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learn coding vs outsource

genesisk5

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Hi fastlaners! I need a car dealership website but with customizability beyond what WordPress offers. I have a little experience in coding but haven't ever built a website from scratch. I also don't have much money to spend on outsourcing. so I will have to either devote some time to learn webdev or earn some money to spend on outsourcing.
so, I know both options have pros and cons and that MJ chose former. I want to hear your thoughts.

honestly, I prefer to build it myself but I'm worried if it's realistic for a solo-entrepreneur to learn all the required technologies, build quality website, deploy, optimize, keep it secure, manage it well while having to manage all other aspects of the business? I know MJ and many others did it and I'm also ready to be commited. but you know what 'realistic' means. thank you very much for reading.
 
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Last edited:

genesisk5

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Mar 25, 2020
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I doubt you can’t use Wordpress. I’ve done some wild stuff with Wordpress sites.

What are the difficult things that they need done? How much are they paying for all of this?

I don't know about pricing but the difficulties are that it should have a very detailed car searching tool using weighted score system and when a deal is made, star-rated brokers should be able to apply to mediate the deal. and proper deposit transaction between buyer, seller, broker and central server should be made.
 

Mister Gu

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I've been a programmer for something close to 12 years (disclaimer: started in childhood). What you're trying to do _is_ realistic but not necessarily what you want.

What do you want to do?

1. Build a website? Use a theme, WordPress, Ghost, host it for free on Github.
2. Add feature X to your site? Memberstack, Stripe, Zapier, etc.
3. Do any other X? Is there a no-code Y that lets you get the same or similar result quickly? If yes, use it.

Learning to code is probably not ideal because it will be a long time before you achieve sufficient competence to build something good and even longer before you build it. Then assuming you went through all the hoops, travelled many deserts of desertion and you're now a proficient coder with your website online... what's the chance you were right?

You do gain some benefits: you have a marketable skill that will let you find a well-paid job and you can proceed to build your next project. Which will again take a long time if you want to do it yourself so you run into the same problem. Rinse and repeat.

Generally, custom = expensive + needs a lot of time. Remember you will still need to do other things: marketing, sales, strategy, customer support (if you've got any), and so on.

This very thing has been my exact problem trying to switch from writing code to building a business. The natural tendency was to use that skill and build something over several months. I repeated this several times and failed several times. This is not the way because you do not get any feedback until your product is done. Months of effort for naught and you get the worst type of failure - one that requires a lot of resources but gives very little in feedback and information of what _would_ work.

That said it's probably worth learning some coding (say, Python or JavaScript, HTML, CSS aka the Web stuff) just so you're not completely green and can find your way around.

You also do see tech guys write stuff and succeed so hey, maybe I'm talking nonsense and there is a way?

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions or if want to talk. (Excuse the plug) I run a teaching/mentoring side-hustle (I don't dare call it a business), I'll happily give you a free consultation or answer any questions over the phone.
 
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Last edited:

James90

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Jul 2, 2019
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I've been a programmer for something close to 12 years (disclaimer: started in childhood). What you're trying to do _is_ realistic but not necessarily what you want.

What do you want to do?

1. Build a website? Use a theme, WordPress, Ghost, host it for free on Github.
2. Add feature X to your site? Memberstack, Stripe, Zapier, etc.
3. Do any other X? Is there a no-code Y that lets you get the same or similar result quickly? If yes, use it.

Learning to code is probably not ideal because it will be a long time before you achieve sufficient competence to build something good and even longer before you build it. Then assuming you went through all the hoops, travelled many deserts of desertion and you're now a proficient coder with your website online... what's the chance you were right?

You do gain some benefits: you have a marketable skill that will let you find a well-paid job and you can proceed to build your next project. Which will again take a long time if you want to do it yourself so you run into the same problem. Rinse and repeat.

Generally, custom = expensive + needs a lot of time. Remember you will still need to do other things: marketing, sales, strategy, customer support (if you've got any), and so on.

This very thing has been my exact problem trying to switch from writing code to building a business. The natural tendency was to use that skill and build something over several months. I repeated this several times and failed several times. This is not the way because you do not get any feedback until your product is done. Months of effort for naught and you get the worst type of failure - one that requires a lot of resources but gives very little in feedback and information of what _would_ work.

That said it's probably worth learning some coding (say, Python or JavaScript, HTML, CSS aka the Web stuff) just so you're not completely green and can find your way around.

You also do see tech guys write stuff and succeed so hey, maybe I'm talking nonsense and there is a way?

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions or if want to talk. (Excuse the plug) I run a teaching/mentoring side-hustle (I don't dare call it a business), I'll happily give you a free consultation or answer any questions over the phone.




I have zero knowledge in programming, and decide to out-source the work to build an app/software.

Are there any auditing provisions out there to tell if they performed a solid job in the back-end?
 

MHP368

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They have "drag and drop" wordpress building platforms like elementor but honestly you can get a really good site for 2 to 500.

Now , its a car dealership so you're going to have to learn enough to at least be able to modify listings but IMO one foot in front of the next.

Why not pay to have one built (pm me and I can send tou some names off upwork) , if it does what it needs to and you're making money THEN maybe you devote some time to learning.

Think about this long term - if you're dealership was churning...10k in merchandise a day would you consider learning web dev and spensing the time every week noodling around with it? No? Then why do that now?

In fact you can put that in the project "I need to be able to go in and modify the homepage for when we have sales and easily change out thr list of inventory so you have to build it with those capabilities"

Tons of pro level folks who can do 10k USD american value of work for 1/10th the price and they're fluent in english. It isn't 1996 anymore.
 

Mister Gu

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I have zero knowledge in programming, and decide to out-source the work to build an app/software.

Are there any auditing provisions out there to tell if they performed a solid job in the back-end?

To my knowledge, there aren't. Ideally, you should consult with another dev that you already trust. If they like what they see, it's good, if they don't, it's probably not. Keep in mind devs come in many different shapes, one will say X is good, another will say Y is... There aren't definite metrics but if I had to pick a few then readability and clarity would be at the top of the list. It's hard to write bad code when it's simultaneously obvious.

Something that is definitely at the bottom of the list (but a lot of devs push for) is the technology choice. A lot of devs push for new things for no other reason than that they are new and cool. I blew a project once for this very reason and I'm not the only one. Make sure whatever you build, you build it on a proven (if possible) foundation.

And of course, the ultimate metric is if it dies on you in production repeatedly and you get hacked when all you're doing is a simple website, you likely have something smelly going on. But I see why you'd rather not use this metric :p

Overall programming is still more of a craft than it is a lego-pieces/assembly-line type of work. It's changing towards the latter in some areas, mostly Web dev, but it's not there yet and until (also if) it shifts over completely there won't be normative standards. You need to consult with another dev.

As far as evaluating devs goes, I was hiring a contractor in December and my only metric was their past record. If they'd done great work in the past that's _visible_, they're likely good. Some other people I know that work in the industry also do it this way. To my knowledge to a great effect.

Hope this helps and I'm not dressing in overalls too much :)
 
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Ninjakid

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Jun 23, 2014
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honestly, I prefer to build it myself but I'm worried if it's realistic for a solo-entrepreneur to learn all the required technologies, build quality website, deploy, optimize, keep it secure, manage it well while having to manage all other aspects of the business? I know MJ and many others did it and I'm also ready to be commited. but you know what 'realistic' means. thank you very much for reading.
You can definitely do it.

The problem with outsourcing is that you have to start with a lot of money to have it built well. You may end up spending a ton of money before you find out your business venture wasn't worth it.

Also, remember you don't have to be a master programming. You just have to get good enough where you can build the site you want. Ideally, you can get experienced programmers to fix it up afterwards.
 

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