The teenage web designer building a business (and an office)

NIneteen-year-old Oliver Chestney from near Dereham in Norfolk left a 9-5 logistics job last month, to start web design business ‘by oliver’, full-time. Here, Oliver explains why

Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Oliver Chestney, a web designer from Norfolk with a qualification in Software Development. I run byoliver, a web design business that builds and looks after professional websites for businesses across the UK, from small local businesses all the way up to established companies looking to grow their online presence.

When did you start doing web design – and why?

I started making websites for fun when I was about 15 years old. I would build random projects and websites just because I enjoyed it, and I started noticing how many local businesses either had no website at all or had something really outdated that wasn’t doing them justice.

I did some research into what web designers were charging locally and quickly realised most businesses couldn’t justify dropping £1,500 to £3,000 on a website upfront, and even if they did, they would then face another expense to keep it maintained and ranking on Google month after month.

So, I built byoliver around a different model entirely. Instead of a large upfront cost, I charge a monthly retainer with no upfront fee. The quality of the website is exactly the same as what you would get from a designer charging thousands, the only difference is how you pay for it. It spreads the cost and means someone is actively working on the site every single month, making sure it is bringing in customers and staying visible on Google.

What led you to setting up on your own with ByOliver?

I had been running byoliver alongside college, where I was studying software development, and then alongside a 9-5 job after that. I was working on byoliver in the mornings and evenings around my job, and it got to the point where the workload was so significant that I was consistently staying up really late to meet deadlines.

On the 1st of June this year I made the decision to leave my job and go full time on byoliver, which is a big leap, but I’m committed to the service I provide so I feel this leap was 100% necessary.

Do you work from home, or do you have an office?

I am currently converting the upstairs of my garage into a dedicated office space, which is a project I am really excited about. I am in the process of running networking cables and getting my full desk setup moved in there, so I have a proper designated workspace separate from the house. It is very much a work in progress, but it will be a proper office.

What web design services do you offer? How it important to you to work with local businesses?

From £79 a month with no upfront cost, I build websites completely from scratch and then look after them every single month. That includes keeping the site secure, making sure it is ranking well in Google search results through ongoing SEO work, and making sure it is actively bringing in customers. If a business already has a website that needs updating or redesigning, I can do that for the same price. Copywriting is also included, so if you are not sure what to write on your website, that is handled too. I also offer SEO as a standalone service from £59 a month for businesses that already have a website but want to improve their visibility in search results.

Working with local businesses genuinely means a lot to me. I walk past businesses in my town every day that I know are working incredibly hard but don’t get the recognition they deserve. Every local business deserves to be found.

But that passion extends beyond Norfolk too. Whether a business is down the road from me or on the other side of the country, I care about the same thing, making sure their website actually works for them.

What drives me most is the idea that the size of a business should not determine how professional it looks online. A sole trader or a small local business deserves the same quality of web presence as a company ten times their size. Some of my clients want to grow to a big company and use their website to do that. Others are happy where they are and just want their site to represent them properly. Either is absolutely fine. The websites I build are designed to serve both.

I’ve built several new websites, including one for a car detailer, and another for a grounds maintenance and garden machinery maintenance company, meaning byoliver is now working with customers across multiple industries including grounds maintenance, martial arts, car detailing, property management, building contractors and more!

Would you say that age is no barrier to starting a business? What would your message be to others thinking of taking the leap and doing the same?

I would say it depends on the type of business, but broadly speaking, age matters far less than people think. I made my first website for a business when I was 16. As long as you are genuinely good at what you do and you provide real value, most people will look past your age.

What I would say to anyone thinking about taking the leap is that it only takes one person to be genuinely happy with what you have done to start something. That first happy customer tells someone, who tells someone else, and that is where it all begins. Do not wait until you feel ready, because that feeling rarely comes. Just start.

Where can people find out more about what you do?

The best place to start is byoliver.co.uk where I publish a new blog post every weekday with genuinely useful advice for businesses looking to improve their online presence. The advice is there for everyone, not just byoliver clients, because I genuinely want to help businesses grow whether they work with me or not.

You can also find me on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/oliver-chestney-b3080235a) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61587007510864) where I post daily tips and insights.

Visit byoliver and follow on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Featured image of Oliver Chestney – supplied