You know you need a website, but every time you sit down to start, it stops you cold. You don’t have a logo. You’ve never thought about brand colours. You can’t name a single site you’d want yours to look like, and you’re not even sure what you’re supposed to “send over” to get going. So you close the tab and tell yourself you’ll sort it out another day.
That day keeps not arriving. And the longer it doesn’t, the bigger the job feels. Here’s the thing we want you to hear before anything else: the part stopping you isn’t the website. It’s the homework you think you have to do first. That homework doesn’t exist.
Quick answer. You don’t need a logo, branding, or example websites you like to start your first site. None of that has to exist before you talk to us. What we actually need is short — who you are, what you do, who your customers are, and how people reach you — and it can be rough notes or a quick chat. We handle the rest, and you’ll see a real draft of your own site before committing to anything.
You don’t need any of that ready to begin
When a first website stalls, it’s almost never because the business owner can’t make decisions. It’s because they think they need a finished kit before they’re allowed to begin: a logo, a colour scheme, a folder of polished content, and a shortlist of sites they admire. That’s a lot of unpaid design work to do before you’ve even spoken to anyone — so it’s no wonder it gets put off.
None of it needs to exist before you get in touch. We build for a lot of first-timers, so this is familiar ground for us, not the exception. Most people who come to us are starting from a blank page, working from word of mouth or a Facebook page, and feeling exactly the way you do right now. That’s the normal starting point, not a problem to apologise for.
We build remotely for small businesses, sole traders, startups and charities right across the UK — the whole process runs over a call and email, so where you are makes no difference. What follows is the short list of what we actually need, and then everything we take off your plate.
The few small things we actually need from you
Here’s the entire list. It’s deliberately small.
- Who you are and what you do. A sentence or two is plenty. “I’m a joiner doing kitchens and fitted wardrobes” is enough to start.
- Who your customers are. Homeowners? Other businesses? People in a particular area? A rough sense is fine.
- The pages you think you need. Even a rough list is fine — home, about, services, contact. We’ll shape it with you.
- How people get in touch. A phone number, an email, and the area you cover.
That’s it. Not a brief. Not a document. A few notes, a voice memo, or simply answers you give us out loud on a call are all fine. Nothing needs writing up neatly, and nothing needs to be final.
The reason it feels lighter than you expect is that we lead with the questions. You’re not producing a brief and handing it over — we’re having a conversation, and we ask the things that matter so you don’t have to know in advance what they are. And if you don’t have an answer yet — say you haven’t settled on your exact list of services — that’s completely normal. We work it out together as we go.
What about a logo and branding?
This is the one that stops people most, so let’s be direct about it: you do not need a logo to start, and you do not need one to launch.
In the meantime, we set your business up to look intentional from day one. That means a clean, simple wordmark of your business name — your name, set in tidy typography, in a sensible colour. It’s not a placeholder that looks unfinished; it’s a deliberate, smart-looking treatment that does the job a logo would do until you have one.
And branding can grow later. We build the site so that when you’re ready for a proper logo — next month, next year, whenever it makes sense — it drops straight in. No rebuild, no starting over. You don’t need brand guidelines, you don’t need a colour palette worked out, and you certainly don’t need to learn any design language to get a site you’re proud of. That’s our job, not yours.
”But I can’t think of a single site I like”
Most first-timers can’t, and that is genuinely fine. Being able to reel off websites you admire is a designer’s habit, not a customer’s — there’s no reason you’d have been collecting them.
So let’s swap the question. Instead of sending us links, just tell us what you want a visitor to do when they land on your site:
- Call you?
- Book an appointment or request a quote?
- Find your prices?
- See examples of your work?
Answer that, and we have what we need to design around it. We bring the references and show you options, so you’re reacting to something concrete rather than conjuring a vision out of nothing.
This is exactly why we offer a free mockup. It’s the antidote to the blank page: instead of being asked to imagine your site, you get to see a real draft of it — your business, your words, a proper layout — before you commit to anything. It’s far easier to say “I like this, but make that bigger” than to describe a website from scratch in your head.
What happens after you get in touch
The unknown is a big part of what makes this feel daunting, so here’s the whole process laid out plainly:
- A short, friendly call. No pressure, no sales script. We ask the questions; you answer in your own words.
- We go away and build a first draft. We write the first-draft wording from your notes, source or arrange photos, and set everything up. You don’t hand us finished content — we draft it and you correct it.
- You review, we adjust. You tell us what’s right and what’s not, and we refine it.
- We launch. For a standard brochure site, this typically takes around seven days from when you sign off on the final content.
The point worth repeating is that we do the heavy lifting. The blank page, the wording, the photos, the technical setup — that’s on us. You bring the knowledge of your own business; we turn it into a site.
What it costs, kept simple
First, the part that matters most when you’re not sure you’re ready: starting costs nothing. A call or a mockup is free, with no obligation either way. You only decide anything once you’ve seen something real.
When you do go ahead, we keep the pricing clear and we keep it split, so you always know what’s a one-off and what’s ongoing:
- The build is £600 as a one-off. That’s a launch price; it’s normally £800.
- Managed hosting is £20 a month, billed separately. It covers hosting, content updates, business email, daily backups and security monitoring.
And because cost shouldn’t be the thing that blocks you:
- We can split the build into stages rather than asking for it all at once.
- There’s no contract and no lock-in on the hosting. It’s just the £20 a month to keep the site live and looked after, and you can stop any time.
As a comparison figure — and only as a comparison — that’s £840 across the first year: the £600 build plus twelve months of £20 hosting. The hosting is never folded into the build; they’re two separate things. £20 a month covers everything most first sites need, and if you ever grow into a busier site there are higher hosting tiers you can move up to later.
For the fuller pricing picture, we’ve laid it all out in what a website actually costs, and you can see exactly what the £20/month covers on the managed hosting page.
A real first-timer example
If you want proof this works for a small trade business much like yours, look at the KAP Joinery case study. Paul came to us as a one-man joinery business — no big setup, no agency, no website at all. We built him a clean, custom site on the launch build, and he ended up with something he’s genuinely proud to point customers to. The point is that an ordinary small business with an ordinary starting point gets a site that doesn’t look ordinary at all.
The next step is smaller than you think
So, one last time, because it’s the thing that’s been holding you back: you need an idea of your business and a willingness to have a short chat. That’s the whole entry fee.
From there, you’ve got two easy, no-pressure options:
- A free, no-obligation call — book one through our contact page and we’ll ask the questions.
- A free mockup of your own site — start it on the getting started page and see a real draft before deciding anything.
Not sure a website is even urgent yet? If people are already searching online for what you do, a simple, well-built site usually starts paying its way fairly quickly — but the honest answer depends on your situation, and our website vs Facebook page piece helps you weigh it up. A free mockup costs you nothing to find out either way.
Bring what you’ve got — even if it’s just an idea jotted on your phone — and we’ll take it from there.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a logo before you can build my website?
No. You don't need a logo to start and you don't need one to launch. In the meantime we set up a clean wordmark of your business name with a sensible colour and tidy typography, so the site looks intentional from day one. When you're ready for a proper logo later, it drops straight in with no rebuild.
What do I actually need to send you to get started?
Far less than most people expect. Roughly: who you are and what you do, who your customers are, the pages you think you need, and how people get in touch. A few notes, a voice memo, or just telling us on a call are all fine. Nothing needs writing up neatly, and we lead with the questions so you're never staring at a blank page.
I can't think of any websites I like. Is that a problem?
Not at all, and it's completely normal for a first website. Instead of sending us links, just tell us what you want a visitor to do, such as call you, book, see your prices, or look at your work. We bring the references and show you options, and your free mockup gives you a real draft of your own site to react to rather than starting from scratch.
How much does a first website cost, and is it split up?
Yes, it's always split into two separate things. The build is £600 as a one-off (a launch price; normally £800). Managed hosting is £20 a month, billed separately, and covers hosting, content updates, business email, daily backups and security monitoring. As a comparison figure that works out to £840 across the first year (£600 build plus twelve months of £20 hosting). We can split the build into stages rather than asking for it all at once, and there's no contract or lock-in on hosting.
Do you only work with businesses near you?
No. We're Glasgow-based but we build remotely for small businesses, sole traders, startups and charities right across the UK. The whole process works over a call and email, so where you are makes no difference to how we work together.
What happens after I get in touch?
It's low pressure and we do the heavy lifting. We start with a short, friendly call where we ask the questions, then go away and build a first draft from your notes, including first-draft wording and sorting out photos. You review it, we adjust, and then we launch — brochure sites typically take around seven days from final content sign-off. You can begin with a free call or a free mockup of your own site.