Websites for small businesses

I am currently a student and I've been wanting to build my resume for quite some time. So I had an idea....
I'm gonna look at all of the small businesses in my area and see which ones have websites. And when I find one that doesn't have one, I'm going to meet with them and offer them my service. Basically, I am only going to charge them however much it costs to put together. I'm not looking to get rich. I just want to build my resume.

So, I was wondering if any of you had any tips for me. Any ideas, suggestions, comments, etc.??

Thanks!

 

Well from a software engineering perspective I would say put their requirements above all else.
Don't be afraid to go back and make sure that you have documented exactly what it is they want from the website and how they want it... One of the biggest problems with projects like that is that either the requirements are not captured at an early stage and the user doesnt end up with what they want, or else the user keeps shifting their requirements. In either case the fix is to keep an eye on the goal posts so to speak.

I would also recommend building a bare bones prototype at an early stage so that they can see a rough layout and navigate the pages so they can see if they're happy with it.
Then add all the bells and whistles and other features.

Finally, in terms of website design (and strictly from an end-user perspective) make sure the pages are thought out, intuitive, and easy to navigate... The number of web pages I come across that look amazing, but are just not well designed in terms of layout is unbelievable...

Hope some of that helps

 

Hm. For first projects, I'd make a business card sort of website. You can make a lot of them and quickly, and they are REALLY easy. Get a hosting deal that lets you run several websites on the same server and gives you a few free domain names, you could run about 200 on a standard bit of webspace.

Not the most inspiring thing to do, but it racks up the clients quickly! As for charge, I'd charge about £50 for a one page website and hosting for 2 years. (Thats about $27). But then, I'm notorious for undercharging

If you want to get onto more complex stuff, I would get a partner. My company has 2 partners, me and another guy called Nick. It's extremly helpful. It lets me concentrate on the purley design aspect of it, and he does all the server side coding and such. Works like a well oiled machine, usually. If you don't plan it though, it all goes to crap.

One more thing : Don't do more than you have to! Otherwise you won't be able to stick to deadlines. And don't choke yourself with deadlines either!

 

so then you do website design/development for a living? if that is the case.....
what kinds of projects do you work on? how much $$$ are you earning annually?

just curious. thanks!!

 

Yep. Only just started doing it professionally, the pay is inconsistant right now, but once we've got our clients up and running we can make plenty of profit from hosting, performance tweaking and maintainance I couldn't give you a number, because honestly its too variable.