Start thinking about your Branding and Website needs as soon as you start thinking you want to open your own business. It’s even in the Small Business Bureau’s manual on how to start a business, and there is a reason for it.

How many times have I seen a client who is at the end of their business set-up process when they come to me for a logo, business cards, marketing materials, and a website? More than 60% of my clients, in fact.

Let’s stay focused on the Website out of all these.

As I have mentioned in the article “The Design Process Explained“, you will save money if you go to a Web designer prepared.

What that means is, you have to know what you want from them. It’s rare that a cheap freelancer is going to have a wide enough understanding of your business, your industry, and your needs, in order to really help you figure out what you want. For those kinds of services you would have to go to either an agency which has the experience, know how, and senior staff on board to handle that brainstorming process, or you have to go to a person who specializes in your field. In both cases, those will not be your cheapest options possible.

Even if you’re not looking for a low-cost site, you will still want to save the designer as much unnecessary work as you can. If you feel that you need help, be realistic about it and be prepared to pay for it. Personally, I think it’s money well spent to have a professional guide your decisions when you are not sure of yourself, or confirm your convictions when you are.

The bottom line is, this is your web site and you need to bring the concept in with you if you want to be happy with the result. In order to do that:

• Keep your eyes open for sites and branding materials you like, and save them to show to the designer
• Study your competition
• Decide if you want to be the same as them or different, and if different, how.
• Develop a vague, then a specific idea of what types of materials you will need and at what stage of your marketing

Whatever you think your website will take in time, multiply that by 3 and make sure you are comfortable with that time frame. The process will be cheaper, more satisfying and more pleasant if you do that. And if it so happens that it takes less time, who do you think will be happy .

• First of all, good designers have a pipeline of work. You will need to get in line even if that means a couple of weeks. Never assume that your project will be addressed immediately. If you need to have it so, you will need to pay for it, and usually it’s dear.
• It will take time to prepare all the materials your designer will need from you. This is something that usually makes or breaks the process. Most of the time, projects get delayed or halted by fault of the client rather than the designer. Don’t be one of those clients. Keep on top of your part of the process and deliver reviews, materials, and content in the time-frame you are asked. Your designer will love you for it, and will be willing to throw in freebies and help you out more than if you piss them off by being late. When a client is late, they screw up the pipeline, and cause stress and problems for the designer and the clients who are waiting.
• A website takes time to build popularity online. It used to be 6-8 months to even get out of the Google Sandbox, but these days, it just shows up poorly until it proves its worth on the market. If you expect business leads from your site, it’s imperative that you have it ready as soon as possible, even before you open your doors for business. If you rely heavily on your site for work, then you need to invest heavily into its SEO and Online Marketing.