I’ve recently had lots of adventures creating some websites.

Being too busy to do these websites myself, I decided to ask/subcontract a friend to handle the website design.

Well, there were many problems along the way, with a fixed website quote, customers constantly changing their mind, customers wanting something that they liked personally (but not necessarily appealing to their website viewers), long hours, problems with image quality, personality clashes, etc etc.

Along the way, I’ve learned many valuable lessons:

• Asking a friend to work with you can put a large strain on the friendship.
• Website design contracts must be in writing (not verbal), clearly defining what will be done, and more importantly, what will not be done.
• Designing a good website will take a lot longer than you expect, don’t be afraid to accurately quote for the real costs involved (or quote an hourly rate).
• Maintain a high level of communication with customers (I failed on this one… it was impossible to do, while juggling other work)
• Avoid flash websites. Whoever holds the source code, has the customer over a barrel (and Google doesn’t like flash).

The end results are fantastic, but its not an experience I’d like to repeat.

For those who are interested, take a look at:

nuzu.com.au

janpowersfarmersmarkets.com.au