When not to “Do It Yourself”

There’s a website I found a couple months ago… contractortalk.com - it’s a forum for construction contractors to talk about … construction. Sort of a hang-out to trade ideas and also just BS. The following is taken from a posting I put there tonight, and thought it might be good to share for other “business people” in general.

Ok. I’m going to start this out by warning everyone I’m being hypocritical here.

As contractors, most of you are in business because you are doing a job that the “average joe” either doesn’t want to… or just can’t do themselves. In many cases it is very much the latter… and I’m sure more than a few of you get a fair amount of business fixing things after a home owner tries to do it themselves first.  I’ve seen discussions  that come just short of ripping into folks that try to do stuff they’re not experienced doing.

So I have to ask this…

Why do so many contractors feel it’s just fine for them to do their own website?

Yea, there are tools that make it easy to produce a site… but I have a compound miter saw and finish nailer… and while it’s easier than using a backsaw/miter box and hammer/nail, it doesn’t mean I would tackle trimming out an entire house.

Every day, aren’t “you” (in the generic sense… I’m not pointing fingers at anyone specific here) making decisions based on what you feel you can and cannot do when it comes to your business, based on your skill-set. Look at building a home addition… there are few guys out there that can do the entire job, from footings and foundation, through framing, electrical, hvack, siding and roofing that can do the entire project without bringing in qualified outside help, right?

So why not bring in that qualified, outside help, when it comes to your website?

Sure, your framer may be able to hang that sheetrock, and maybe in a pinch can tape and mud, but what if they don’t do it that much… they’re either going to delay you in trying to get it right, or they won’t get it right and it effects the final outcome of the entire project and how it looks. And how that addition ends up looking is a reflection on you and your business.

Shouldn’t you look at your website in the same way? What you put on that site is a reflection of you and your business.

So the hypocritical part… yea, I do the website for our company. But I was a web guy before a construction guy. It’s by doing websites that I ended up in Construction, and I’ve kept up my “web skills” over the years on a number of my own side projects… so in this case, and in the case of some of the sites I’ve seen done by others here, I think I am qualified.

But I know my limitations… I’m bringing in some outside help to write some code for our site, that if it turns out will bring some ease of use to our site… just as I know I would need to hire a taper to finish my walls.

Ok, I’ve rambled quite a bit… and I hope nobody takes this personally, this is just one thing that has… vexed me over the last few months I’ve been visiting this site… seeing guys that have no trouble hiring someone to get something done on a jobsite that are tackling something that, in this day and age, can be such a HUGE part of your company image… am I the only one confused by this?