today I met someone who is starting to make websites for a living.
he does not know html, css or how to use photoshop. What he does is just outsource it to others for cheap and then sells the website to the client for double.
Im guessing the websites can't be that good looking. I mean it just doesn't feel right to me. Here I sit, working my brains off, to learn all these skills and this person is just outsourcing everything!?
I like what I do and I don't want to outsource anything, not until I am forced to, cause I have too many clients (if only)
Will my skills pay off? Or is he the smart one and Im the moron?
Does he tell the customer that he is outsourcing? Because if he don't then personally I would call him a sharlaton. I believe he will come up against a problem if one of his customers contact him saying that their is a problem with their site. He wont be able to offer a super quick turn around like the rest of us can and it will cost him more money for debugging problems with the site because he will have to outsource it again.
One thing to think about it that I build websites because I love doing it. I love creating something (Might not always be good but I like it). So as I see it if you enjoy building sites then no your not the moron at all and he is missing out in not knowing what really goes into building a site from scratch.
I would say there is nothing wrong running a business and outsourcing services provided the clients are aware of how the business is structured and therefore understands the risks involved and the contract between all parties is clear. Plenty of businesses act as intermediaries for providing other services, but it is unusual for them to do so without having core skills as some kind of provider themselves. If you decide to freelance, you will ultimately be a better position than he is, even if you need to outsource, as you will know how deliverables match up to what is being charged. He will be lost and will at some point be stung.
I would be very surprised if this person stays in business.
Technically, someone who builds a company and hires employees does relatively the same thing as he's obviously not paying his employees exactly the amount everything cost to design.
But I've spoken to enough business owners who've had work done by people like this to know that they are never ever spoken about positively (usually it's "thank God, because I hate those guys" types of comments).
I know a couple of guys who did this very thing - they setup a business in web marketing and accumulated clients without actually knowing how any of it works. They have experience in advertising but that's it. They can never deliver what the client is actually looking for beyond what I call a "starter site". Clients get frustrated and move on (to me in some cases :P).
So yeah, there are people who can make a living doing this kind of thing, but not many are actually successful.
At least 30% of the projects I undertake are rescues of "outsourced" web designs. Either they fail half way through the process and need to be rebooted from scratch or, in the latest one - it was built so badly it got hacked and they lost everything and I had to come in and get a new site sorted for my client.
Needless to say that they're now bad mouthing the previous company all around the place so it will eventually catch up with them.
As long as the freelancers have a contract in place, they're both meeting the client's needs and the person outsourcing is paying out then, who cares? He's employing other people.
I am outsourced to - but the guy who runs the gig knows his beans. I think I would be very concerned if I knew the person giving me the jobs didn't know what they were talking about as it could end up in promises being made and them being completely out of budget or reality.
But if he has a good team and he consults with them before going back to the client then I see no problem. Sales people are not always dev/designers as well - and sometimes it can be more profitable for everyone if your sales guy is pulling in the sites.
For double though? Not sure about that - if I was selling sites I would be taking 10% to 15% commission on each site and then filtering the rest down through the people who did the work, maybe putting some in a group pot for things like travel expenses...
I too work on some projects where I don't deal with the client directly. I have built a strong working relationship with a UX designer that contracts work out to me. As long as the 'middleman' knows what he/she is doing then I don't see it as an issue.
Keep at it shamai.
They say that knowledge is power and if he is faced with a situation that he doesn't the answer to, it could all blow up in his face. Or he could make a killing out of it. Who knows.
But if you concentrate on what you know and what you want to achieve, you will most likely end up in front!
he does not know html, css or how to use photoshop. What he does is just outsource it to others for cheap and then sells the website to the client for double.
Im guessing the websites can't be that good looking.
I mean it just doesn't feel right to me.
Here I sit, working my brains off, to learn all these skills and this person is just outsourcing everything!?
I like what I do and I don't want to outsource anything, not until I am forced to, cause I have too many clients (if only)
Will my skills pay off? Or is he the smart one and Im the moron?
One thing to think about it that I build websites because I love doing it. I love creating something (Might not always be good but I like it). So as I see it if you enjoy building sites then no your not the moron at all and he is missing out in not knowing what really goes into building a site from scratch.
Technically, someone who builds a company and hires employees does relatively the same thing as he's obviously not paying his employees exactly the amount everything cost to design.
But I've spoken to enough business owners who've had work done by people like this to know that they are never ever spoken about positively (usually it's "thank God, because I hate those guys" types of comments).
I know a couple of guys who did this very thing - they setup a business in web marketing and accumulated clients without actually knowing how any of it works. They have experience in advertising but that's it. They can never deliver what the client is actually looking for beyond what I call a "starter site". Clients get frustrated and move on (to me in some cases :P).
So yeah, there are people who can make a living doing this kind of thing, but not many are actually successful.
Needless to say that they're now bad mouthing the previous company all around the place so it will eventually catch up with them.
But if he has a good team and he consults with them before going back to the client then I see no problem. Sales people are not always dev/designers as well - and sometimes it can be more profitable for everyone if your sales guy is pulling in the sites.
For double though? Not sure about that - if I was selling sites I would be taking 10% to 15% commission on each site and then filtering the rest down through the people who did the work, maybe putting some in a group pot for things like travel expenses...
Keep at it shamai. They say that knowledge is power and if he is faced with a situation that he doesn't the answer to, it could all blow up in his face. Or he could make a killing out of it. Who knows. But if you concentrate on what you know and what you want to achieve, you will most likely end up in front!