Web development patterns and workflow

Minimizing Expenses

There are literally hundreds of web apps, online tools, and open source downloads that can assist you in time management, invoicing, document templates, process mapping, and all sorts of tasks that occur throughout the design and development process as well as overall finances. Pick a few of these, but not all of them, and work them into your business model.

Pen and paper, or sporadic spreadsheets and documents, can only take you so far before they begin wasting your time rather than saving it. I find web tools particularly useful for time tracking, project management, invoicing, and streamlining communications.

Maximizing Profit

Our income as web designers is relatively straight forward we get paid for a web project according to a price predetermined in project planning and client interaction. However, it’s a good practice to develop a more detailed invoice than just the overall project cost.

Common lines on your invoice can include administrative time spent documenting and organizing the project, overhead for managing contractors or project management, materials such as stock photography/fonts and any special software requirements, and conference calls, travel, and meetings.

Avoiding Pitfalls

There are certainly some financial risks when it comes to freelancing that can leave you out in the cold. Some of these practices have helped keep me from getting burned, or have come about from experiencing some unfortunate situations in the past!

• Fixed quotes from subcontractors
This is something that I almost always demand, especially concerning a large project. Allowing sub-contractors to charge by the hour opens you up to serious risk, even if the individual in question is a trusted friend or associate. If he or she underestimates the tasks, unfortunately, that’s their problem, not yours. After all, you’re trying to run a business.

Financing and Maximizing Profit

Finance? Isn’t that word belong to accountants? Don’t we web designers? As we were working as web designer, without financing part, designers unable to work. With maximizing the profit, it also covers web designer parts as well.

Especially when working as an individual rather than as part of a team, many freelancers get caught up in focusing on the web sites that they create rather than the necessary practices surrounding each project. These practices can aid in a number of ways, such as stress-relieving organization, more efficient time management, a better understanding of costs and pricing, and ultimately how your freelance work fits into your overall annual income.

Risk and Liability Management

Whole seminars, courses, and consulting firms exist on the sole topic of risk and liability management at all corporate levels. From a definitional standpoint, risk management is the identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks.

The concept is that simple every-day practices can be employed to manage your level of risk and to decrease the probability of a damaging scenario occurring. The web design industry is no different in this regard, and I’d encourage you to ponder what risks you face and how you can manage them.