Over the last four years of developing software we have seen the industry move into a lot of different areas like outsourcing, open source, freeware and many other innovative fields that come along with the software industry.  From the outside it looks very inspirational and exciting but sometimes we do not see the dark and shady side that is also there.

There are many great companies and talented people putting out great web products and solutions that make it easy and exciting to try new concepts and ventures.  It seems like everybody these days is a “web guy” or “web expert” who is very optimistic that they can put together anything you need by piecing web products and solutions together to make it do whatever you want.  Many people are looking for that diamond in the rough “web guy” that will make it all happen for them for a fraction of the cost. Some tell you that you can get the software for free but is it all that it is cracked up to be?

From the entrepreneur standpoint, it is like a dream come true.  We can try an idea without many barriers (i.e. costs) and see if it works. But what happens when we find it is a good concept and we need to build a business around it?  This is where it gets somewhat difficult.

Although there are many very good standalone web products and solutions out there, they do not necessarily work well together.  At first, it might work ok for a time but when there is a problem there is usually no customer or technical support to fix the problems.

In most cases there will be a forum where you can post a question in the hopes that someone will help.  Actually, there was a time in our early years that we used a few products that were built by other programmers and we tried to use them in our system.  One did work for a bit and it did some of the functionality we needed but when we tried to customize it to fit the needs of our clients, it seemed almost impossible. And why did that happen? Because, programming software is somewhat of an art form and is done differently by every individual. So, the product may have great functionality but for another programmer to go in there and work on it, they will need to study how
it was built to be able to make changes to it.  The more sophisticated the functionality, the more difficult it is to learn, fix or customize the system.  On that last example, we finally got in touch with someone that could do what we needed done but they wanted to charge us more than it would have cost us to fix it ourselves.

Yes,  you can get a good shopping cart system from one provider, an email marketing solution from another provider, a pre-built social network from yet another provider but then you still need a host for your website and someone to put it all together and maintain it.  All this could drive an entrepreneur crazy over time, not to mention the high turnover rate of programmers and designers in the industry.  We have heard more horror stories of how some have gone with the one “web guy” that they felt was a genius, and then come to the realization and panic that there is no one there to fix your system because they did not actually build it. Meanwhile clients are getting very frustrated and going other places to do business. There is one question we would recommend you ask if you are evaluating “web guys”; have they built a system like the one you want built from SCRATCH?  This will quickly tell you their skill level and if they will be able to take care of you when problems happen.

We have coined a term for this as a “Frankenstein” or “Building a Frankenstein”.  This term come from the tale of the Monster of Frankenstein where the Doctor tried to piece together parts to build the perfect human and how it turned into a disaster.  This is what we have seen through some of our past clients’ experiences also.

Here at The Connection Center, we offer 24/7 full managed support for all our clients so they can do what they do best while we take care of everything else.  We offer a one-stop-shop for products and services to make your business flourish.  Our services include everything from basic to very high-end dynamic database-driven social network and ecommerce websites, as well as a full team for you to use for marketing (traditional and online), writing newsletter and content for blogs, and we will even answer the phone for you if need be.  We are here to serve you in any area of need.  Our goal is to leverage our global network and offer all products and services at better rates and higher quality than you can do it yourself.

If you are interested in building a business for the future and want a company that will be a great support system for you, contact TheConnection Center @ www.theconnectioncenter.com or 888-472-5828.