So you want to develop your own website. Really?

[fearo]

Hi all,

I have been around IT and applications for many years so I am often amazed when someone says 'I sat down, learn to code and now I develop websites'. I am amazed because my experience of this area is that developing real skills in this area, the skills to do it right, can take years ... it's not just coding with some HTML, XML and JavaScript but design and then marketing your business etc. etc. While on that journey, take into account knowledge erosion, which happens when you are not writing code everyday of the week given your day job etc. so you forget stuff easily ..... suddenly you are months of tedious working and reworking just to learn the basic skills required to attract potential business. Even then you have to convince potential clients that it is worth doing where they just want to rock up to Squarespace or Wix and away they go......

Why am I on this topic? Because I have a niche content idea and I am trying to decide should I embrace the development side and then the content or just sub-contract out the website and be done with it. Why should I learn the coding side? Is it worth all the pain and time if I am not going to develop for clients? But I could well be back here in 12 months time with another idea and again I have to fork out cash for development work? Time is not cheap!

I am interested in your experiences, thanks.

F.

 

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[Val Okafor]

I was a bit thrown off by your opening paragraph, however, it appears you are wondering whether you should learn how to develop a website for a Content Website or whether you should outsource?

If that is your question then I would be wondering aloud why was WordPress hidden from you. It's even called a Content Management System. Based on your question I would suggest that you have no business learning "coding". I was in IT for 8 years, I even had a BSc degree to go along with that and a fancy title of System Admin. When I switched to development, there was little in my IT experience that prepped me for the challenges of Software development.

Your question could not be whether to learn to build a website or not, rather your question should be whether you have a business or not, and to answer that question you need to validate your niche content idea, and WordPress is way more than sufficient to do it, and when you are ready to hire a $120, 000 a year full-stack developer, then we can have a conversation of how you can save on that cost.

For now, get started in validating your business idea, write content not code.

Good luck!

 

[alexkuzmov]

I have a niche content idea

What kind of content exactly?

 

[fearo]

Hi Val,

Thanks for that. All fair points.

I think it started as an attempt to provoke discussion and morphed into an old-world career guidance question, which this forum is not about.

I went back to the idea that if I enter into a new role and get new experience doing that job it will make this entrepreneur process easier. I suppose it's another place to hide for a few more years rather than actually acting on ideas.

I actaully need to create the content (that would be helpful) before I worry whether it's WordPress or not but thanks for the direction.

Cheers.

F

 

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[fearo]

What kind of content exactly?

Hi Alex,

Content is on how to setup and run a particular type of business (ironically). Today all information is freely available but getting straight answers from all the different sources, particularly across Governmental level, can take many weeks if not months and can be overwhelming. This is a one-stop shop (paid content) that contains everything you need to get up and running within days. Market is small though so traffic will be minimal but looking to increase value add by developing content (not blogging) and services to already established businesses in this sector too.

Thanks,

F

 

[Ninjakid]

I have to disagree with most of what you say.

If your business is based on IT, it doesn't make sense to not even understand how your own product/service works. Every successful tech entrepreneur understands enough of their product that they can work on it themselves if need be.

"But Steve Jobs couldn't code and he created Apple!"

Actually he could, he just wasn't nearly as good at it as Wozniak. Wozniak, who's considered one of the techies of all time, really built the initial computers. Jobs knew enough about computers to have a vision for his product, but if he wasn't best friends and partners with Wozniak, there would be no Apple. Also, Woz was willing to do the actual grunt work, while Steve came up with the ideas and took all credit for the product. It was a strangely effective partnership.

I have been around IT and applications for many years so I am often amazed when someone says 'I sat down, learn to code and now I develop websites'. I am amazed because my experience of this area is that developing real skills in this area, the skills to do it right, can take years ...

Actually it can be done, and many people do it. It's also easier to do now than ever before, and there's an incredible abundance of FREE resources to learn from

I have been around IT and applications for many years so I am often amazed when someone says 'I sat down, learn to code and now I develop websites'. I am amazed because my experience of this area is that developing real skills in this area, the skills to do it right, can take years ... it's not just coding with some HTML, XML and JavaScript but design and then marketing your business etc. etc. While on that journey, take into account knowledge erosion, which happens when you are not writing code everyday of the week given your day job etc. so you forget stuff easily

If you're looking to master coding, then yes it will take years. If you're looking to get it good enough to where you have a working product, you can do it in less than a year if you're willing to put in the work.

given your day job etc. so you forget stuff easily ..... suddenly you are months of tedious working and reworking just to learn the basic skills required to attract potential business.

Anything worth doing takes effort man. That also means excluding other things. So yeah, you'll probably be giving up leisure time to learn coding (which can be very, very hard) but that's ultimately the price you pay

 

[alexkuzmov]

Hi Alex,

Content is on how to setup and run a particular type of business (ironically). Today all information is freely available but getting straight answers from all the different sources, particularly across Governmental level, can take many weeks if not months and can be overwhelming. This is a one-stop shop (paid content) that contains everything you need to get up and running within days. Market is small though so traffic will be minimal but looking to increase value add by developing content (not blogging) and services to already established businesses in this sector too.

Thanks,

F

People will expect you to have a successful "partiuclar" type of business before you teach them about it.
Do you have one?

 

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[SeanLewis]

if you want to build a site with free content and a members area with exclusive content you could do that on wordpress without coding. Youtube/google is your friend.

if you want to build software then yes, you either hire or learn it yourself. But ask yourself, is building complicated features really the first step?

 

[fearo]

Hi Ninjakid,

I understand where you are coming from but I have to go with Val here.

I am from a tech background in the infrastructure design space so concern on knowledge of functionality or product is not a concern.

The issue is the cost, in terms of time, it would take to learn to code and, even more importantly, keep the skill up.

My effort should be focused on core value which is content. Then sub-contract ant website work I can't hack in myself.

Even though I like the idea of coding I know it's not my core deliverable here and could cost me a lot of time when I could just buy it (The skill) for a tiny fraction of the price to learn it. Sure my idea maybe junk anyway so fail fast is best!

Thanks for feedback though. Good food for thought.

F

People will expect you to have a successful "partiuclar" type of business before you teach them about it.
Do you have one?

Hi Alex,

Yeah, new legislation was introduced a couple of years ago and we were the first in the country to open up under the new regulations. We have watched a lot of our competitors go out of business as they struggle to comply. Our business however has been profitable from year 1. We don't intend expanding it though as it simply will not scale; it's old-school. So we have the t-shirt and the scars.

F

 

[fearo]

But ask yourself, is building complicated features really the first step?

Hi Sean,

Yeah, makes sense alright. Create MVP and see what the traffic is like before investing further.

I like to learn new things but learning to code is simply too expensive in terms of time here when I have more important jobs to get done.

If my initiative goes badly I bury it and move on. If it goes well I hire to get jobs done and focus on adding new value. Either way learning to code for this scenario simply isn't a viable investment of my time.

In fact unless you are developing multiple sites for different ideas or your business model is actually creating sites for others then it's difficult to see how you justify the cost in terms of time to learn from scratch.

F

 

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[Thinh]

10-year experience developer here.
Just one advice: don’t learn to code unless it’s really a necessity.

Which, in 2020, is rarely the case.
Have you ever heard of the no-code movement? These days you can pretty much create any kind of website or app without writing a single line of code.

I even stopped coding unless there’s NO other way.
Feel free to have a look at “makerpad” and Bubble.io on Google.

 

[Tourmaline]

so you forget stuff easily ..... suddenly you are months of tedious working and reworking just to learn the basic skills required to attract potential business

Isn't it fun when you forget how you made the changes you now need to further alter? Especially when using ruby?

And by fun, I mean a time consuming waste.

 

[Devampre]

If it's an idea you have. Test the market before writing a single line of code. Don't make the thing. If it's content based, consider adapting the content for an existing platform and make sure that it responds well with users of that platform.

As for development (or production/grunt work of any sort) you need to find a balance that works for you. Doing all the work yourself is okay, delegating 99% of it is also okay. But, you cannot really know what will work for you until you try that out. (I'm still trying to figure this balance out myself.)

You can test your idea with an inexpensive landing page + social media advertising or by making an account on any platform(s) that makes sense for your content (video content = youtube, written articles=medium, music/audio=soundcloud, etc. google for more than just the one's I've mentioned.)

 

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[wouldntitbenice]

I second a lot of the replies here, but I want to add how valuable it is to be just a novice coder, simply because it allows you to better explain what you want from the expert coder you're hiring. It can also help minimize being taken advantage of.

 

[QPE]

Feel free to have a look at “makerpad” and Bubble.io on Google.

Thanks ! I knew there was a no-code movement but did not really know about Bubble. I had a look and will try to learn more about it because it looks really powerful.