Are you embarking on a web development startup? Let’s explore the five tips helping you build up the business.

Creating a Well-Designed Website

Attracting work is likely your first order of business as a startup. Besides your company information, visitors will look at your website to explore what you build and offer. If your site designed poorly, customers might wonder, “How could they provide me a good service when they don’t even have a decent website? ” Don’t ignore this aspect upfront because if your business gets busy and filled with orders, you might be distracted. 

Having a well-designed website does not mean filling it with gifs, glowing images, or funny videos. Choose the top 5 frequently asked questions and put them on the main page. Don’t post long answers; keep them simple because they want only necessary information.

Understanding Your Market

Any business must know to whom they sell products or services. Ask yourself specific questions like “What kind of customer should I focus on? Individuals or companies?” or “What area? Local or online?”

As a web development startup, you might begin with a modest number of customers like shop owners or local restaurants. However, you should build a strong relationship with them because they have many mutual contacts who might be entrepreneurs seeking web development. This move helps you expand your customer network. Your best calling card is your work and strong relationships with existing clients.

Forming Strong Networks

Any startup needs networks to ride out obstacles at the first steps. They include casual contacts, professional associations, and customer networks. Casual relationships, like friends and relatives, help you approach mutual contacts who might be your potential customers. You can join professional associations, including specialists and entrepreneurs, to learn advice and connect with experienced people. Customer networks are the most important aspect because they are the source of your profit. 

You should research any network you plan to join. Ask yourself what industry they are in, what rules they impose, and if their members are suitable with what you need as a web development startup.

Provided you start with a limited budget, you should connect with business owners whenever you go. For example, drum up business on your lunch break at a local restaurant–ask servers if you can talk to their business managers. If you’re walking by a local store, speak to the owners about web development. The bottom line: There are opportunities to connect with entrepreneurs of all sizes around you.

Remember that conversations with potential customers are just the first step. They need something more practical, and offering some free services, like giving advice or help fix errors in their website, is a useful technique. It is a chance to show your ability and professional attitude, sending out a signal that you seriously care about them.

Setting Your Price

This is essential work for a web development startup. An hourly charge is a good option if you begin with small projects. When setting the price, remember to consider 20-30% taxes in your price. Fortunately, we can look up business planning calculators on the internet. 

The first step for price setting is calculating your cost of goods sold (COGS)—the sum of hosting, transaction fees, customer support, and contract service providers. After that, you should research your market, such as understanding your competitors’ pricing, analyzing the first charges, and forming your hypotheses based on your research. 

One important concept you must consider is “perceived value,” which refers to “a customer’s perception of a product or service’s merit or desirability to them, especially in comparison to a competitor’s product.” This value lets you know what part of your product or service makes customers satisfied the most, which becomes the key factor of buying decisions. 

Whatever the perceived value is, you should focus on improving it before raising prices. If your clients still love the perceived value, they will use your services even at a high cost.

Remember that nobody starts a business and chooses the right pricing straight away. You need experience and mistakes to know how much money your service deserves. Once again, if you plan to raise your price, upgrade your products first.

Because your business scale is different from big companies, you should analyze all factors impacting your prices (tax, offices, salaries, and more). When first customers give you some feedback about charges, take notes and ask them which part is too expensive.

Using Social Media

LinkedIn is the first platform you should consider because many startups and freelancers are active there. Don’t begin your posts talking about your company’s missions. You can use catchy taglines and sentences to capture people’s attention. Images and videos are useful if related to your service. When you share any link from your website, make sure to have a beautiful thumbnail and a concise title. 

Moreover, a good LinkedIn account helps you attract talented people to submit their applications. If you don’t invest time posting detailed information on the account, potential candidates never revisit your account. In particular, your company mission should be written in the About section so that visitors know what value you provide in the marketplace. The job descriptions include specific requirements and position roles, so candidates understand you are serious and enthusiastic with your hirings.

This platform also lets you learn from other companies by seeing how they interact with customers and what necessary information they post on their accounts. Learning is never wrong; it’s only wrong when you never learn.

Because your social media account is the gateway to the company website, make sure to check it and update information regularly.

Any web development startup needs a coach specialist to help expand their business. The Aspire360 team is always ready to help CEOs with 1:1 coaching, a bi-weekly mastermind, a diverse expert network, and an annual pitch competition.