My name is Bill. I run a small corner cafe in a busy neighborhood. For years, people told me I needed a proper website. Not just an Instagram page, but a real site with a menu, opening hours, online reviews and maybe even online orders.
At first I ignored it. I was making coffee from six in the morning, closing late, and the last thing I wanted was to sit at a laptop at night and learn about web design.
Then one day a regular customer said: "I tried to show your cafe to a friend and could not find you on Google." That sentence stayed with me the whole day. On the same night I decided that I would finally build a website myself.
A small business website looks simple from the outside, but there is a lot going on behind the scenes.
The Easy Parts That Made Me Think I Could Do It Alone
Like most people, I searched for "best website builder for small business" and ended up on a comparison page that explained the differences between Wix, WordPress and other platforms. From there I clicked into Wix because it promised an easy drag and drop editor.
I chose a template that looked close to a cafe style, changed the name to my own cafe, added a few photos from my phone and updated the menu text. Within two evenings, I had something that looked like a real site. On the laptop it even looked pretty good.
It felt great at first. No code, no designers, no invoices. Just me, a template and some patience. I thought to myself: "Maybe everyone is overcomplicating this. Maybe I really can do it alone."
Where The DIY Plan Started To Fall Apart
Problem 1: Mobile View That Looked Broken
The first time I checked the site on my phone, I understood I had a problem. The hero image covered half the screen, the text was too small, the menu button opened in a strange way and the contact section was pushed to the very bottom. Customers do not sit at home with a big monitor to look for a nearby cafe. They search on their phones while walking down the street.
I tried to fix the mobile view myself, but every change created another issue. If I moved the logo, the header shifted. If I changed the font size, some lines broke in the wrong place. I spent hours on details that a professional would probably solve in minutes.
Problem 2: Wix Or WordPress, And Why It Even Matters
After a week with Wix, a friend told me: "Real websites are built with WordPress." That sent me to a second round of research. Suddenly I was reading about themes, plugins, hosting, backups and security. I tried a basic WordPress setup, only to discover that I now had two half finished websites and still no proper online home for my cafe.
Problem 3: Time Taken From The Business
The real issue was not the tools. It was my time. I found myself closing the cafe, cleaning, finishing the day, and then spending three more hours on page layouts and booking buttons. I was tired, frustrated, and my family barely saw me in the evenings.
Problem 4: Online Orders And Integrations
I wanted customers to order coffee and pastries ahead of time and just pick them up. That meant connecting some kind of ordering system, payment, maybe even a delivery option. Every guide I read said it was "simple", but in practice it meant forms, apps, fees and a lot of settings I did not fully understand.
The Night I Decided To Hire Someone
One evening I was staring at the screen, trying to decide between two fonts for my menu page, while a stack of invoices sat next to my keyboard. I realized I had spent more than 20 hours on the site already and still did not feel comfortable publishing it.
I did a quick calculation. If I took those same 20 hours and used them to:
- Train my staff to upsell better.
- Improve my coffee bean supplier deal.
- Plan a small event for regular customers.
The value to the business would easily be higher than the cost of hiring someone to build a basic, professional website for me.
That was the moment I decided to stop. I closed the browser, wrote down what I wanted the website to do, and started looking for a simple, affordable web design service that works with small businesses.
What I Asked The Professional To Do
When I finally spoke with a web designer, I did not talk about colors or fancy animations. I talked about goals.
- Make it easy for customers to see the menu and prices.
- Show clear opening hours and address with a map link.
- Add a simple way to order ahead or at least call quickly.
- Make sure the site looks clean and fast on mobile first.
- Help me show up correctly on Google with basic SEO.
The designer chose the right tools for me. We ended up using a builder that made sense for my situation, not just what someone said was "the best". The site was ready in a few weeks, and this time I did not feel stressed.
Want the same kind of clarity for your website?
Contact me and get a simple website planHow The New Website Changed The Cafe
A few weeks after launch, I noticed small but important changes.
- More people said they found us on Google Maps or from the website.
- We received fewer phone calls asking basic questions like "Are you open" or "Do you have vegan options".
- New customers arrived saying the site looked "clean" and "trustworthy".
- I stopped worrying about breaking something every time I touched the editor.
The website did not magically double my sales, but it removed friction. It made it easy for people to decide to come in, and it saved me time every week.
When It Makes Sense To Hire Someone
If you like playing with design tools and have time, building your own site can be a good experience. But if you run a real world business, here are some signs you should consider hiring help instead of staying in DIY mode forever.
- You already spent more than 10 to 15 hours and still do not feel ready to go live.
- Your site looks different on every screen and you do not know how to fix it.
- You are nervous every time someone opens your site on their phone.
- You know your time is better used on customers, staff or products than fonts and padding.
In those cases, paying for a basic, clean, mobile friendly site is not a luxury. It is a business decision.
Have a specific question about your website?
Contact me for 1:1 helpWe can help if you're tired of trying to build your own website with website builders.
What I Would Tell Any Small Business Owner
You do not have to choose between "do everything yourself" and "pay a big agency". There is a middle path: learn the basics, understand what a good website needs, and then let someone who does this every day turn it into a real asset for your business.
If you are a beginner and you are not sure where to start, use guides like the ones on NoviceSite to understand the tools, then decide if your time is better spent building or delegating.
For my cafe, hiring someone was the right move. It freed my evenings, reduced my stress and gave my business a more professional online home than I could create alone.
Final Thoughts
Website builders like Wix and WordPress are powerful tools. They can absolutely work for small businesses. The real question is not if they are good enough, but whether doing everything yourself is the best use of your limited time and energy.
If you are a small business owner deciding between DIY and hiring help, learn from my experience. Try things, but be honest with yourself about how much time you are spending and what your business really needs from a website.
A clean, simple, professional site that works on every device is often worth more than one more long night trying to fix it alone.