I own a web development agency that recently touched 5 figures in revenue last month. How did an insignificant young web developer go on to start this? And how you can replicate it as well.
Last year I had no job. I just loved building my own projects and polishing my skills but never thought of this as a high-end skill that could generate me money.
Fast forward to November 2023 I am running a pretty good web design business and have multiple high-paying clients. I have a global team from countries such as the UK, the US, and Greece and always expanding. Here are some of my best tips if you wanna start your own web development agency as well.
Know Your Worth
Believe it or not, web design is still a really high-paying and high-end skill. I mean there are businesses out there who are willing to pay thousands of dollars for just a single page website. So the first step is to be aware that your skills and expertise are valuable and you should not trade your time for less money
Web Developer vs Entrepreneur
Yes, there is a difference! If you are starting out a web design agency then you need to think as a businessman. You need to hire people for marketing/outreach and once it scales, get out of the matrix and hire other web developers thus automating your entire business. You need to learn to manage people and build a hungry team. You need to learn to get on sales calls, not job interview calls. You need to sound confident even if you're broke as sh*t.
Create a website and brand for yourself
The first step obviously is to build a brand around yourself. Get out there on social media and post content/your work. Build a website for your own agency that portrays all of your work and acts as a funnel. Design logos and create free content for your dream audience. Hire people to do tasks for you.
Consistency is the key. You won't get thousands of followers or millions of impressions on your socials/blog just by posting 10-20 videos/articles. Be patient.
Build a team
I can't stress how important this is. You don't need other web developers when you don't have any clients but you need marketers,outreachers, video editors, content creators, and just some more supportive and like-minded individuals like you.
Because there will be times when you feel low and just think about quitting everything. This is when the smile on the faces of your team members during weekly calls and conversations will help you to emerge stronger. You start to think about the collective effort and if they are putting in then why can't you?
Getting Clients
This is the most important part of your business, even more important than actually completing your projects. There are several methods to get clients for your web design business. Here is a short list:
- Cold calling/cold dms
- Being active and posting content on social media
- Referrals and your network
- Advertisements(risky but if you have a good budget then its pretty good)
- Blogs/Video Content
I use a mixture of these but cold dms have worked best for me. I have hired people who cold call and DM for me and get a % of each sale haha.
See how I got out of the matrix easily?
Quality of People and Learn to be a Salesman
It's also important to ensure that your clients and your team is of high quality. I mean you don't want to get clients that are willing to pay just $100-200 for websites. You need to aim more and get high-end clients for your business. You need to learn to do sales pitches when in a meeting with them.
Remember you are now an entrepreneur not just a web developer
Conclusion
The above thoughts are good enough to give you a general idea and start your web design business. In conclusion, I will say create your website, hire people for marketing, know your worth, learn to be a salesman, and be consistent and patient.
I am new to DEV so I will be constantly here to answer all your questions here as well as on my blog So go ahead and ask me questions. I would love to hear your thoughts.
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