As a website development professional, I've dealt with quite a few entrepreneurs who are planning to build a website. Most of them are, naturally, clueless about how the process works and how much time and effort they will have to put into it. Most people who are not a part of IT feel that website design and development is fun, creative processes. But they cannot be farther from the truth.

While creativity and fun are a part of developing websites, hard work, logic and planning are more important. Are you an entrepreneur involved in the process of developing a website for your business? Here is a simple list of dos and don'ts that will make your life simpler.

Just do it!

1) Find out how long it will take. Maybe, you have hired a developer and he tells you that it would take fifteen days to develop your website. After fifteen days, only half of the work is done (because you were unable to provide information or resources to the developer!) and your schedule will go haywire! If you have hired a website development company, make them promise that they have the track record of delivering on time.

2) Know what you want. Research before you plunge into the process. Make a list of websites that you like, tell the developer why you like them. Also, know what you expect the website to do for you. Tell your web developers and designers what effect you want to create through your website.

3) Be prepared for arguments and repetition. Unless you are the only person in your organization, you will realize that there are many conflicts of opinion between your and other members of your company about how the website should look and function. Be ready to discuss issues and know that sometimes you won't be able to reach an agreement. Make one person responsible for the project and let her take the final decision.

Avoid at All Costs!

1) Don't try to rush through it. Many businessmen tend to start with a lot of jest, but lose interest after some time and want to just be done with it. If you research properly and get the right person for the job, such a situation will not arise. But, things may drag on and this can cause frustration, which in turn may hurt the effectiveness of your website.

2) Don't make assumptions, give all information clearly to the designers in black and white. For instance, if you are a publishing company and want all the content on the website to be perfect in terms of spelling, grammar and punctuation, you will need to give the text the developers. They will simple paste it. There are several places on a website (buttons, banners, navigation structure, etc.) where web developers simply fill out the information themselves. You'd have to give them clear instruction to ensure perfection.

3) Don't compromise on quality for cheap rates. Getting a good deal is never a bad idea, but remember that if you throw peanuts, you get monkeys. Find good designers and developers; they may charge more but will help you build a quality website. And you will save a lot of working hours - experienced professionals work faster with minimum reiterations.

To wrap it up

For entrepreneurs who want to enjoy the process of website development, it is important to invest time and effort. If you do not want to play a hands-on role in website development, the best plan is to hire professionals website developers who are good at what they do.