

Ask HN: Biz owners,would you entertain freelancer coming with improvements? - kshiraly

This is a question for small business (not necessarily online businesses - any kind of business) owners or anybody who knows such owners.<p>If an experienced (9+ years) software freelancer - who loves to build better software systems - approached you with an enthusiastic improvement proposal for your online business or online component of your business - which could improve your revenues - would you give them a hearing, or would you shoo them away? I'm just trying to get a feel for how the other side of the table thinks...<p>Now the background behind this question...
It has struck me often that the websites of many small or medium sized brick-and-mortar businesses could be improved drastically to bring them more revenue.<p>Now I'm not referring to something subjective like beautifying the front end design - that may or may not improve revenues. 
I'm talking about more concrete functionality behind the scenes - like better and more intelligent search, easier payment integration, customer analytics and so on (my skills are mostly in these areas, though I do have above average front end development skills).<p>As a concrete example, there was a news item recently about a brick-and-mortar book retailer in my city. The owner was ruing that their profits have been dipping because people prefer more convenient online retailers. I went to this brick-and-mortar retailer's site, and saw that their book search capabilities are pathetic. Even the simplest queries gave 0 results, though I know for a fact that they stock this book. In a way, their mediocre website is damaging their own business.<p>It got me thinking, why can't I approach this owner with a well thought out improvement proposal? 
In fact, why can't I make this my business - finding out less than optimal online business properties, and proactively approach their owners with improvement proposals?<p>I'm rather bored of passively getting work via freelancing sites, after 3 years of doing it. I became a freelancer to get exposure to different domains and technologies, but I've begun to feel freelancing sites are not the best option for this (though they have been <i>much</i> better than the salaried jobs I did for 6 years).<p>I'm a product builder at heart - I want to build products. I want software to improve peoples' lives and businesses. I have the necessary range of skills - both domain and technical - for this. The only question is, are many business owners looking for somebody like me? What do you think?
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cr1t1calh1t
What you're talking about is good old-fashioned business development and sales
prospecting - go for it.

Lots of small business and brick and mortar business owners do business online
as an afterthought, because their focus and expertise is on their product or
service.

As long as you put together a thorough proposal in which you've done your
homework to understand their business and their challenges, and pitch your
proposal in terms of their business goals and measurable results, I'm sure
most small business owners would give you the time of day.

You're on the right track - start in your city, call them on the phone to get
an appointment, and present your proposal in person.

~~~
kshiraly
You make a great point about framing the proposal in terms of their business
goals and measurable results. Very true - I'm prone to talking in tech
language rather than in the business language they'd understand. Got to avoid
that. Thanks a lot for the reply and the encouragement.

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DrorY
Hi kshiraly, what your referring to is a true pain for me, both as a developer
and a user. I've been working on a simple web app that helps bridge this gap.
I'd be very happy to hear your opinion. Is there any email address you're
reachable through?

~~~
kshiraly
Hi. It's kshiralyk at gmail dot com

