How much is a site to build? ... And what's so expensive?

Just now an interesting ICQ conversation happened - about the “adequate” cost of web development.

The man asked about the cost of developing a single site, which we recently passed. It should be noted here that this project was quite complex, we had to create software modules from scratch. Without going into the details of the dialogue, the difference in the budget proposed by me [1] and the expected “customer” [2] was large. There are 8 times higher than [1] over [2].

And here I really wanted to know: from what considerations did the customer set the price, which absolutely does not reflect the real value of this work? It is difficult for an ordinary client who came to the office to explain exactly how the price is formed, but in this case, the person simply got what they called :).
')
From the conversation, I learned that the “customer” formed its budget on the basis of a price survey of various freelancers and other dark personalities that he chose not to talk about. At the same time, he knew who he was referring to at the moment - I represent a web development company officially registered in Latvia for almost 3 years since its foundation. And I not only do not hide this fact, but I also focus on it in order to weed out the strange personalities who are constantly looking for freebies in TyrNet.

In short, I think that if a person contacts me through personal mail or ICQ about developing a website, he expects a serious approach to business and the right solution to his problem in a clear time frame, and I, in turn, have the right to count on appropriate budgets.

Relevant? What is appropriate? This question is easy to answer - the corresponding complexity of solving the client's problem. Corresponding to the forces invested in this project. In the end, at least the cost of working hours of professionals - a well-coordinated team of at least 3 people, multiplied by the total number of hours. And usually the development of an average site is carried out within 2-3 months.

I sometimes analyzed why quite often the clients' expectations are high, and the budget they allocate is very low. The described case is one of many similar ones. And came to the following conclusions:

1. The area of ​​my activity (web development) is quite young, many potential clients are simply not ready to pay the appropriate money for good work.
   By the way, I often observe a situation that often a client first needs to suffer from a site that Vasya’s friend or a hungry student has made for him for a couple of evenings in order to understand what to pay for.
2. The lowest threshold for entry into this business.
   I myself began with the fact that together with my partner I proudly called myself a studio and tried to work from home. On the one hand, this, of course, is a plus, because You can start with almost nothing as seed capital. However, the majority never seeks to overstep this minimum, for example, considering this activity as an additional source of income or considering the current situation more convenient for various reasons (opening a company and renting an office, accounting and taxes and many other related difficulties). As a result, this very majority is a negative force that pulls prices back, lower and lower, competing with each other in price.
3. Weak or even virtually no ability of IT specialists to sell their knowledge and time.
   This is another problem that is unlikely to be solved once. In many ways, it is connected, in my opinion, with psychological reasons: many people working in the IT field, especially programmers, have no idea about marketing and the ability to negotiate. As a result, this leads to the fact that they take up work that is paid extremely low.
4. The lack of a clear understanding on the part of the client, for which he requires a presence on the Internet, in other words, why he wants to make a website.
   Often, the customer does not see a direct connection between the website and his business, although it is not too difficult to name these links: increasing the possibilities for informing its potential customers about services and products, attracting additional customers through search engines, serving current customers and other points, . the same marketing in its different manifestations.

Summing up, I think that nevertheless our work has a bright future, and the client will gradually develop an understanding of the importance and a serious approach to IT in general and to web development in particular.

PS: Thanks to the good people absolvo and maxxarts , who suggested that it is better to publish all the text right on Habré and indicate your source: suhinin.com/2008/03/02/che-tak-dorogo