Dec

Web Designers And Small Business Owners, Should I Charge My Boss For Making Him A Website?

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I am a secretary for a home security business (fire/smoke alarms, burglar alarms, security systems, etc). It is a small business, operated from the owner’s home. They have many clients and aren’t in any danger of closing from lack of funds, but the business has gotten by purely through word of mouth (client testimonials) and small phone book and/or newspaper ads. I know that a website would greatly help the business and bring in more clientele, more accounts, and broaden the possibilities for the future. I know my boss would love the idea of a website and I am HTML literate and can build websites sufficiently enough in programs like Dreamweaver for them to be professional and easily navigable.
My problem, is that I don’t know how much to charge him for the website maintenance, building, etc. I am not a web designer by trade, it has been purely a hobby of mine to fiddle with HTML. I’m not looking to charge him as if I were a professional web designer, but I don’t want to do all of this additional work free of charge — you know it takes time to design, build, and upkeep a website. I plan on being with this job for a long while and even if I left for another job, he would probably want me to maintain the website anyway. [He is a friend of the family and is not particularly computer savvy and doesn't know where to start looking for a dependable other to maintain the website].. Should I charge him a flat fee for the website creation and then a monthly fee? Or should I just get him to increase my salary a bit and make it a part of my job description so that it is a normal duty? Web designers and small business owners, please, your experience here would be much appreciated! I want your opinion, what should I do? Thank you!!
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1 Comment to “Web Designers And Small Business Owners, Should I Charge My Boss For Making Him A Website?”

yinyang_ December 16, 2009 at 7:12 am
Take a look at what local website designers in your area charge and maybe knock 20% off?
Perhaps you could offer to build a website on his behalf for free but retain legal ownership of it. Then charge a set fee for each new customer the website gets him – make sure new customers are asked how they found out about the business.
It’s quite difficult to say what the best option is as only your know your boss well enough. Weigh up your options carefully and then present them to your boss. Be sure to back it with information about how an online presence can increase sales.
Good luck
Daniel Dutton
Shore Dutton Internet Consultancy