God I hate to do this but....
 

Hey,

I got an email from a guy that owns a car dealership in San Diego, CA that wants me to build a website for him. He said he is willing to pay up to $20,000 for this project.

My problem is other than making really nice graphical designs and having a pretty good understanding of html, I can't do much more (i.e. I can make a kick ass basic site, but that's about it). Something like this is going to require a pretty good understanding of database applications so they would be able to update their inventory themselves and a whole bunch of other things I can't do. So I get to email him back and tell him I can't help him out and throw away up to $20,000. This really sucks!

If anybody that would be willing to do this and has the knowledge to set something like this up let me know ASAP and I will hook you up (maybe you can send me a small finders fee once the guy pays you). Not sure if this is for real, but I have no reason to believe that it is not.

FLow

Take the money and outsource the project.....fuck the finders fee....if it's less than the 20 grand for the project, give him change...

Sounds like you made a score. :glugglug

Hire people to do what you can't. Delegate.

Right here. webmaster AT invizibletouch DOT com

That's us. All day long! :thumbsup

20,000 for a webpage hmmmmmm

Yeah, one that I can't cash in on damn it!

^^^ What they said.

Don't let that sale slip away. Fuck that. Close the deal do the front end yourself and outsource the back end.

Nice deal.. congrats.

That is what I was thinking about doing too. Or maybe buying some type of software program that I can run in the background of the main website.

I don't know what the project entails....but 20 grand goes a long way to building a custom data base or whatever back end he needs....

Take the money and outsource the parts of the project you don't feel capable of doing.

It's legal. It's honourable. It's called business.....I'm sure you know capable programmers and whomever else you need...

Flow

I'll do it, contact me if you want
ICQ in the sig
and of course you'd get a finders fee :)

are u friggin nuts? tell the client you are eminently capable of doing this job and are raring to go. get them to write out a detailed list of features. you say you know graphics and html, u can do that part .......... if u want ........ next step is to hit Elance or Scriptlance and put the project up for bids.

the world spins on an axis of bullshit my friend. reel that sucker in tomorrow, don't let the opportunity pass you by. hell there are programmers and designers right here on GFY who can put that together for less than $2500 - u pocket the $17,500!

I would normally agree on delegating but when you are dealing with mainstream, you'd better da*n well be able to deliver! and that means on time and to proper specifications ... you must also consider upkeep. If you have not designed the sight, and don't know how to do maintenance on the databases ... well you can see where I'm going here.

if you outsource - at least ONLY deal with people you KNOW can be trusted to do whats needed for specific prices at specific times.


and believe me when I say alot of people will CLAIM to be able to program something like this cave on you, so be careful :)

Flow, contact me on ICQ, I know a guy that can do this AND you take a cut, he takes a cut and the guy gets his website...... This guy has done those kinds of sites and is good at them, he doesn't do adult though, anymore. :thumbsup

I have been looking around on Yahoo! and I have found about 30 different companies that offer this type of software to add to a custom website. I build an online classifieds website not too long ago using software that I bought online and it works great. I guess I have some major research to do tomorrow on which one is the best to use.

Thanks for all the help on this guys - good thing I decided to post my problem and get some good guidance (what the fuck was I thinking - LOL).

I kinda feel bad charging the guy a bunch of money for it though - but I doubt I will lose much sleep on it - LOL


Flow

http://pixelranger.com/
This is the guy, his name is Shane.... contact him and tell him Tam sent you over...... he's awesome and will work something with you on this project I am sure where you both come out smelling like a rose. ;)

We'll do the graphics for you for $10k

finder's fee? *shakes head*

jesus.. you're the "client manager" & "creative director"!

Everyone's already said what needs to be said here.

It's not just a webpage. Also adult industry people are so used to paying romanians $200 for sites they forget most mainstream companies have to use real professionals to do their work, not college kids designing for beer money.

www.nelix.com We build custom database applications all the time. If you want to discuss specs, I could get you a quote on completing the backend of the project. Check us out and contact me if interested.

Get the project requirements, build out a functional spec and post it on Elance.com

You can hire some really good programmers in India for $15 an hour.

I have a great team of programmers/html guys you can hire if your interested. hit me up on icq

But the first step is get the project requirements in WRITING before you commit to the project. Once you have the requirements you can take the next step

I used to be a Program Manager for a top 10 Portal, if you need help drop me a line. I built out 90% of the wireless carriers WAP applications for their cell phones...

Was the guy's name sean or greg per chance? I had a similar offer, with a similar price from a guy in SD that I know. He's sort of a fleet sales guy, knows folks at clearwater radio, etc. (??)

Pay special attention to getting a clear spec and a contract from the client. Get enough money up front to cover most, if not all your costs. Make damn sure you sub work out only to people you have faith in and make it totally clear to them what is required.

It is rare for someone to spend this kind of money without, perfectly reasonably, wanting a good job done and if you screw it up, they might make your life very miserable. But if you are confident you can manage the project, go for it.

That has pretty much been said already. I'm adding this post because I have some experience of where this kind of opportunity can lead.

About 30 years ago, my grandfather died and left me some money. I was training as a chartered accountant and the job bored me to tears. So as soon as I qualified, I quit, played around with a couple of other things for a while, but finally spent all my grandfather's money on a Rolls Royce. I started hiring myself and the car out and just a couple of months later, I got a call from Lockheed Aircraft. Someone there had taken my business card, didn't realize I was a one-man/one-car operation, and wanted to know if I could provide the transport for Lockheed's staff and guests at a major air show.

Long story short, I took a deep breath, said yes and made about 40,000 sterling profit on the job: a nice piece of change in 1974. I used that money to buy a cab company and 5 years later I had turned it into one of the biggest cab/limo/courier businesses in London. When I sold that business in '79, annual sales were over 3 million sterling. And it all started by taking a chance like the one you have now...