Website Planning – Why you should always Disclose your Budget

One of the most common mistakes people make when shopping for website redesign is approaching it as if a website is a fixed price commodity.

In many ways, purchasing a car can be easier than purchasing a website.  A car rate can be worked out by referring to market surveys – there is no market survey for building website.  A website is not a product, it is a time commitment.  Your budget is important in setting your expectations for your website in terms of its functionality and capabilities.

Here are few points in favour of disclosing the budget when shopping around for quotes.

Disclosing your website redesign budget will help your design consultant put together a package that fits your needs within the budget you have.  A custom website can have all the bells and whistles, but you might not even need them.  Being open and upfront allows your consultant to work with your budget and customise a plan for your website redesign.

Some agencies will only accept projects of a certain size.  You may either have a much lower budget or your website needs might be fairly basic.  You would be saving yourself time by disclosing your budget rather than waiting on a quote which is far higher than your expectations.

By not disclosing your website redesign budget you may lose out on the opportunity to work with a great company. Many professional website redesign companies may not take you seriously if you are too scared or unwilling to disclose your budget. They may view you as someone who is going to waste their time.

Make sure you do your homework.  After a while you will have an idea on what you can expect with your budget.  If someone is promising to deliver much more than the rest, then make sure they understand the full extent of what you are asking for.  Make sure there are no hidden costs.