If you are starting out as a work-from-home website designer, it's important to know what not to do if you want your business to succeed. It takes time and skill to design a website, and you don't want all your hard work to go to waste if your business isn't successful. Taking heed of these mistakes to avoid will make your web design business more likely to succeed.
Mistake 1: Not Starting Up Legally
There are a lot of bases you need to cover if you're starting an actual business, instead of just doing freelance work. First, you'll most likely need a business license and possibly a Does Business As (DBA) license as well. Talking to your local small business administration can help you make sure you have the licenses you need, since the requirements vary depending on where you live.
Mistake 2: Not Starting Up Effectively
If you have your licenses, you can do business legally, but just having licenses does nothing to ensure the success of your business. Once you have your licenses, but before you open for business, you should make your website live. It makes sense that a web design business ought to have a website; it would seem dubious if it didn't. Take the time to make a nice website which is representative of the sites you can create if hired. Your website should represent the very best of your ability in order to impress potential clients.
Mistake 3: Not Recording Expenses
Starting a business means you'll need to file the appropriate tax forms in April, and some of these forms have to do with tax deductions. If you don't keep track of your business related expenses throughout the year, you can't make them tax deductible, which is a foolish waste of money. Any time you spend money for business related purposes, log it. With a web design business specifically, this includes software and hardware which you use for work.
Mistake 4: Hiring Unqualified People
Web design is a specialized line of work, so you want to be sure you give jobs to people who know what they're doing. Of course, you might not be planning to hire people at all - but if you do, make certain your freelancers or employees are qualified. It's not unreasonable to ask for a basic design sample just to get an idea of how quickly the potential hire can work and how good that work is.
Mistake 5: Not Listening to Your Clients
Web design is an art form, so many web designers resent changes requested by the client if they feel it detracts from the artistic merit of their work. It's important to realize that you work for the client, not the other way around. The most important thing is to please them, not your own artistic senses. If you can't let a change go, try saving the design you prefer and then making the changes for the client. The client gets what they want for their website, and you get the version of the design you want for your portfolio (with the client's permission).
If you're starting your own web design business, make sure you don't fall victim to any of these 5 mistakes. Your business, and therefore your financial status, will thank you for it.
