just be clear so if quality is the goal, you will find a way to make the schedule and the budget work.
Cheap and Fast is a fine a goal
Could this client get a custom designed website in two weeks with a content management system for under $500? I am sure somewhere there is a developer somewhere that would agree to that project. But you can’t ignore the triangle. At some point something will suffer.
Keep in mind, the real problem here is not the website. The real problem is that a company waited two weeks before their big sales presentation to start worrying about marketing and how they appear to potential customers. That is the real lesson in this story.
