Re: Step by Step

Regarding "Bootstrapping" a web design business without starting funds...

>>>Yes and no.  Could it be done? Yes probably but not very well.  Like I
listed in an earlier email, at the very least he would need a business
license, business bank account and business checks and a tax number.  Unless
of course he would like to mix his personal and business monies thus making
each other open to an audit if one of them is audited for any reason.<<<<

While I stared as a Sole Proprietorship, and paid the USD $30 to register a
DBA, it isn't necessary.  I would contend that a beginning desinger could
work under a personal name quite well in a freelancing environment.
Remember: we are talking bootstrap, here.  There are no rules on the
Internet that require our hypothetical boostrapper to establish a business
name.

For instance, in reverse: I have done a lot of work over the years under the
umbrella of The Web Center (now Inc.), but if I were to sell it tomorrow,
and set up business as Darrell King, I bet I'd still get referrals from my
previous clients, and make it work just fine...

Of course, I would eventually have to consider an accountant and a lawyer
again, but not if I were just starting out, and pulling in a few hundred
here and there from charities and low budget ops...

-----------

>>>Don't forget a scanner.  What if a client sends him art to be scanned?
A halfway decent scanner could be purchased for under a $100.<<<

Much better than paying for copies...but remember, our bootstrapper has no
money!  Charities and low-budgets could be required to pay for scans...not
the preferred way to service a 6-digit corporate site, but it would work for
a beginner who has to cut corners.  Remember, this person's clients are also
probably trying to cut corners...

-----------

>>>Not a chance here.  Any web designers that are showing their portfolios
on "free hosting space" are laughable at best.  No one will take him
seriously. Heck, a lot of ecommerce sites nowadays will not even accept
orders from people using the "free email" services like Hotmail because of
the high rate of fraud from those types of accounts.<<<<

I agree...when talking an estabished business.  Again, though, we are
talking about someone who is "making it work" from the bottom up.  Free
community space is only one option, but it *is* a viable option, especially
for a newbie representing his/her-self as an independant freelancer and not
as a business...

I also believe an early option should be setting up a domain name and a real
site...but I bet I could make it work without that in the beginning.
Remember that it would probably only be temporary...a couple of small $200
sales would allow the serious possibility of registering a domain.  Only
costs USD $30-40 nowadays for 2 years...even less in places, I hear...and of
course, with a domain name pointed at a low-traffic ISP-provided site,
there's little chance that people will comment on our new desiger's lower
access speeds.  Again, remember to scale for size...our newbie is not huge
yet...

>>>>Days off?  You mean you get one day a week?  Wow aren't you lucky... I
can't remember the last time I had a day off!  As a matter of fact I'm going
on a family vacation the end of August and I've already been scheduled in 3
conference calls that week.  I'll have my laptops and all my source files
with me...   I think I need to talk to my boss... Oh wait, that's me..<<<<

This is not something I can argue with...:).  We are in almost exactly the
same boat, except the work I carry along is a custom shopping cart/affiliate
site that simply can not wait until a vacation is over with...:)

I think in the above quoted paragraph, we have the essence of our new
designer's bootstrap scenario:

The only "rules" that will defeat you are the ones you allow to.  In that
spirit, I wrote this: http://www.gamepuzzles.com/tlog/tlog15.htm

We can offer advice (often conflicting!), but the success or sinking of your
company is in your hands.  You either make it work, or it dies.  Be prepared
to do what it takes.  Don't expect to have a normal family life or whatever.
You have nothing to offer your clients yet, except service.  It had better
always be there.


Thanx,

D

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