Forum Moderators: phranque
I've been posting about a redesign that we are working on for our company website. I'm having a bit of a hard time trying to figure out what direction I want to go with it though. I have tons of options, but I want to pursue the most cost effective path for the company.
I originally was going to narrow my search down to:
1. Freelance provider
1. Local web design firm
1. Company overseas
But, I've found problems with all three options. The freelance guys are hard to find with all the necessary skills for the project, the local web design firms are way too overpriced and the overseas guys have been unreliable thus far.
Somebody mentioned that I submit contests on sitepoint for the logo design and web design itself, then to pursue a developer for the back end programming. I love the sitepoint idea, because it gives us the option of looking at a bunch of mock-ups, so we can choose which one we like best. I think the hardest part for me to make a decision on is the programming/database aspect of the project. I'm currently taking classes on ASP.NET, but until I get my own skillset up to par, I have to rely on a provider.
So, my question is: Does anyone know of a good way to find a provider for database programming? We need a database to hold our product line which numbers in the thousands. Are there any open source platforms that make the process easier? or should I pursue a custom made deal?
Please bear in mind, that we don't have the biggest budget for all of this either.
Any help would be much appreciated...I'm starting to lose sleep over this.
the local web design firms are way too overpriced
What benchmarks are you using to determine "overpriced?"
The problem with small businesses is always budget, and it's one I understand. But the bottom line is you get what you pay for. So either you lose sleep over spending too much money or you lose sleep over shelling out less money and suffering in the product, take your pick.
I'm currently taking classes on ASP.NET
Putting a company's growth behind any one employee's learning curve is a really bad idea. Another red flag this puts up is why do you think ASP is the only/best way to approach your tasks? There are other database-interactive solutions out there. The problem with ASP (IMO) is that it's proprietary, it is Microsoft-based, as opposed to universal. Once you commit to ASP, everything has to be reworked if you decide to move it to a non-MS server.
Search for Rent a Coder or eLance, these are some places to look. Best of luck.
I don't think the portability aspect is that important when choosing server technologies. I think other concerns (price, for example) would make the choice a lot more clear.
I would recommend against OpenSource code unless you have the skills to work with it yourself - or you'll be dependent upon someone else to make the edits. It sounds like this will be an Ecommerce site. Loosen the purse strings - I suggest you be willing to buy a commercial package and have someone customize it to your liking. Make sure their customizations will NOT inhibit upgrades and patches released by the author of the original code. Investigate products like ShopSite and X-Cart (as examples but by no means the only ones out there) and then see if you can find someone (often available through the support forums for these products) to get quotes from.
What benchmarks are you using to determine "overpriced?"The problem with small businesses is always budget, and it's one I understand. But the bottom line is you get what you pay for. So either you lose sleep over spending too much money or you lose sleep over shelling out less money and suffering in the product, take your pick.
Well, I took the size and scope of our project, then did my research by asking as many people as I could to give me an accurate estimate as to the cost of such a redesign. I decided not to give them a budget because, like you mentioned yourself, it's not about the cost so long as we get quality work done. So, after about 15 or so responses, I settled on a price of about $10,000-$15,000. When I received quotes from local companies in the $25,000-$30,000 range, I came to the conclusion that they are indeed "overpriced". I guess without knowing our benchmark, you wouldn't have been able to judge whether or not we are in fact getting inflated quotes. I should have elaborated on that.
Putting a company's growth behind any one employee's learning curve is a really bad idea. Another red flag this puts up is why do you think ASP is the only/best way to approach your tasks? There are other database-interactive solutions out there. The problem with ASP (IMO) is that it's proprietary, it is Microsoft-based, as opposed to universal. Once you commit to ASP, everything has to be reworked if you decide to move it to a non-MS server.
Unfortunately, because we are a mid-sized company we can't afford to have a specialist fill every position (i.e. SEO, Designer, Programmner etc...), so I personally think it's a blessing for them to have someone like me who is willing to learn, and isn't afraid to take on the challenge. Sure, it's not the ideal situation, but as we grow, we'll be able to hire the guys who are past the "learning curve".
We're not necessarily hell bent on ASP.NET, PHP/MySQL are definitely an option for us, I think we're just trying to approach this whole situation from the best possible angle. Because, I'm a fast learner and will take on multiple tasks it doesn't make sense for us to pay $25,000 for work that could have been done in house for a fraction of that cost. So, if I go back to my original post, I would love to have a way to piece this whole thing (logo, design, database) together without having to shell out the premiums that some companies would like us to pay them.
