Budgeting for new web/admin business

[Alex Vincent]

I'm starting a push to build a web & admin design business here in Vallejo. I have my boss's full support in this (he's the owner of the business I work for and willing to fund me), but frankly I don't know how much it will cost to set me up...

So I'm hoping you guys can point me to some resources on where I can look up prices for all this.


DSL / phone & broadband service (DSL here is $50/mo)
Firewall & router (because I'll have a small LAN)
iMac computer (for testing/dev)
Linux machine (for testing/dev)
Win98SE machine ($0, I own it)
Win95 machine ($0, I own it)
Network hardware (big question mark here)
Desk, table, bookshelf (we can get these dirt-cheap)
Magazines, books and tutorials (online too)
Advertising budget
Business license (I'll go to City Hall)
Multifunction scanner/fax/printer
Budget for shareware programs
Budget for conferences (1 or 2 a year)
Transportation (I'll figure that out)
My salary (I'm the only employee, thank goodness)
Profits to divide in stock
Taxes & Accounting
Legal affairs


I'm trying to figure out what else I need to pay for. I can get browsers and office software for free (evolt.org, mozilla.org, IE, openoffice.org, etc).

A few of these are monthly expenses, as you can see, but most of it is one-time expenses. The computer gear is obviously the most expensive of the one-time expenses, and those are the ones I'm most unable to judge at this time.

[speedracer]

hey Alex,
Congradulations on your venture. i' don't consider myself webdesigner, but recently, i've been doing lot of sites and getting paid for. I found that Laptop is a must for presentations. and a PDA is a good item to have. a decent company car(clean), when visiting a large client rent a Tauras. and a clean nicely pressed wardrobe(dry cleaning bills)and shoes, if you're also the sales person. these little details will impress your clients as well as your ability as a designer.

also, invest in R&D for applications for your potential client might need:

CMS for websites
POS system intergrated with datatbase for chain stores
MLS system for real estate
etc.

hope this helps.

[jkd]

I'm pretty sure you could find old g3 iMacs on ebay or from someplace else used for cheap (several hundred dollars tops). They will run IE5/Mac without much trouble (assuming that's what you want it for), though OSX might not run all that fast on it.

You can also dual boot Mandrake PPC edition or YellowDog Linux on it, or dual boot on one of your x86 machines. Most installers will resize fat partitions for you, and the Mandrake installer is hard to screw up. Price for that? $0 ;)


You can get a 5-port switch by Netgear for around $50 on Pricewatch, and just give your other pc's an ethernet card ($20/apiece for decent ones), and you're set. CAT5 cable is cheap enough to ignore the cost relative to the price a network will cost. ($20-$30 tops will give all the CAT5 cable in the world)

Give one of the PC's two nics, and run it as a firewall. OpenBSD or Linux make great firewalls, and once again are free ;).

Ain't *nix grand? :)

[oracleguy]

For networking:

You'll need a switch so from the machine listings you specified, you should be okay with a 8-port and it has a firewall.

http://www2.warehouse.com/product.asp?dept%5Fid=3583&cat=networking&pf%5Fid=DEB3459&blind=no

Here is a good one and I've bought from MicroWarehouse before and had no problems.

[Tonz]

Originally posted by speedracer
I found that Laptop is a must for presentations. and a PDA is a good item to have. a decent company car(clean), when visiting a large client rent a Tauras. and a clean nicely pressed wardrobe(dry cleaning bills)and shoes, if you're also the sales person.

I agree!
You mentioned a laptop for presentations.... of interest..

We now have a system in our office where I have no involvement with the client, the "pitch" or the design of the site untill it is sold. We have a VERY talented designer who (now) understands the basics of how web sites work. The rep makes the initial contact, discusses concept, gets some ideas and brings them back to the designer.

He then creates the "look" in Freehand (quicker and cheeper than developing a splash page in html etc) , once the client approves the look, the rep then organises the content and the deigner prepaires the graphics.
It is not until this point that I get involved.....

So, if the budget is tight, lap top may not be so important.

As far as clothes go, I think personal grooming is paramount. In my early years, I NEVER met a client while wearing a suit.

What is the common perception of a "programmer"? Slightly "geeky" .

Clients expect to be meeting a programmer, not a encyclopedia sales man. I beleive the rule is to dress appropiatly.

Unfortunatly, the car one is soooooo true.


Anyway, good luck in your venture, keep us informed as to how thing are going.

Tonz:cool:

[bcarl314]

Alex

Good luck. I hope it works out for you guys. I think you'll find that advertising is the big one. I would start small and grow. Too many try to be the next big company and fail because the spend thousands in ads and don't see the customers come in right away.

Here a simple estimate:

Figure the following:
2 x 2 newspapar ad in a local paper
Community: $50-100/week
Major City: $500-1000/week
Duration: 3-6 months

Direct mailings to local businesses and new businesses:
1000-3000 letters/ month @ $0.37/letter

Remember, the key to advertising is consistancy. (Along with a good message) You need to be there, advertising when people are looking. Some people try to advertise for 1 or 2 weeks and never get any customers and can't figure out why. Mostly this is because they get a letter in the mail or see an ad, and think, oh that looks good, I'll call them later. Then when later comes, you're ads not there and they don't remember you. (Unless you've got a campaign that rivals the Budweiser frogs)

The rule of thumbs I've heard for advertising are:
1) You need to place you ad in front of people 10 times before they'll act.
2) Your typical response rate for mail campaigns is 1-2%

Hope this helps. Good luck.

ttyl

[Alex Vincent]

Thanks for the replies so far.

I'd been thinking about a laptop, but wasn't sure I should get one. I certainly need a docking station for it. Now I think I'll get it anyway. :)

Re the car... I don't drive. Yet. (For the main company I work for, the boss is starting to make it a requirement...)

Other suggestions?