C Dev Web Design Featured in VoyageDenver: A Look at My Journey as a Small Business Owner
Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with Kimberly Chang from VoyageDenver to talk about my journey as a business owner and how C Dev Web Design came to be.
I don’t spend a lot of time talking about myself or the history behind C Dev. Most of my time is spent working on websites, helping clients solve problems, answering questions, and figuring out how to make their businesses work better online. So it was actually a nice change of pace to step back and talk about where I started, what I’ve learned along the way, and how C Dev has evolved over the years.
From Web Design to Building a Business
When I started C Dev, the web was a very different place. Websites were simpler, technology was changing quickly, and many small businesses were just beginning to realize how important having a presence online could be.
Over the years, I’ve watched that change dramatically.
I’ve worked with businesses through multiple generations of websites and technologies, from the early days of HTML and basic websites to WordPress, ecommerce platforms, mobile-responsive design, online marketing, and everything that comes with running a business on the internet today.
But one thing has remained pretty consistent: small business owners need someone they can trust.
That’s one of the things I’ve always tried to bring to C Dev.
Why I Still Enjoy Working With Small Businesses
One of the best parts of owning C Dev has been the relationships I’ve developed with clients.
A website isn’t just a website when you’re a small business owner. It’s often the first place a potential customer encounters your business. It can be where someone decides to contact you, make a purchase, schedule an appointment, or simply decide whether they trust you.
That’s why I don’t look at web design as simply making something that looks good.
I want to understand the business behind the website. What are you trying to accomplish? Who are your customers? What’s frustrating you about your current site? What could make things easier for you?
Sometimes the answer is a completely new website. Other times, it’s fixing what’s already there, improving the design, speeding things up, moving to a better platform, or helping a business figure out what it actually needs.
Building C Dev Over the Years
Running a small web design business for many years has also meant learning a lot of things that don’t necessarily have anything to do with designing a website.
I’ve worked with clients on ecommerce stores, hosting, domain names, migrations, email, SEO, online advertising, payment processing, integrations, and the countless little technical issues that come up when you’re running a business online.
I’ve also built a team of developers that I work with to handle larger and more technical projects. That allows C Dev to provide the resources of a larger agency while still maintaining the personal relationship that comes with working directly with the owner.
That’s something I think is particularly important for small businesses. You shouldn’t have to navigate layers of account managers and salespeople just to get an answer to a simple question.
Looking Back — and Looking Ahead
The VoyageDenver interview gave me a chance to think about the journey a little differently.
When you’re running a business day to day, it’s easy to concentrate on the next project, the next problem that needs to be solved, or the next client who needs help. You don’t always stop to think about how far you’ve come.
C Dev has been fortunate to work with a lot of great people and businesses over the years. Some clients have been with me for many years, and I’ve had the opportunity to build multiple websites for the same businesses as they’ve grown and changed.
Those relationships are one of the things I value most about what I do.
The technology will continue to change. Websites will continue to evolve. The way people search for businesses online will continue to change as well.
But I think the fundamentals will remain the same: listen to your clients, understand their business, be honest about what they actually need, and build something that helps them succeed.
That’s still what I’m trying to do with C Dev.
If you’d like to learn a little more about my background and the story behind C Dev Web Design, you can read the full interview with VoyageDenver here:
Read the full VoyageDenver interview with Brent Carey
And if you’re a small business owner looking for help with your website, ecommerce store, or online presence, I’d be happy to talk with you about what you’re trying to accomplish.