Question

Hazlett Nursery is a family-operated seed business that has grown rapidly. Hazlett Nursery specializes in supplying home gardeners with the finest seeds and gardening supplies. Until now, the firm has done all its business by placing ads in gardening and health magazines, and taking orders using a toll-free telephone number.

Now, the family has decided to establish a Web site and sell online, but there is some disagreement about the best way to proceed. Some say it would be better to develop the site on their own, and Jane Smith, a recent computer science graduate, believes she can handle the task. Others, including Sam Smith, Jane’s grandfather, feel it would be better to outsource the site and focus on the business itself. Suppose the family asked for your opinion. What would you say? What additional questions would you ask?

Identify and describe the pros and cons of both in-house and out-sourcing of Web site design.

Address the posed information asked by the family and provide information on packaged solution and e-commerce service providers.

Answer 1

The primary goal of the business is to sell seeds and gardening supplies. So, the primary goal of the website would be to increase business i.e. increase sales via online selling.

My Opinion:

The answer for In-house or outsourcing website design depends upon various factors like cost of outsourcing, time for completion, skills, availability of the latest tools and technology, etc. If the cost of outsourcing is small, it is better to outsource the website design by leading web designers. Since Jane is a recent college graduate without any prior experience, quality might be compromised.

Secondary Goal of the website:
I would ask the family an additional question on the secondary goal of the website which could be the deciding factor for in-house vs outsourcing web design.

Question: If your visitors aren't ready to buy right now, as intake you up on your primary offer/action, what would you like them to do instead? For example, providing gardening newsletter subscriptions, gardening eBook download option, gardening best practices, Brand promotion or brand building, Facebook like, Twitter like, etc. can be secondary goals in this case.

Deciding Factor:
Along with the primary goals, if Jane would be able to handle the secondary goals for the website design, the inhouse option could be very cost-efficient.

In-house web design – Pros and Cons

• Pros –
  a) Jane being a family member understands the business as well as can have frequent face to face discussions with the family members to discuss progress, requirements, feedback, etc.
  b) Jane can control the pace of the project and each aspect of the product.
  
• Cons –
  a) Web design by fresher has a risk of compromising quality due to limited skills, technology, and resources. The project may not reach the market faster.
  b) Risk of timely delivery as there would be no contract/agreement signed between the Smith family and Jane on project deadlines.
  c) Risk of skill, technology, and resources
  

Web design Outsourcing – Pros and Cons

• Pros –
  
  a) Packaged e-commerce solutions can deliver outstanding web design, content writing. Companies specializing in search engine optimization can help websites with higher rankings and organic traffic.
  b) There is no risk of skill.
  c) Low risk of timely product delivery
  
• Cons – Communication cost, requirement changes in between project can cost extra, costly as compared to in-house solution by Jane, etc.

Conclusion: As the Hazlett Nursery business is doing good, the family may not have budget issues. It is good to outsource web design to stay competitive in the world of the e-commerce business.