Hi

If your site is currently up and running, you need someone who can figure out how it works. If it's not up and running, you need someone who can figure out how it's supposed to work, and put it all together and get it up and running.

Then you need to sit down with that person and describe what it is you want to change. They can then either show you how to make the changes yourself, or they can make them for you. The complexity of implementing your changes will dictate which of the above is the best approach.

The complexity will, in turn, depend on a number of things, but there are two main ones
- how well designed your website programming (as distinct from how well designed it is aesthetically) is
- whether your changes are examples of types of changes the original programming was designed to accommodate

The above requires time and expertise. From what you've already said, it doesn't sound as if you have the expertise yourself, so you are going to need to get someone to work with you.

You need a budget for this.

Pay enough, and you should be able to get someone with lots of experience, who can get your site running the way you want it to, and give you the power to maintain it the way you need to in the future, while giving your customers an excellent experience.

Pay a little, and you are likely to get someone with less experience who will do lower-quality work, using string and paperclips to get an approximation of what you want, but done in the fastest, cheapest way rather than in the way that serves the best interests of your business for the future.

Which approach have you taken so far? Has it served you well?

I think that a couple hundred dollars could get you out of your current problem. If your business can't support that investment in your website, then you need to ask yourself three questions
1 - is your business really likely to succeed?
2 - is your website really crucial to your business?
3 - are the changes you require to your website really crucial right now?

Check your answers below.

1Y, 2Y, 3Y - Belly up and pay the money to get the job done right

1Y, 2Y, 3N - Launch your business and your website, and make the changes when priorities and cashflow allow

1Y, 2N, 3Y - You may need to rethink. If the website isn't crucial, then the changes aren't crucial right now. See 1Y, 2N, 3N below

1Y, 2N, 3N - Launch your business without the website. Launch the updated website when priorities and cashflow allow. Don't just go with what you have, you may ruin your image and/or reputation.

1N, 2Y, 3Y - You acknowledge that your business is a gamble, the website is crucial and the changes are required immediately. You should only invest the money if you can afford to lose the whole investment, and you think that the return will be worth it if it pays off. How much would you pay for a lotto ticket?

1N, 2Y, 3N - OK, so the business is a gamble and the website is critical, but you can hold off on the changes. Great, delay them. Limit your exposure. You can always reinvest in the changes if the business starts to pay off.

1N, 2N, 3Y - You may need to rethink. If the website isn't crucial, then the changes aren't crucial right now. See 1N, 2N, 3N below

1N, 2N, 3N - The business is a gamble and the website isn't critical. Forget the website for now. Don't go with a halfass job. Limit your exposure. You can always reinvest in the website if the business starts to pay off.


I hope this advice helps.

Jack

PS None of the above is meant in any way to minimise the value of the offer of help already received. It may well be that the person who has already offered to help can and will do exactly what you need, will set you up to be in complete control of your site changes going forward, and will do all of this for free. If so, you are enormously lucky. In the vast majority of cases, you won't get what you don't pay for.