Marc Kramer
All too often, companies make the mistake of calling in Web site developers and handing them a simple description of what they want. Many of my clients believe that if they show an experienced developer one or more Web sites that match their concept, the developer will be able to give them a price.
Before you launch your venture and begin to solicit investors, make sure you understand how long and how much it will cost to build a quality Web site that you can add to and won't have to scrap after one year. I had an international client that hired one of the largest Web development companies in the world. My client didn't develop a plan for the developers that mapped out exactly what information he wanted to give prospects and customers and how that information would fit with their current information systems. After the project was complete -- to the tune of $400,000 -- the chairman/CEO of the company fired the developer and the internal people who were responsible for developing the site. He realized the site was a failure when customers told him about problems accessing important information and the difficulty in navigating the site. He then had his new CIO and vice president of marketing work together with me and outside developers to develop a new plan. The new site, which will be much more robust and user-friendly than the old site, will cost about half of what the old site cost to develop.
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