Web Studio Business Planning at Startup



    As in any other business, planning is a must. It almost never comes true (except perhaps for fanatics like us), but it is impossible even without it. If you want to improve something, you need to plan and measure it. Now and later we will consider everything. Get used to it. It is not difficult + I will give the necessary tools for this.

    PS This is the second article in the series "How to make a web studio effective and start making money?" The first is also desirable to read . Now to business planning!

    We set a personal goal


    We expect this business for the next three years. Just let's go from the opposite. First, determine how much you personally and your co-founders want to earn in three years. It is from this that we will proceed, planning how much you will need to work.

    You have so far decided for yourself, but I will set a goal for everyone else in 3 years - to buy a new Toyota Corolla per month. I think this is a pretty good motivator. It sounds, of course, very poppy, it looks like a business youth. But what to do…

    We plan products


    Before we begin, once again I draw your attention to the fact that we are opening the development of broad-profile sites for small businesses. Why this is important, I told in the first post . Getting started.

    We will sell four categories of sites:

    • Information sites are the simplest and most sought after product. These include primarily corporate websites of companies. Narrow-targeted solutions (personal sites, event sites, sites ...) - all these are insolvent shares of interest. Refuse them is not worth it, but focus too.
    • Product catalog sites are the second most popular category. This is a presentation of goods and services that can be ordered, but not bought online. There are a lot of such sites and they are, as a rule, the most monetary. In most cases, this is a b2b segment that works not only for its region, but for the whole of Russia.
    • Online stores - a product catalog with the ability to pay for goods online. So far, such sites are not the majority, but the group is growing. The average life cycle of such sites is on average less than in the first two categories, and the cost of development is higher. But if the store survived - it is a good customer.
    • Landing - landing page. This type of site is already in the brain of every customer and it would be foolish not to single it out into a separate category. They are ordered a lot, but not everyone who orders a landing needs it. They most likely need a hybrid landing that is easy to promote and scale to a normal site. + These sites are difficult to standardize ....

    You may come up with something else, but you should not go into highly specialized solutions at the initial stage. Even in the 1C product line, not a single niche solution has yet to take off in terms of money, as an independent product. Therefore, we take a wide front.

    We plan to support by itself, while we are not getting into other services. This is the most interesting, but a little later.

    We plan the terms and cost


    Everything is very simple here. The main thing now and in the future is to understand that first you plan the indicators that you want to reach (specific numbers), and then you come up with how to fulfill them.

    Price. I advise you to start with the lowest price among competitors, but not lower than profitability. The minimum price will give you the opportunity to create a surplus of orders, which would be very necessary to implement all subsequent tips. It is clear that only thanks to the low price - orders will not appear, but so far you have nothing else (if there is, then excellent!).

    Dates.This is an important criterion for the customer, especially for small businesses. The client may say that this is not important for him, but this is not true. The sooner you submit a work site to him, the more likely he is to pay you and recommend it to his friends. Define adequate terms, a little less than the market. Later I will tell you how to perform them.

    Why is order surplus important? The fact is that if you do not have a stream of orders that you will not cope with, then innovations (process automation) will be introduced slowly. The work will go quietly, measuredly, it will seem to you that everything is fine with you ... until the competitors introduce new technologies and overtake you at high speed.

    Studio business plan template


    In the business plan template, almost everything is filled in for you. First of all, fill in how much you want to earn after 3 years. Now this amount is 700,000 rubles (profit before taxes). If this figure suits you, leave it as it is. Salaries, rents are averaged for regional cities with a population of up to 400,000 inhabitants. For larger cities can be adjusted. But do not rush to inflate the costs. Some of our regulations will allow you to take and teach beginners who in 3 months will become good specialists.

    For all questions, you can write to me in a group on Facebook or in the comments to posts. The telegram is the same.

    All new materials will appear on CMS Magazine and on Habré. We can also meet at webinars to expand on topics and discuss the details. Thanks to everyone who sends feedback!

    Vasily Churanov and Webcanape team

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