Prelude76 Posted November 24, 2003 Share Posted November 24, 2003 ok, a quick background on me: I'm currently a full-time tool&die designer, but a few years back, i did dabble into web design business part time. i made websites for about 10 companies, made some nice spending $$, but i never took it seriously as a full time career. (maybe i should've). anyways, it goes without saying that i dont like working for bosses and one day dream of being my own boss ( to anyone already in such a position), but i'm not going to jump into it full-time until i can get confident the money is there. i'm fairly good at making up websites, as i'm sure many of you guys are, but perhaps where we may lack is in 'marketing' our home-based web-design business. which is why i'm posting this.how do you home-based web designers feel about perhaps 'pooling' our strengths and resources? instead of having to market as a local home business, we might market ourselves as a nation-wide collective design studio, so to speak. a web design conglomerate. some ways we can all benefit:- have an extensive "gallery of designs" that would surely woo any customer (even if we each contribute just 3 or so pages, we can have a huge 30+ website gallery to showcase our 'collective' strength- we can help each other out programming wise, if we run into problems (this forum is perfect place for this)- we can share marketing/advertising tips that worked for us with everyone else- bragging rights to advertise as a nation-wide design studio - if we have other job, and are unexpectedly busy, we can 'farm out' a local design job to another studio partnersome problems that might need to be resolved:- make a central website with unique 'group' logo which branches out to each individually run design company? - territorial "thats my customer" dispute if some web design companies overlap?- what do spend our millions in profit on? (i wish)i'd like to hear some feedback to see if you think it's a good idea, bad idea, or good idea with usual bad result. basically, think of this as perhaps "Century 21 Real Estate" company, each with own local independetly run office. no corporate leaders, just an alliance of website developers. whatcha all think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havnblast Posted November 24, 2003 Share Posted November 24, 2003 Wow as I was reading that many ideas are flowing thru my mind. What a great idea, just not sure how practicle. There is many aspects to web designing such as Flash, Graphics, Coding, Scripts and on and on that could be divided up to those most familiar with those aspects.I think the financial part of it all would be the nightmare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prelude76 Posted November 24, 2003 Author Share Posted November 24, 2003 financials dont have to be too complex. we'd be in charge of billing/collecting from our own customers, but if we do cross work (say, person "A" makes Flash page for person "B", they would figure out a fair rate before hand, or trade for person "B" Javascript help for next customer.)if we get enough interest, we could maybe join up in an MSN chat box for a business plan brainstorm session and go from there.havnblast, i take it you'd at least be interested in a brainstorm session, right?"one person never built a financial empire on his own" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havnblast Posted November 24, 2003 Share Posted November 24, 2003 yes it never hurts to brainstorm - The whole idea interests me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacher Posted November 24, 2003 Share Posted November 24, 2003 This is something you might want to pursue by contacting each other directly. However, you might want to take a look at rule 6. There is a very fine line there and the way I read it is the forum is not a place to conduct business. Any posts of an apparently commercial nature will be removed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjf123 Posted November 24, 2003 Share Posted November 24, 2003 Just make sure you do get all of the financial details worked out in advance. For example, would you all be independent companies / sole proprietors calling upon each other for additional support, marketing etc., or will you be one company with "offices" in a number of locations? Will there be any common expenses to be shared among the group? If so, how will the expenses be allocated? What happens if someone doesn't pay their share of the common expenses? Will people have to pay a "franchise" fee to join the group? These are just a few things that popped into my mind. In case you can't tell, I'm an accountant by trade. I just happen to have an interest in computers and web designs. I even maintain a web site for a friend's business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted November 25, 2003 Share Posted November 25, 2003 Hey folks, sorry this topic was missing in action for a bit.We moved it, in tact to a holding area, while we discussed whether it would be of a commercial nature and needed to be removed.Scot has determined it is not and the topic is back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scot Posted November 25, 2003 Share Posted November 25, 2003 Quick note of explanation, as Rule #6 is written, there was an area of confusion here -- for sure. And our mods acted exactly as they should have. But the intention of the rule was not to keep people from discussing business ideas. Please feel free to do so.But be advised that it's more than just preventing spam that this rule is aimed at. It's also about gratuitous promotion of products or services, no matter how legit they might be. It's OK to say in your SIG that you're from IBM. It's not OK to advertise the merits of a particular IBM product in your SIG or anywhere, unless you're making a recommendation about an IBM product and you *don't* work for IBM.So, anyway, bottom line: It's ok to talk about new businesses you'd like to start. It's not OK to promote said business here. It's also not OK to conduct your business using SFNL Forums as a base of operation. But this discussion does not cross over that line at all. Rule #6 may be amended in the near future to make this clear. We live and learn.-- Scot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prelude76 Posted November 25, 2003 Author Share Posted November 25, 2003 Just make sure you do get all of the financial details worked out in advance. For example, would you all be independent companies / sole proprietors calling upon each other for additional support, marketing etc., or will you be one company with "offices" in a number of locations? Will there be any common expenses to be shared among the group? If so, how will the expenses be allocated? What happens if someone doesn't pay their share of the common expenses? Will people have to pay a "franchise" fee to join the group? These are just a few things that popped into my mind. In case you can't tell, I'm an accountant by trade. I just happen to have an interest in computers and web designs. I even maintain a web site for a friend's business.no, what i was thinking was just an informal group, mainly to give the 'illusion' of grandeur, so to speak. we'd all benefit from sounding bigger than we are (not many trust a one-person run-from-the-basement business ), yet it wouldnt necessarily be a lie, as we would help each other with advice, tips, etc... maybe 'parternship' is too strong a term. i was sorta referring to more of a business alliance. you know, how our government sends select business leaders out to china or wherever on a trade mission. everyone is 100% independent, but they go there as "Team Canada" representing the full scope of what Canada could offer to China, you know?i wasn't planning a full accounting nightmare with 'franchises'. i was thinking of something more like how 'webrings' are set up. or perhaps, make the central website like a directory of web design companies grouped by area. we all benefit this way from more exposure and more professional appearance, but we handle finances fully independently. only if one person wants to farm out a project if they're too busy, thats for those people to figure out between themselves on fees or rates. so basically, i had more of a "Independent Web Design Alliance" idea, rather than trying to solicit 'Franchise opportunities, inquire within" plan. maybe that led to some confusion with rule #6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarryB Posted November 25, 2003 Share Posted November 25, 2003 Kinda of a consortium of Independent Web designers...more of a reach back capability and expertise/Resource sharing (not to mention regional referencing)..is that what I understand Prelude...........Sounds Great! I wish you well.Sounds like it would work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prelude76 Posted November 25, 2003 Author Share Posted November 25, 2003 Kinda of a consortium of Independent Web designers...more of a reach back capability and expertise/Resource sharing (not to mention regional referencing)..is that what I understand Prelude...........Sounds Great! I wish you well.Sounds like it would work.bingo! resource sharing, regional referrencing, and also 'illusion of grandeur'. no fees, no leadership. just a bunch of web designers teaming up for everyone's benefit.ok, if anyone's interested, PM me. we can discuss this elsewhere in more detail in MSN chat. it'd be nice to start off with 5 or 6, and leave lots of room for adding more as we move along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicDragon Posted December 10, 2003 Share Posted December 10, 2003 I think that's a pretty cool idea. What needs to be set up is a central website. That's very important, and i can't see anything really getting done until something basic is set up. I think it would be very important to have a good forum there, sort of like a todo list, that people can say, ok, i'm going to work on this part. Ok, it's done, someone else take over etc. A forum thread where we post our strengths, what we know how to do as far as web design goes etc, what out strong areas are would also be very helpful. I very very much like this idea! I think that could be really fun and insteresting. (and working for a world wide webdesign company would look really good on an application )I personally would not really be able to donate much time, but i would be interested in helping out here and there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rons Posted December 10, 2003 Share Posted December 10, 2003 ... we incorporate.then...then...we buy large houses and sports cars. Would this mean that I would have to sell my 25 room 10 bath mansion & the Rolls Royce ? LOL Sounds like a great idea. Hope it works for you folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havnblast Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 I think it would be very important to have a good forum there, sort of like a todo list, that people can say, ok, i'm going to work on this part. Ok, it's done, someone else take over etc.I don't think it will be done like that - it's not a joint project on one website is how I understand it. Central site for individual developers is what I think he means. I first thought that too, that we would form a team and build sites, but than you have the nightmare for finances and stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicDragon Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 Central site for individual developers is what I think he means. I first thought that too, that we would form a team and build sites, but than you have the nightmare for finances and stuff.Oohhh. I didn't get that part Thanks for the clarification and sorry for the confusion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prelude76 Posted December 12, 2003 Author Share Posted December 12, 2003 all - yes, central website. anyone have some 24/7 server space? http://www.bwde.com/short, easy web name (only 4 letters), 1 GB storage, and can set up multiple sub-domains ( insertyourbusinessname.bwde.com )dont worry about yellow/black, thats just a temporary design i had a few years back. im open to any suggestion. would like to make nice CSS home page with CSS-controlled coloured mouse-overs.brainstorm up ideas if interested and we can discuss it over msn IM.p.s. Temmu, did you find some VC funding? minimum 10 million per head, half paid up front. :whistling:p.p.s. 10 million in STABLE funds, like Euro or Canadian Dollar. no US greenback, it will be worth like the peso soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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