Hiring an amateur ends up being more expensive.
Starting a new business can be scary. Many entrepreneurs have left the comfort of salary based employment to pursue the dream of running their own business. Many make the mistake of being overly cost-conscious with parts of their business which are extremely important.
Take John, for example. John is a builder and after years of making money for others, he decides to become his own boss. John hires his friend’s daughter to create a logo for $50 and then throws together his own website using something like Wix. John gets his business cards from Vista Print and smiles about all the money he’s saved on graphic and website design. What John doesn’t realize is that he’s already begun to lose money.
If you don’t value your own business, don’t expect other people to
When potential customers go to John’s website or look at his business cards, they’re looking at a visual representation of John’s business. As a result of this, John looks like an amateur, so not only is he losing business, he’s also not getting customers that are willing to pay what he’s actually worth. John then realizes he has lost a lot of money. He then decides to shells out for a logo, branding, and website that he should have gotten in the first place. Now he has to pay to have all his business stationery and marketing materials reprinted.
This is an example of how buying cheap can affect a small business, but larger businesses make the same mistakes too, and the larger the business, the costlier it is to not get it right the first time.
Buy cheap, buy twice
Trust me, hire a professional
I’m not suggesting you break the bank by spending huge piles of money before you even know if your business will take off. What you should do, though, is take the time to hire a professional that understands what you want to say about your business and can create a logo and website that accurately reflects the quality of the products or services that you offer. Bear in mind, even great brands and websites will need to be tweaked as a business expands and adapts. The important thing is that you hit the ground running.
Don’t let price be the only deciding factor
Of course, when hiring a professional price is going to be a factor, but you shouldn’t look at the cost as a measure of quality. Some businesses are reassured by high prices. While it is true that agencies that do great work charge higher prices, it is also true that high prices are usually the result of large overheads. Bear this in mind, not just when hiring a designer, but when hiring any service provider.
