Choosing to develop or delegate - Step 7
This is step seven in our Starting a New Website Checklist - check out that post if you happened upon this one and want to a handy link to all of the steps in order.
Choosing whether you develop your own code or delegate to an established coder depends on a number of factors:
- Learning ability Your ability to learn something completely new and “push through” problems. Entrepreneurial people have this quality. Personally I fall somewhere in the middle. I like to think of myself as knowing enough code to be dangerous. You can always learn some basic HTML by just viewing the source code in your browser of a site you like and seeing how it was put together. There are countless free tutorials online for learning the basics - it’s harder stuff like PHP and SQL that can have you tearing your hair out all night. I’ve modified PHP scripts successfully but still got hung up for hours because one little bracket was out of place. In those cases it’s sometimes better to let a professional do the job. As one coder told me “finding a bug is like asking where your keys are when you lose them. Sometimes it takes hours, sometimes just a minute.” Nonetheless, it’s better to have a professional find the problem if you find yourself losing too much time. Focus on what you’re good at and don’t waste your time on something someone else can do much quicker
- Budget Coding time can add up quickly and good coders charge a lot of money. Of course, you must weigh this time versus what it costs you to get up and running without any help. If you have some money but not a lot it’s wise to find someone who might look at your code and make suggestions along the way. A happy medium between DIY and completely delegating
- Timing An experienced coder can tell you with fair accuracy when your site will be done. You on the other hand have no idea when you’ll be done because you’ve never coded a site before. So think about that before you go over the cliff of thinking you’ll be done sooner than later. When you do it yourself the first time expect it to take three times as long or more than you thought. If launching your site is time sensitive, consider partnering with a professional coder.
In the following parts I’ll show you resources where you can find coders affordably and easily manage the development process.
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[...] Choose to develop yourself or delegate – There are pros and cons to each. If you’re looking to learn to code yourself, that’s great! But prepared to extend your timeline to accommodate for the learning curve involved. [...]