A word from the Dev Team
To be or not to be a Web Developer/Designer/Coder in todays global digital market can be a test to your business, your friendships, your skills, and your patience. The dilemma starts with how you value yourself. This can be tricky when it comes to the value others place on you personally, if your client already has a relationship with you. Are they a past colleague? Are they a friend? Are they a cold-call established business owner? Maybe a relative? Then you ask yourself, how do I navigate a Web project with the most dignity, clarity, transparency, and discipline. You will often need to stick to your outline, terms, and conditions although the client may not like it.
Far to often, when others consider beginning a web project they are not thinking about your value personally. Do you need to live? As-in… have a place of business to maintain, a place to live, a family to support, pets to care for, food to eat, an automobile to drive and upkeep, charitable expenses to consider, entertainment to help unwind, as well as many other similar factors that we all attribute to actually living. They are thinking about how much money they are spending and can save. They are looking at the project similar to the necessity of a vehicle. They need the vehicle to get to work. However, they will spend more on an automobile to get to work than they will on a web project.
Meanwhile, companies that create successful websites are some of the leading companies in the world today. Could you imagine if Google, or Yahoo, or Amazon paid a thousand or two thousand dollars to generate their website? It is unheard of because in order to create a successful website you must spend money. While some websites have a very low overhead, all websites require maintenance, updates and many other standard procedures to stay live. The more traffic those websites produce, the more work it takes to keep them running. Just like a well-used, well-maintained automobile.
Evaluating what your time is worth is generally related to the cost of living where you live. As many that work in the digital realm know all too well, the opportunity to work remotely has opened the web development industry up to a global market. There are many options available in cities abroad because of suitable internet service speeds and reliability. As a digital creator based in the U.S.A. we have seen countless jobs outsourced to cheaper labor overseas. How much longer can the industry last in this country?
When working on established business projects the goals are pretty clear and concise through agreed terms and outlines in a structured timeframe. Standard Operating Procedures (S.O.P.’s) apply. Determine the clients goals, budget, and a deadline. Their budget effects the methods used to achieve their goals and if they are feasible. The goals are set in measurable timeframes to determine milestones and an estimated completion date. Performance is required by both parties in order to attain satisfaction for all. When performance is lacking by the client, timeline expectations must be rearranged. In project management we call that part of Scope Creep. To put it in layman terms, Scope Creep is when after a plan has been established and agreements have been made regarding a project additional tasks, goals, or procedures have surfaced along the way that effect the overall project lifespan. Scope Creep is very common and manageable in the project management business with professional clients and established businesses. Unfortunately it is more prevalent within the establishment of businesses, or start-up phase, in regards to those that initiate from the friends and family category of projects.
I will focus on the latter of these client categories, as the impact these projects have within the aforementioned realm of your living standards and worth can be extremely detrimental to your relationships and outlook towards others from a professional standpoint. When you agree to take on, generally, a low-budget start-up project it is important to consider how you will not offend others, how you will navigate impasses with integrity, and how you will perform professionally within reason. It is extraordinarily challenging at times, and in digital times such as these, to understand that there are various solutions available to those who are willing to dedicate their time on learning and purchasing out-of-the-box tools, a.k.a. DIY tools. Be warned, great ideas are spontaneous and may come easy but execution requires diligence, commitment, and devotion. This is the conundrum that clients face and are completely unaware of that are of the utmost value to express in order to justify and substantiate your worth.
While your ultimate goal is to keep a calendar full of projects which sometimes requires taking on low-budget projects in the hopes that they will lead to other, more lucrative projects, I have found it rarely to be the case due to the many pitfalls I have encountered when comparing a clients expectations and performance issues. I always express to these friends and family types that they will play a large role in completing the project. I emphasize how responsiveness is critical. How without their clear and concise documented conceptualization, I cannot perform. How assets need to be provided to me in order to get through all phases of development. And how I cannot read their minds or become an expert at their profession in order to do all their work for them. I do not hold a magic wand either where I can magically put their thoughts into action in any sort of timeframe at will. Yet these situations arise majority of the time.
Low-budget projects are often more work than one can bargain for. While your intentions are good or often shown with elation for the enthusiasm a client feels at the time, be very aware that it may be the beginning of the end of your relationship. In worst case scenario, leading to a bad review or counterproductive business recommendations. It is natural for clients that do not perform according to agreements made at the beginning of a project to feel wronged and lay blame on those trying to work with them while maintaining professionalism.
Here are some pitfalls to keep your eye on with your clients:
• Do they communicate with you in a timely manner?
• Do they prioritize their project over daily reoccurring chores and responsiblities?
• Do they get distracted easily and often need to be reminded of what point the project has reached?
• Do they disappear for extended time periods and then return with a sense of priority only to do the same again and again?
• Do they show anger towards you, the developer/designer, when they don’t understand or realize that they have not performed their tasks?
• Have they breached contract and then expect you to continue performing at their disposal?
As a web developer/designer, project manager, and digital business consultant for over 25 years I can tell you I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to projects, clients, technology, and related circumstances. The devaluation of the industry due to globalization has often left me wondering if it is still worth it. Can I no longer afford to live where I call home? Should I expatriate to another country where a lower standard of living is more prevalent, however would still offer me a better quality of life? These are extremely shaky times that require out-of-the-box thinking, and exploration of alternative sources of income. It’s not a bad thing to diversify the opportunities today in the digital realm. My professional experience has encouraged me to beware of complacency, keep myself informed of new opportunities, be receptive to new innovations and prepared to harness their possibilities, and be appreciative of the experiences I’ve had to learn.
For most of us, lessons in prosperity demand flexibility, diligence, devotion, discipline, and even humility. Not many of us must reevaluate the profession we’ve chosen on a regular basis. Is it inherent, in digital professions, to consider a more stable, a less ever-changing profession to attain an acceptable standard of living?
I have decided to no longer offer my expertise to low-budget projects. Not only has it devalued my profession, those projects rarely workout for the client. That does not mean I will not try to justify the expense of my time and expertise with those same types of clients. It means I will need to be prepared to explain and persuade to them that the value of a solid website business is far greater than their foresight is willing to envision. I encourage others working in this industry to keep the same standards before we can no longer offer these services to unestablished businesses in this great country.
