Sam Kidd's thoughts on business

People there is no magic website making button, no one is hiding it on you, honest!
Working in Digital Crew I'm starting to see that a lot of companies out there that still don't realise what is involved in making a good website these days.
It's not as simple as drawing a picture, pressing a few button and then 'wham' a lovely site appears that runs your business and sells loads of their products! (Hell I wish it was like that)

I just can't believe the amount of companies out there that have unrealistic ideas and budgets for making a website. A website that they want to use to help their company generate sales worth thousands and sometimes millions of euro.  One thing I wish people would realise is that to build a really good site does take time and no, your uncle Dave who got a computer last year and said it was really easy to make a website, may actually not really know what he's talking about.

Then again there are the companies out there that are fantastic to work with. They know how long it takes and what is required to make a site that works for them.  One thing I'm trying to get across to people all the time is that, setting up a website is like creating a real shop or office. If you were to open a shop in the morning you wouldn't just walk into a place bang up some shelves and open the door and expect people to take your seriously and buy your products. You would want to spend some time designing the shop, you may even get a shop designer to help you get this right. Then you would get a builder in, because he has the right skills and tools to get the job done well.  You're going to want the public to come into your shop, and you want to create a good impression, you want it to look professional and you know if you get the look and feel right this will help sales.

Well folks it's the same with websites, instead of using wood and plaster to build your shop or office your using programming and software. Both the real and the virtual shop take time, expertise and a lot of hard manual labour. 

If you're looking to create a web based business or you want to extend your real world one I would just like to say, take some time and really think about what you want to achieve with your site. It's like opening another premises. If it's a shopping site remember how long it took you to open the one you have now, and how much work went into it. Because the same amount of work can go into the online one as well.  Remember your website may be the first and only experience a potential customer may have with your company, so you can't afford to get it wrong, because you're not standing behind the counter in this shop, and you can't win them over with your charm.