Today, it is extremely difficult to stay competitive in the marketplace without an online presence. Let’s disregard the corner store in the small town that has been doing business for 50+ years and knows all their customers by name, and focus on those that are striving to grow their customer base state-wide, country-wide, or globally. Let’s also disregard the company who has built a completely proprietary technical infrastructure and relies on very focused technicians to support and maintain that infrastructure. This article will focus on the vast majority of websites that deal with information and e-commerce meant for the mainstream. The word “developer” is used to represent a single web developer, or a web development firm.

Tip #1 : Remove ambiguity.
I believe this is the most important of the tips, so let’s cover it first. The #1 killer of a web development project is unmet expectations. Period. Unmet expectations can be in the area of budget, timeline, or deliverables. For example, something was said in passing or on the phone that was not explicitly defined in the project scope. When this item is left out, the developer may be blamed for leaving out a key element. If the item is included, the developer may spend more of the project resources to create / debug / execute on an item that wasn’t a necessity. Be sure that all project requirements are clearly defined in writing, and that proper time is spent before the project begins, to define how the final product should operate. This burden is on both parties, and there absolutely must be a meeting of the minds before a project begins. This will ensure any ambiguity is cleared up, and both parties have a clear understanding of what is being delivered, when it is being delivered, and how much hit will cost.

Tip #2 : It isn’t too late.
Have you ever heard the adage that “two wrongs don’t make a right”? What about “two bad decisions do not make a good decision”? Well, this is all too often what happens when a project goes wrong during development. Problems may include issues with the budget, scope creep, personality conflicts, ambiguity leading to unmet expectations, and unfortunately the list goes on. The painful thought of “throwing all that money away” will keep one in a bad business deal, and loss of money / resources / market influence will ensue. So, how do you fix it? It is so hard sometimes to change course even when we know that our current strategy isn’t working. We sometimes become comfortable with the fact that the problems are not completely ours, and that even if it does go bad in the end, we can blame someone else; or we will try to “think positively” and hope that everything will just work out alright in the end, without our intervention. I heard it said once that people (in this case entire businesses) most often do not make a change for the better until the pain of the change becomes less than the pain of the current situation. The bottom line is that in most projects, it is never too late to reassess the original plan, and make the necessary adjustments to make the project a success. Of course time, money, and quality are the big three factors that will cause one to keep moving forward, or cut their losses. A paradigm shift from focusing on the problems, to focusing on what needs to be done to remedy the problems, is most often the prescription to get things back on track and moving in an upward direction. When this shift is made, projects that seem doomed can come back to life.

Tip #3 : You get when you pay for.
A couple of years ago, I started to retreat when I heard these words from a prospect : “I could figure this out myself”, or “I have a brother-in-law that is going to do it for free”. This relayed to me that the prospect did not believe they were getting from me the value they want or need for their money. When you are building a house, do you sit in meetings with the contractors and tell them which saw to use? What about where to use 3 inch screws, and where to use 4 inch screws? No. You hire the builder, and trust the builder to do their job. It would be equally as laughable if you hired a builder, then never gave them any direction on how many bedrooms or bathrooms you want. Be involved in the web development process, but be sure your involvement is efficient, and necessary. If you do not understand certain aspects of a project, it is the job of the developer to educate you, even if at a basic level, on the process. It is your job to educate the developer of how many “bedrooms” you want. When there is a clear understanding of what is being delivered, and the level of effort and cost for the deliverables, budget and timelines move from being a mystery to being the base of a well executed and successful project.