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By Harry Robinson•25th November 2024
Have you been freelancing as a web developer? Or are you working for a larger organisation and looking to make a switch as an entrepreneur? Starting your own web development agency can be exciting and challenging. You need to factor in several things before starting your web development business, from finances to team building, marketing strategies, and how best to acquire clients.
In this guide, we’ll look at the steps on how to start your own business in the web development sector.
The global web development industry was valued at US$ 65.35 billion in 2023 and this value is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.03% until 2031, to reach a valuation of US$ 130.9 billion. That’s great news for anyone starting their own web development business. From your base in the UK, you can work with local and international clientele, making it easy to grow your business.
Here are a few steps on how to start your own business in website development:
Before starting your own web development agency, your first job is to decide on the services you’ll offer. This decision should be based on your team's expertise and skills, your business goals, and the market demand.
Some additional services that a website development agency can offer include web designing, content marketing, SEO, and social media marketing. These related services can help you drive more revenue, upsell your brand’s proposition to clients, improve your customer’s lifetime value, and make your business more viable.
One of the most important steps on how to start your own business in web development is deciding on the pricing structure. Your financials need to be competitive for clients while still ensuring fair pay for you and your team.
As a startup, you might be tempted to keep your price points extremely low, but don’t come across as cheap, as this can give your agency a negative reputation.
Conduct competitor research to understand the market rate. Some common pricing models that small businesses can adopt are:
Flat rates
Hourly rates
Monthly rates
Bundle packages (if you provide other associated services)
As a freelancer, you’re probably used to working alone. But when you transition into starting your own website development business, you will need to build a credible team. When you’re hiring staff, it’s important that you’re mindful of the salary you can afford to pay a potential employee, the technical expertise and experience of the individual, as well as how they fit with your existing agency culture.
Your team will be the backbone of your company’s success, so it’s essential to take time when you’re hiring. As a startup, if you find it challenging to pay a competitive salary, you can offer your employees certain alternative benefits or perks, such as a work-from-home option or profit-sharing on successfully completing a project. You could also offer part-time or freelancing positions while you’re still in the early stages of growth.
Whether you’re a freelance web developer or an agency, you need to have a strong portfolio. To get clients, you need them to build trust in your capabilities. Your website can work as your portfolio, too. When you’re starting your own web development agency, you want to showcase your technical expertise and industry knowledge as effectively as possible in your portfolio.
Investing in the right tools is key to successfully starting your own web development agency. Some of the top web development tools include Bootstrap, Sublime Text, Visual Studio Code, and GitHub. Choose those that work best for you (you may already have experience with many of them as a freelancer).
As well as these essential tools, you also need to invest in communication tools, such as Skype, Microsoft Teams, and Discord, and project management tools, like Asana, Trello, and ClickUp. And don’t forget about feedback tools, like QualityHive.
These will help you to seamlessly collaborate with your team and clients, ensuring projects are completed on time and within budget.
One of the essential tips to start your own business is to sort out the legalities. In the UK, certain legal requirements must be met before your business can become operational. This includes:
Deciding on the right legal structure (sole traders, limited companies or partnerships)
Registering the business with the HMRC for tax purposes
Understanding and following the employment laws
Complying with the Data Protection Act
Applying for necessary permits, licences, and insurance
If you ever ask any entrepreneur about how to start a web development agency, they’ll most likely advise you to create a business plan.
A business plan includes the core fundamentals of running your business, including the company’s goals and mission statement, business model, team-building strategies, and client acquisition methods.
You should also include business metrics such as customer satisfaction rate, return on investment (ROI), customer acquisition cost (CAC), and gross profit margin.
Before you formally launch your website, you need to have a marketing plan in place. Finding your first agency client can be difficult, especially if you have no contacts from a freelancing career. But instead of simply waiting for someone to find you, you can start by actively searching for clients.
Networking and reaching out to friends, family, and industry contacts is one of the best ways to get clients and referrals. Social media marketing, using platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn, can also help you get new clients. If you have freelanced before, you can contact your old clients for referrals or offer them additional services.
Upskilling your team is vital to running a successful website development business. Every day, new technological innovations are being introduced, and unless your agency is updated on the latest tech and tools, you can easily lose clients to your competitors.
Investing in certifications can also help you earn the trust of your clients. Make sure to showcase any new certifications on your website and your company’s social media accounts.
Social media marketing has become key in today’s industry. As a small business owner, you’ll need to maximise your social presence. Pro tip: don’t just work on your company’s social media, but also on your personal branding. Platforms like LinkedIn are a great way to get clients and showcase your achievements. Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) are good platforms to share client testimonials and give your clients a behind-the-scenes peek into your web development process.
As a new business owner, you’re likely to face challenges as you build your web development client base. But with the right preparation and a professional team, there’s nothing stopping you from achieving success.
When you’re starting your own web development agency, you need to be able to showcase your capabilities while effectively communicating with clients and staff to deliver projects on time. For the best results, use tools such as QualityHive, which makes sharing feedback much easier than communicating over email.
With QualityHive, the client can instantaneously share screenshots of any bug or issue they might notice, so you can easily address and correct it. Our Kanban board makes it easy to track the progress of any feedback and stay on top of the project deadline.
Book a free demo to learn how QualityHive can be the best investment for a web development agency.
