Starting a web development company from scratch is full of challenges. Solving these challenges one by one and achieving triumph in business can be overwhelming. There are several factors that an entrepreneur needs to keep in mind before starting a business, such as financing, setting up clients, making a network, employing workforce administration, etc.
Taking cues from Bruce Tuckman’s 5 stages of business development, business owners should do much more than ideating the business. A lot of strategy and planning is involved in a business so that the deliverables happen on time.
Once all the points are compliant, the web development business is ready to go live with a boom. This blog will guide you about all the elements required to start and grow a Web Development business.
Creating The Business Blueprint
The chief executives of a web development business need to plan how they want to set it up. They need to know the costs involved, how much manpower is required, the target audience, and how to earn revenue from web development.
A lean business blueprint is all needed for a smooth start into the business. It should describe the tactics and strategies that the company will take. Planning for a web development business helps entrepreneurs to discover the unknowns and not stumble upon them in future.
The web development business is focused on end-users. Each requirement is specific, so the need is to have an up to date business model. This helps to analyze the target market, assess the competitors in the market, and bring the business up to standards.
A concrete business plan demarcates the necessary objectives of a business. But the plan should be updated from time to time after having discussions with the team.
Building A Team
A web development business can be of several individuals working as a team or with a standalone resource. For the latter, there is no division of labour. The user does the entire work alone in an organized fashion.
More often, it is a team that works on web development projects for a company. So if it is a new business, the second step is to recruit a workforce to do the job.
This requires the intervention of a technical person, an HR executive, and higher management who conduct interviews to hire employees. The workforce in a company depends upon the budget of the business.
A web development business needs to have the following type of manpower on board:
- Technical developers
- HR executives
- Support executives
- Finance officers
- Business lawyer
- Business and Sales Analysts
- QA team
- Documentation officers
Based on the size of the business, there can be employees for some or all the categories.
All these employees ideate the processes together and take part in driving the business forward. They set up daily sprint calls among themselves and with their clients to share updates on their work. This method of working is called agile methodology. It is a very progressive process with a direct line of communication across all teams. Regular updates help an agile team to work proactively and faster.
Deliverables happen right on time, leaving the client happy and the business booming. A team focused on agile processes and principles is the need of the hour to make an enterprise prosperous.
Simplifying Your Recruitment Process
No business can grow without proper employees that form the core of the company. But as it happens, to get better employees, the recruitment process has to be efficient as well.
IT is probably the most difficult industry to recruit professionals with each passing year as the best ones get hired instantly. Hence, making the right call quickly is very important. However, most recruiters often fail to ask the right questions or give the right task to candidates, which results in the loss of good talent.
Using a developer screening platform can be a smart way of testing skills,that can help evaluate each person and assign the right task based on their skill sets. Additionally, this simplifies the entire process of recruitment and saves a lot of time for both the interviewing candidate and the recruiter.
Estimating The Expenses
Entrepreneurs need to envision the expenses involved in a business and invest in it accordingly. The capital of a web development business includes the cost of all resources – human, physical, and intellectual.
There are two types of costs – ongoing costs and financial costs. The financial officer maintains a record of all expenses in a balance sheet. Depending upon the business revenue and turnover, the recurring expenditure may rise or fall.
The start-up costs comprise computers, laptops, working units, development softwares, desks, office space, etc. The ongoing expenses include the bills, rents, salaries of employees, housekeeping, etc.
Financial officers cannot overlook the miscellaneous costs such as client formalities, stationery, formal recreation and gifts.
Occasionally the business bears the cost of lawyers and income tax officers.
Strengthening The Brand
Once the business is up and running, it is time to build the brand of the company. Clients approach web development projects to those companies that have gained name and fame in work.
A brand grows into prominence with the collective efforts of the business analysts and sales executives. The development team designs and finishes the project. The business analysts and the sales team help to promote the work done.
The business needs to have a unique website with people come to know about it. It should have a novel logo that garners attention easily. The content on the official website should be such that it calls for action.
Business analysts have to study the market and figure out the target audience. The online portfolio should point out things necessary for clients. A catchy tag line acts as the icing on the cake.
When the work is known to a community of web developers, fetching new clients becomes easier. The business gains traction catering to the right audience, making it grow with time.
Quoting The Right Rates
While discussing a contract with a client, business leads intend to have a fair bargain and make a profit. But it is tough to quote rates to a client if the rates are not fixed.
If the business leads do not establish rates properly, there are chances of finishing a project with a little profit margin. Billing of projects in web development can be a fixed budget billing or a time and hour billing.
When the leadership procures a requirement from the client, they talk about the billing in the contract. Accordingly, they adjust the rates and decide how many executives they require to finish the project.
For large scale web development projects with recurring charges, it is advisable to go for hourly rates. The business owner also needs to clarify if they need any upfront advance payment to start the project.
Once the parties sign up the finance terms, the development begins. Business owners should also ensure that the flow of money from the client to the company happens in due time. They should take this process seriously and professionally to avoid any violation of timely payments.
Promoting Work And Services Using Social Media
In this age of rigorous competition, good work should always be displayed. Without promoting and selling, the business will reach a saturation point. The job of the sales and management team is to maintain an engaging social media portfolio to attract customers.
The portfolio needs to address the work that the employees developed, the challenges they faced, and the new things they learnt. It should highlight the talent pool of the company and the qualifications of the team.
Customers look for people who are competent and have a knack for the job. Promoting the business helps the customers to build trust by knowing how the team works. The digital age offers countless platforms to promote a web development business.
Platforms like Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook are the best places to start promoting your business. But the most professional community where you can showcase and scale up your business is LinkedIn.
LinkedIn prospecting and promoting your web development business through the platform opens up the following possibilities:
- Creating customer personas
- Finding and reaching out to new prospects
- Cultivating relationships with the clients
- Attracting potential customers
- Offering your services to the right target audience
- Fulfilling expectations
By communicating with new or existing clients in online spaces, business leads can forge new bonds and ties. To cement new relationships with clients, one must explain how they undertake user-specific concerns and illustrate how the team reached the solution. Pitch them the development strategy for the extra visibility in the market.
Networking, Community, & Expansion Strategy
A successful business is a popular business. There are plenty of web development companies cropping up around us. Each business needs to have a USP and be a part of a community.
Community helps people to be aware of the new projects in your company. Potential clients hang out in these communities in search of a web developer. Sales executives should get actively involved in these communities to let the audience know about the current work stack. A community of web developers is a symbiotic association. Analysts can read the market stats to figure out what is new in the market. A thorough market assessment dispels how the company is keeping up with the competition.
Immersing in such online communities provides networking opportunities, answering FAQs, establishing expertise, and helping people seeking service. Regular blog posts, articles, newsletters, and videos keep the audience engaged and informed of what is happening in the company.
The growth curve of an expanding business should always be steep. With time the web development company becomes popular with a fixed number of clients. Business leads must leverage the popularity and expand the business.
Expanding includes boarding on extra members across teams, gathering new clients, using multiple development softwares, and providing additional services. Post web development services such as production support and enhancement issues are areas where a web development company can expand.
Conclusion
Nothing in life comes easy. Every achievement is filled with tumultuous days of struggle. Working hard in a start-up is toilsome, but it will bear the fruits of success.
The whole foundation of running a flourishing business is to have heads that can craft the best plan. Web development businesses can be full of uncertainties, so having a concrete business contingency plan is essential during an exigency.
The better the business structure, the easier it is to develop products. This blog will help readers grow their company in the right direction.