I provide a freelance web design and development service to Chester, Liverpool, Wrexham, North Wales and sometimes the rest of the UK under the name of Miles Internet Consultancy. I am located in North Wales not far from Chester.
I build simple websites, eCommerce websites, content managed websites, hotel and B&B websites, online calalogues and complex business systems.
Here I have answered most of the questions my prospective clients ask of me before commissioning a project. As I would say to any new client, it would be worth reading through this to familiarise yourself with the way I conduct my business.
Q) What sizes of website do you usually build? Do you also work for small businesses?
A) I'm very flexible on the sizes of project I work on and enjoy the variety. I build small websites for local businesses (such as shops, tradespersons and so forth) but I also build very large projects for universities, government departments and multi-national PLC's. I've yet to turn a project down on the grounds it's too small or large to interest me.
Q) Do you mind where your clients are based or do you work only locally?
A) My clients are spread across England and Wales and I am prepared to travel all over the country as part of my work. I have a particularly large concentration of clients in Chester and the surrounding area as I'm only an hour away.
Q) Will you work with us to provide websites for our own clients?
A) Yes - in fact I try to encourage this arrangement as it always works so well. I am happy to work seamlessly with my clients as a member of the team and under their own brand. I will quote for my portion of the project but how this is marked up and passed on I'm not concerned with. I am happy to attend meetings alongside my clients and even carry business cards branded to their company.
I work with a number of design and marketing agencies who choose to use myself as their web developer rather than employ dedicated staff. This pay-as-you-go arrangement removes the risks associated with staff employment and with my costs simply marked up as required, the project profit is clear and straightforward.
Q) Will you work to visuals we supply to you or will you produce your own?
A) This depends on the project. Usually for the larger projects, my client's design team will produce the visual concepts and I will work to them. Where a designer is not available I will offer to bring one in. I am happy to produce visuals for smaller websites depending on the requirement.
Most web developers are either programmers who can also design or designers that can also program. I'm the former.
Q) How much is a website likely to cost?
A) I cost £45+vat per hour I work on a project, though in the vast majority of cases I will quote a fixed cost based on this rate once the specification has been agreed. Additional requests or changes during development will involve an extra charge, as will any expenses incurred.
Very small websites can be assembled in just a few hours, though larger websites obviously take longer.
Q) Are you expensive?
A) I believe I represent excellent value for money, and continuing repeat business from my clients confirms this. There are plenty of web developers cheaper than myself, though most of these are self-taught juniors or companies outsourcing their development work to overseas bulk-programming houses. I'm not interested in competing at this end of the market.
I bring professional agency-grade skills and experience to a project, but due to my low overheads I am usually significantly cheaper. I think I offer many advantages over professional agencies besides the price tag, most of which centre around the personal service that freelancers can provide. Typically in an agency the client will never be able to speak to the actual developers, communication will pass though an account manager first and then a team manager. Working directly with the developer building the website is far more efficient and ensures my clients get the website they want.
Q) Do you ever turn projects down?
A) Yes sometimes. If I feel from the outset that I'm not the right person for the project I will say so and try to recommend someone who is. I'd far rather not take something on if I'm not confident the results will be spot on. However, this is rare.
I may also turn a project down if I'm just too busy.
Q) Is the price you quote exactly what I will have to pay?
A) Yes, with two exceptions.
This first of which is that whilst working on a project I maintain a timesheet for adding new features that were not part of the original specification and quote. Also onto this timesheet will go any time spent doing things twice or more. For instance if I insert a number of photographs onto the website as supplied to me, and then at a later stage it is decided to commission a new set of photographs, I will have to insert the new ones in to replace the old ones. As I've had to do it twice, I will add this time to the timesheet. Similarly text should be supplied to me in a final, proof-read state as replacing text already inserted will incur extra time.
The second exception is an expenses account, should any be incurred. This is simply to cover any basic costs incurred to me as part of the project. For instance, if I'm asked to travel to London to work on a client's server (where this wasn't part of the original quote), I will add my travelling expenses to the expenses account. Likewise should I have to purchase any software for you, I will pass on the cost on the expenses account.
Q) Do you request the project payment up front?
A) No, but I do require a 50% deposit for smaller projects or 33% / 25% deposits for very large projects. I do insist on settlement of the deposit before any development work proceeds. The purpose of the deposit is partly to bankroll the development but also to prove the prospective clients commitment and financial standing. A promptly paid deposit installs confidence that a client is serious in their commitment to completing a project through to the launch.
Q) Do you expect the project balance on completion?
A) Yes I do, as a rule I will demo a completed web site to the client but I am not prepared to put it live until the balance has been settled. This has come about from frequent lengthy settlement delays and I now have to insist on this to protect myself.
Q) Will you come and present to our board?
A) In all honestly I try and avoid presentation tenders where a number of agencies are invited in for 20 minutes slots to present a sales pitch to the board of directors.
My main reason for this is that there is no point in doing a presentation unless a huge amount of effort goes into planning it to ensure it's the best one. My competitors on the day are usually large agencies who have dedicated teams of salespersons who are experts at presenting. These sales teams often have little technical knowledge and they are accustomed to simply agreeing to everything and insisting nothing is a problem so long as they come back with the job signed and their commission. What often happens then is the signed job reaches the agency programmers and it is found that promises have been made that are simply unachievable or unrealistic.
As it is myself who will actually build the website I don't agree to anything I know cannot be done or I don't think is a good idea just for the sake of getting the project. This will only lead to frustrations and embarrassment later. I do possess a can-do attitude but being cautious about what I agree to can paint me in a weaker light than my salesperson competitors. It is for these reasons that I am reluctant to participate in sales presentations to win contracts.
If on the other hand you'd like to get together over a cup of tea to openly discuss your ideas and what can and cannot be done - I'd be only too pleased to come over.