Month: April 2025

Why is it that branded fast food outlets and coffee franchises predominate in the High Street, while the independents battle it out in the back streets.

They are over-priced, over-sold,  over-rated and generally dreadfully dull. How do they get away with it?

Marketing they say. Branding they say.

Gobbeldy gook and jargon I have never managed to grasp.  There has to be a simple explanation. Why do we lamely accept that we need have to pay more for less?

Why should the best be so hard to find? Why should we have to compromise? For convenience and familiarity?

Knowing what I think I know, this time I am doing it a bit differently.

I am going part-time. Firstly as something to do with the time I have. An interest, a hobby. Something I can do at my own pace without compromising on the bits that I believe are important.

People are complicated

Anyone can build a web site. Anyone and everyone has access to the tools that are freely available on the net, with which one can start opening doors to what the net has to offer.

But it is a learning curve.  Something that can get expensive if you start by pressing the wrong buttons.

The rules are simple. Keep it simple. Keep it flexible. Make sure you have the room you need to move about in. Don’t allow yourself to get locked in to the extent where you become dependent on developers, designers and marketing consultants.

Not to forget your hosting company.

Learn how to register a domain and open a hosting account. Make sure you can pack up your site and move it to a different server, if you have to. Take responsibility for the investment you are making in what you start.

This is a bit like growing coffee. It takes time and experience.