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How do you start your own web development business?

I'm sometimes wondering if things would be better if I start my own web development business. What would I need to do in order to get one started. #web-development #small-business

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Cuong’s Answer

Hi Andrea,


There are many ways to start a web development business.


The first big thing having is establishing your brand and how you want to sell yourself. Most designers and entrepreneurs use their name since they do the contract work themselves but if you create a name for yourself, like a company name, like Microsoft and Apple, people tend to quickly remember since it stands out more.


Creating your web business will cost some money, like owning a domain name, using programs to create websites. Having your own server, etc.


Second step, you can then create your portfolio website where clients and potential investors that can view your work and inquire you on jobs. After you find out how you're going to brand yourself, create your own domain name and a server for you to upload your codes.


From that point, the next steps is to network, maybe do work for friends of friends or family acquaintances. Even if they don't paid as much, the experience and the work you do will be a great addition to your portfolio website. Then, you find out how much you want to charge and how you want to sell your services.


It takes patience and time to develop your web development business but, through discipline and effort, it will paid off and you will gain invaluable experience!


I created my own website as well, I can give you link if you wish to view it.

If you have any questions, feel free to comment below!

Cuong recommends the following next steps:

Invest your time with clients. The people you networked with, if you had a great interaction with them, they can return to you for more services.
Figure out how much you want to charge after a certain amount of jobs you have done for clients.
Networking is crucial when selling your services to clients. Find people within your community who would need your skills set. Or if you can, find clients through online forums if you know any.
Create your own website, either create a domain name or use a web hosting service websites.
Establish who you and what you want sell. Your brand name, whether be your own name or creating a brand name for yourself.
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Raminder’s Answer

Adding To Cuong's response:

At some point, definitely as your business grows, I would recommend you setup your business as an LLC. You can do this through a CPA and/or filing the proper paperwork with your SOS (Secretary of State) in the state your reside in. This helps with tax / financial reporting and business expenses as they are tax deductible. More importantly, this mitigates risk as this separates your business assets from your personal assets in the event of a lawsuit, etc.
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Jason’s Answer

Hello Andrea! Building a business is a big undertaking, so first off, I'd say be patient with yourself as you get started. Primarily, you'll want to work on finding a small number of clients that will work with you early on in your business journey. It will likely be more hands-on, and more time consuming than you expect. As you build your client base more and more over time, you'll find ways to optimize your workflows and find tools that help you work better across your various clients.

I also would suggest finding tools, frameworks, and products to make building websites for customers easier. Things like SquareSpace, WIX, etc, can make it easier and faster to build something, and clients don't care about the development details. They usually just want a website for a specific reason, so don't get hung up on the technical implementation details.

Jason recommends the following next steps:

Check out https://www.squarespace.com/
Find tools for freelance or small-business web development studios (ex: invoice generation)
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