As many entrepreneurs will tell you, having great ideas rarely equates to having a great business. Everyone has ideas all the time, and many assume that the result of a shower-induced epiphany could mean they are soon to become the next Richard Branson, though maybe without the beard.
Whatever your idea is, first and foremost, your to-be-successful business needs a website. The question is, do you pay someone to do it? Or do you build it yourself?
There are pros and cons to both. At CareerFoundry, we’ve witnessed the fantastic that results first-time coders have produced after just a few months. We’ve also seen them benefit from learned skills they can now use to update and maintain their sites without needing to pay for a web developer as the company grows.
Coding For Entrepreneurs
At first glance, it might seem easier to get someone else to do it, especially when you have a million other things to do to get your business off the ground. But in the long-term, you could be costing your business a small fortune.
The importance of getting your brand out there
These days anyone selling anything needs a website. Why? For exactly the same reason you look online whenever you need something. Most people turn to Google for answers to simple or complex questions.
They need to be able to find you, and a website is the easiest way for you to be found. Your customers need to know what you’re offering and how they can get their hands on it. They also want to know the sort of people they are buying from. People aren’t just interested in buying your products, they’re interested in buying into a lifestyle, an idea, or a person.
This is why a skillfully designed website for your business is so crucial. This is your advertisement to the world to tell them who you are, what you do, and why you’re so much better than everything else out there.
The benefits of learning to code
One mistake many entrepreneurs make is hiring someone to do the job for them rather than learning to build a website for themselves. There is a fear that developers won’t be able to incorporate all of the very specific elements (the ones that make your brand unique) into the design, structure, and content of your website.
However, at CareerFoundry, we work with talented web developers every day who turn our lofty, sometimes impossible-sounding ideas into great-looking, user-centric web pages and apps like magic. But what other options are out there? If I can’t do it myself, I have to pay someone, right?
No, learn to code.
Building a website yourself will cost you a lot less in terms of time taken and money spent than to have the equivalent website built for you by somebody else. And, once you’ve learned how to code, you can make any additions, changes, developments or improvements to the site yourself. No more additional, unexpected costs or hours wasted explaining what you want.
As Georgi Georgiev, a developer at Techstars, says:
“Don’t waste your money (hiring someone); your code will need constant maintenance.”
Knowing how to program is a skill that is only going to become more important going forward. When you have a team of 30 web developers working for you, it will be helpful when you know exactly what they’re doing.
Breakdown of costs: Paying a web developer vs learning to code
The cost of paying for a web developer can vary dramatically depending on skill set and experience. It’s hard to put a number on exactly how much building a website will cost, which is why budgeting for it can be close to impossible. And, as we all know, budgeting for your small business is crucial to its success.
The price also depends on the type of website you want to build. At an absolute minimum, paying a web developer hourly can cost $20; at a maximum, it can be in the hundreds. When you consider our list of resources for learning to code, which is packed full of free and low-cost ways for you to learn, why are you even considering paying someone else to build that website for you?
Studying web development with us would set you back less than $1,300 for a three-month immersive, online course with your own personal mentor. An experienced web developer could charge you the same amount for a week’s work on your website.
Time-scale: How long will it take to learn to code?
This depends very much on the person, but many courses (both online and offline) are within structured time frames. At CareerFoundry, you will be building your own website from Day One. And in less three months, you will have your own working, professional website built from your own hands. Not bad for a cost-saving initiative, eh?
If you choose to teach yourself, self-motivation will play a huge role in your success. But don’t forget, when this is for your business, you’ve got a fantastic incentive to keep learning! Read Josh Kemp’s journey from Blacksmith to Web Developer. Josh was entirely self-taught, and it took him only seven months of intensive, full-time study from beginning his journey of learning to code to landing his first job as a coder with ZipList.
We won’t lie to you, learning without the help of a mentor, teacher, or friend in the field will be considerably more challenging, so we would always recommend a mentored approach over a solo one. But that’s not to say it’s impossible. With online resources, such as StackOverflow and, of course, our friend Google, you can find the answer to every programming question you could ever think of.
Some websites will require a developer
We think you should learn to code. Not just so you can save money, but so you are in a stronger position as CEO of your startup. However, we would never expect a beginner to jump straight in and build a website like Groupon with no previous programming experience. It’s important to know what kind of site you want to build and if it’s something you could realistically learn to build yourself once you’ve learned to code.
This fantastic graphic from Vinicius Vacanti’s blog gives you an idea of the technical difficulty of different types of websites:
Before you start on your coding journey, ask questions, do your research, and have a clear idea of what you want to build. The more preparation you do, the easier it will be when you are getting your hands dirty with code.
So consider your options: Learn to code, or pay someone else to build your website. Either one will take time, money, and varying degrees of stress and patience. However, if you invest that time and money wisely and learn how to code, the rewards could be far greater than simply being able to build your own website. You’ll have invaluable, in-demand skills that will always be relevant in every industry.
Finally, you’ll have a website that really reflects your great idea, your passion, and your values. So, when your customers come to the site, they can see what’s important to you as a person and as a brand.