Marcus Richards
Weblaunch takes the pain out of web design for small business by removing the up-front development fee. Instead we spread the cost of set-up over the lifetime of the website.
We believe this is fairer to our customers, who should not be bearing all the risk. It also guarantees our attention as, in order to keep our customers happy, we have to be responsive; there’s nothing to stop them going elsewhere.
And we’re not off chasing the next big pay cheque, leaving our previous customers as a low priority.
Tell us about yourself?
I was head of a multimedia department for an events company. When I set up my own business I quickly realised I needed to niche, rather than try to be all things to all people.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
Avoid the temptation of distraction! It’s very easy to be diverted by bright shiny things not central to your business. Keep it simple. Keep it lean
What problem does your business solve?
The age-old problem of the web designer / client relationship. Web designers charge up-front for their work.
This means clients don’t know what they’re getting until they’ve paid for it so they’re taking all the risk. Even once the website is complete it’s difficult for the average business owner to know if it’s any good.
Meanwhile, the web designer has to go find another client; after all, they’ve got overheads to pay. This means you’re no longer a priority, and this is the foundation of all grievances with web designers.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
We wanted to plug the gap between freebie / cheap build-your-own websites and bespoke web design. We wanted our solution to flexible and affordable. We wanted our customers to have office hours support. We wanted our customers to be able to update their own website if they wanted to.
We wanted to be able to offer a solution that takes all the stress out of creating a new website for your business for a low monthly fee.
What is your magic sauce?
We don’t charge up-front for development. There’s no lengthy contract. Just a rolling monthly agreement and effortless Direct Debit payments. So it’s simple; if we fail to keep you happy as a customer you are free to go elsewhere.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
Just to help more small businesses with their website. No world domination. Just keep doing what we do – really well.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
Every so often the internet goal-posts move. Like mobile-friendly websites, GDPR compliance etc. We have to re-engineer our system to keep all our customers compliant.
How do people get involved/buy into your vision?
Have a small business? Need a new website? Don’t want to pay someone several thousand pounds? Don’t want to do it yourself? Give us a call for a chat. We don’t sell, we invite you to buy.
