Starting a web design business continues to be a popular career choice in 2020. With a recent bureau of labor statistics report showing the job outlook for web design/development to increase 13% from 2018 to 2028, It is growing much faster than a typical 5% job growth (source). The median salary range is around $69,000 per year or $33/hr.
For people who choose to go into their own business, the growth can be exponentially higher as your limited only on your ability to sell great websites that solve your customer’s problems.
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Difference Between Starting a Web Design and a Web Development Business
For people new to the industry these two are often misunderstood. A good analogy is to think of is if you choose to start a Web Development business you are concerned with the engine of the car, the thing that is under the hood making everything work seamlessly and efficiently. If you are interested in starting a Website Design business you are more interested in making the car look good. The one who is responsible for how it feels to be sitting behind the wheel and interacting with the car.
With these titles commonly getting misused and the line that differentiates them constantly blurring here are some of the titles you may see in this industry.
- Web Designer
- UX Designer (User Experience)
- UI Designer (User Interface)
- Front End Developer – More focused on Web Design
- Back End Developer – More focused on Web Development
- Full-Stack Developer – Competent at both Front and Back end development
Learning Web Design at College or Learning From Home
As the name of the website suggests we are focused on getting you on the path to starting a web design business at home. This is ideal for people who have a job already and are looking for a side hustle. Maybe you are a stay at home parent and want to build something to get some extra money or provide an additional revenue stream. It is possible (I am a stay at home parent and started my website design business over a year ago and things are going great)
With the growth of CMS solutions like WordPress its easier than ever to build great looking functional websites that solve a problem for a client without needing to learn HTML, CSS or JavaScript. While you may have a disadvantage over someone who knows HTML, CSS or JavaScript, it will not hinder your ability to be competitive and provide a great solution to your future clients.
It only takes a few hours a day to learn the basics WordPress CMS enough to get comfortable putting a website on a hosting plan in a week. Once you have your site online you can mess around and follow some guides which there are many on YouTube or from a quick google search, we will have some guides available soon too.
Step It Up: Turning Your Idea Into A Business
Once you get comfortable around WordPress and build some demo sites you will be able to start putting together a roadmap to starting a web design business that will work for you and your clients by addressing their pain points and let you work on something you enjoy.
Take a look at your competitors in the area, you will be surprised by the number of local businesses who shy away from large companies or companies that cannot come into their office to talk to them about their idea when they are looking to bring on a web design business. Join some Facebook groups from your local area and reach out to the admins and let them know you are available.
Structure To Choose When Starting A Web Design Business
There are guides online detailing the actual steps to take when forming your business, I will add them here over time. Many states will have state-specific advice too. We are not lawyers and everyone’s circumstances are different. It’s always best to ask a CPA or a Lawyer before starting any business. Some general advice is you commonly want to make sure your business name is available, not copyrighted, or trademarked and available to do business in your state. The next step to form your business depends on the structure you prefer. If you want to have fewer headaches we used IncFile to assist in filing all the paperwork to form our agency LLC
- Sole Proprietor – When you have made sure your business name is in the clear you can call your local County Clerks Office and ask them how you go about registering a doing business as name. Many places are different in their legal requirements so it will be worthwhile consulting with a CPA or a Lawyer and the instructions should be followed carefully. In my county, for example, you have to run a small notice in the local paper for 3 weeks to a tune of $60 total. Sole Proprietorship is the cheapest and quickest way to get your business rolling but offers the least protection while starting a web design business and protecting your personal assets.
- Limited Liability Company – This option is very similar to a Sole Proprietor in the way you will keep track of your income and expenses. The main difference is the requirement and recommendation that you keep all funds and money separate from your own. That means a business bank account and when you set up contracts and agreements with vendors or customers you do it as your business, not yourself. This will keep the protections you have under the LLC and make it harder for an entity to sue you and go after your personal assets such as your house. The lawsuits are largely restricted to the assets of your business so make sure they are clearly separated. When I started my web design business we elected for LLC status. There are growing cases of lawsuits against websites missing privacy policies. agreements or not meeting accessibility guidelines. Recently there was a case of a web designer using a free stock image from a free stock site and being sued for copyright infringement as the stock website did not hold the relevant permission from the copyright holder to make it available to use.
Getting Started – The Tools
To get started you really only need somewhere to work, a laptop or desktop, a domain name, and hosting space to build your web agency website and host your first couple of clients. I would recommend once you get the first client to set up your invoicing software as this will help you a lot come tax time (we will have a guide on this soon). I used to use Wave accounting but upgraded to Zoho Books as it’s a much more suitable solution for me. You can join Zoho Here
- A space to work with minimal distractions
- A Computer (Windows or Mac)
- High-Speed Internet
- Hosting (Our Preferred Hosts Coming Soon)
- Domain Name – I use Namecheap for 40+ domains. All have free WhoisGuard Privacy Protection for life!
- WordPress Theme and/or Page Builder (Guide Coming Soon)
- Service Agreement
- Payment Processor
- Bookkeeping software – I recommend Zoho Books
- Logo
- Business Cards
- Coffee and Patience
- You can see more of our essential tools for starting a web design business in our other article
Growing Your Web Design Business & Improving Your Skills
Always Be Learning. The standard for good website design is constantly evolving. Involve yourself in the community and keep ahead of changes and trends. Check out the latest websites to be awarded with design awards from websites like Awwwards. Keep learning new skills in your web design, try new themes and tools. Try to learn some CSS and JavaScript to make setting up new sites even easier.
As you work with more clients you will have some great experiences as well as some not so great experiences. The important thing is to constantly evolve your business and learn from the last client.
Had a client that didn’t pay on time for their maintenance and you had to have an awkward conversation about why you turned off their website? Add a clause in your maintenance agreement on payment terms which are acceptable.
Having a hard time with customers getting you the content you need to finish their build? write it in your agreement. You see where I’m going with this, as you encounter problems do not take it personally. Analyze how the problem came to be, how it can be avoided and write or implement a solution to stop it happening again. You have to always think as whats best for your business.
Final Advice
Keep a track of your proposals and which ones landed and which ones you didn’t sell. Track them in a simple spreadsheet and list what each proposal had that was unique. In mine I track the proposal, who it was too, the value, the cost of the solution, how many pages, special functions like event calendars or membership plugins, etc. Did you offer any help with social media, track that too. This approach helps me bid new work as I get requests for quotes and keeps my pricing consistent.
