Saving money is a good thing, at least it is most of the time. If you are in business, undoubtedly it is important to be frugal on some things, so that your business can grow and profit. If you are loose with your money, you may drain the business and be unable to sustain the business, especially during the start-up phase.
Making Money
I know about business, because I have many businesses, and over the years each of my businesses has taught me things that have given me valuable information and ability to prosper in business.
Sometimes you need to spend money
Notice, I said above that it is a good thing to save money most of the time. I did not say all of the time, no, I said MOST of the time. There are, in fact, times when spending more money is the wise thing to do. I am specifically talking about spending money on things that will, in the long run, make you money. Be careful about scrimping the pennies when it comes to promoting your business in the proper way. In that case, saving money could end up costing you a fortune!
My recent experience
Recently, a new hotel hired me to build a professional website for them. I was really happy to get the job, and excited to help this new venture get off the ground and become a profitable business! Working with these types of new businesses is something that I really enjoy, and something that I put a lot of effort into.
Oops.
Did I say they hired me? Well, that is what they told me… but about 2 days later, they canceled out on me. They said that their son, or some other relative, thought he could make a website for them, and save them a lot of money. Oh my… I the reaction in my mind was this would turn into a disaster. Getting a relative who “thinks” that he can do the website might save some money up front, but how much money would it cost the business in the long run?
Today I saw the website
Today, I happened to see the website that the “son” built. Wow. Some very elementary mistakes were made on the site, and honestly, it will cost the company thousands of dollars. In fact, one of the most very basic mistakes which was made will cause Google to be unable to index the site. What does that mean? Well, it means that Google will not be able to list the site so that it will be included in search results. If a person is planning to visit the city where this hotel is located, and they search for a hotel in which to stay, this new hotel will not show up in the results. I am not going to say exactly what the mistake was, because it is not my job to fix their site, and by laying it all out publicly, it will make it easy for them to know what to fix, and how. If they want to hire me to do the fix, I will gladly do so, as I would have done if they had followed through with the initial hiring.
Let’s say that they saved $300 or $400 by not having me do their site, or any other web professional, and instead hiring somebody who “thought he could do it”… the Google listing alone would have recouped that money in only a short time.
I am not trying to be petty
By posting this, I am not trying to be petty or pouting about not being hired to do the job. Just pointing out that a professional can help you make money, even if it costs a bit of money to start out. Saving money is not the most important thing to consider… the most important thing in business is making money. Somebody once said, and it is true, that you have to spend money to make money. In this case, hiring a profession who has the proper skills would have made a lot more money than going with the son.
I wish the new hotel the best of luck. Unfortunately, I think they will need it!