Initial Project Proposal
The idea of the project is to open a web studio that will provide customers with the highest possible range of high-quality web development services, following global standards and the principles of corporate ethics. Entrepreneurship ‘Daisy’ will provide services in Internet marketing, with web development and promotion of customer websites through the Internet. The main emphasis will be placed on developing corporate websites, promoting, and automating customer business processes. The studio will practice an individual approach to each client, and create unique, exclusive developments, which will be its hallmark. The volume of demand is approximately equal to the proposals. The project is designed for nine-month; at the end of this period, the company’s activities can be extended, provided that the goals and objectives are achieved.
The goal of the ‘Daisy’ is to achieve the highest quality in the area of Internet technologies, to provide customers with a high-tech product that meets modern requirements. Also, the purpose is to create a convenient, accessible service for the maintenance and further content of the site. Additionally, the company needs to attract investment in project development. A professional web studio sets some objects for itself; such as developing and creating web projects (sites, online stores, portals, intranet/extranet systems). It also includes further promotion, website improvement (search engine optimization, online advertising, SEO copywriting). Professional design, programming, and support of sites (particularly technical, informational, content support, and monitoring) are also important. Moreover, the creation of some multimedia products (specifically, presentations, videos) and domain certification are valuable. Web-studio completely practices knowledge and background in the area of Internet technologies, programming languages, psychology, copywriting, graphic editors for the successful solution of responsibilities.
Business clients are the most obvious stakeholders because they will purchase the services offered by the web studio. The key buyers of services of the web studio can be considerable companies that want to receive a quality website and its service. Furthermore, sites are needed by corporations and individuals, such as pop stars and private entrepreneurs. Creating a website also requires the aid of software vendors. These stakeholders deliver website management software as a content management system (CMS) (Heagney, 2016). They also produce components that provide certain functionality, such as modules or plug-ins. Software providers can positively or negatively impact the project. For example, if they are incapable of providing the necessary software promptly, this can affect the cost of the project and ultimately the success of the web studio ‘Daisy’. Other stakeholders in creating web projects are design experts. Their experience is essential for websites that operate as online stores and handle sales.
The proposed management structure of the web studio is linear, as demonstrated in the table. It is explained by the fact that the linear management structure is focused on small businesses engaged in one type of work. Management is based on the principle of one person, where the director of the web studio receives information and is fully responsible for it and for the results of his subordinates. Employees of the web studio will be recruited on the sites of various Internet resources, whose profile is directly related to remote work on the Internet. As payment for individual labor, the coordinator will receive a profit from the company’s activities (Heagney, 2016). Workers on a contract basis receive the amount agreed with the manager and specified in the contract of work for each job. Assignment and supervision of all work will be carried out by the director, who is the sole owner of the entire company.
Revised Project Proposal
The project’s primary purpose consists of creating a web studio ‘Daisy’; the scope of its activity will be providing Internet – services to business corporations and individuals. The project will be implemented within ten-month and will be managed by the director. The studio is engaged in designing sites, their support (administration, technical support, monitoring, filling the content), and promotion (market analysis, optimization for search engines). The sites created in the web studio can be divided into three types: site-card, online store, and thematic portal. Site-card is the most straightforward version of the site. On its pages, the basic information about the company will be placed. In particular: the description of the company, types of activities, examples of work, contacts, and additional information.
Internet-shop will be a site that serves to sell products of customers. It has quite a few sections, among which necessarily will be: a product catalog, a description of the company’s activities, the categories of products, delivery terms, contacts, customer response. Using the online store, the customer can order the product he wants directly from the interface. The thematic portal is the most complex version of the website. It provides all the information on a particular subject and allows users to discuss a particular material through a forum or chat. The clients of thematic portals will be prominent manufacturers in the industry.
The purpose of the web studio is to create high-quality Internet products that promote the development of buyers and partners’ businesses. It includes the implementation of operational Internet services for the requirements of large and medium businesses. The goal is still to produce a convenient and affordable service for maintenance and further site filling. The new aims of the company are to increase profits by 20% by the end of 2021 compared to 2020. Moreover, by the beginning of 2021, to improve the extent of the customer base twice. Furthermore, an important goal is the creation of full-cycle sites and establish itself in the market as a studio engaged in the development of complex sites.
A new objective for the ‘Daisy’ web studio is to improve the quality of services provided. This can be achieved by optimizing and modernizing processes in the company. Thus, it is valuable to continue working on designing web offers (sites, online stores, portals, intranet/extranet systems). At the same time, the assignment remains to increase the support service’s capabilities, respond immediately, and correct mistakes in the work of customer sites. Another essential task for a web studio is to expand the scope of services to attract new buyers. As a result, the innovative objectives will assist ‘Daisy’ in becoming more competitive.
The first stage of the project life cycle is initiation. The project has not yet been confirmed at this step, and the team should review it in general terms and assess the prospect. First of all, the company needs to understand whether it is worth do it. For this, it is crucial to identify factors such as the project’s business plan—benefits from its implementation, and the primary services of a web studio.
The following action is project planning, where the firm needs to discuss a specific business plan to implement the project. At this stage, it is essential to learn the risks and assess the competitiveness of the project. Furthermore, with this, valuable for the firm to set tasks that employees will perform. In addition, the main participants need to be identified. This is a structure of HR, graphic designers, and website development teams in the web studio. Another essential point is budget planning; the result of this is a finished project plan, which must be presented to all interested parties.
Realizations are the third step in the standard project life cycle. Before starting it, the firm needs to hold a productive meeting to launch the project, where parties can discuss the goals and the plan for achieving them. Moreover, at this stage, it may be necessary to change the business plan through inaccurate calculations (Orgut, et al., 2020). Additionally, it is essential to monitor the performance of employees of their functions and ask the team to share their views on the project’s progress. At this stage, it is possible to conduct a thorough assessment of progress. It is important to build a hierarchical structure of work, which reflects the phased implementation of a special methodology in the activities of the organization. For better understanding, a high-level timeline is provided.
Figure 2. A high-level timeline
In order to provide quality services, a web studio must hire staff and pay a salary. For work, the company also needs an office with repairs. Premises for rent (including payment for utilities and room cleaning), office supplies, furniture, etc., equipment. The proposed budget is $ 280 600 for 10 months.
Figure 3. Budget for wages to employees
Figure 4. Costs of non-staffing resources
Project Execution, Control, and Closure Proposal
The aim of the project is to open an innovative web design studio ‘Daisy’. It should be implemented within a year, provides a linear management model and includes financial calculations and solutions to possible risks. The studio’s main activity is to create sites, provide their support (management, technical assistance, monitoring, filling the content), and promote (market examination, optimization for search engines). The company will look for non-standard solutions at every stage of the project. This contributes to the creation of unique products with their own distinctive features and characteristics. It will follow market trends and keep pace with the times, expanding the boundaries of its activities, creating new directions, and improving the existing set of services. The sites designed in the web studio can be classified into three types: site-card, online store, and thematic portal (Müller, et al., 2017). The main goal is the creation of high-quality Internet products that contribute to the development of the business of customers, as well as the implementation of prompt Internet services for the needs of large and medium-sized businesses.
As with any business, website development has some challenges. More detailed risk factors and their degree of impact on project profitability need to be analyzed. The first challenge concerns money turnover. The chief risk for web studios ‘Daisy’ activities is a modest amount of money turnover. Therefore, a wide range of preventive measures should be taken. For example, to develop advertising, set the prices for services not higher than at competitors, and offer only high-quality services (Müller, et al., 2017). In this way, it will be probable to make a stable profit to cover all costs. Further, after the company has regular customers, it will be rational to increase the payment of services to obtain higher earnings.
The second danger is force majeure, if the client abandons the project at any stage, it leads to a waste of time and money for web studios. In order to avoid such situations, a detailed agreement should be formed with all the rights and obligations of the parties. At the same time, partial prepayment reduces the risk of losing income. It is also worth mentioning the potential changes in legislation. If web studio will not observe the renewed law, the company risks being in a complicated situation due to illegal activities (Müller, et al., 2017). The answer to this challenge is hiring a lawyer or entering into a contract with a law firm to do business. In this way, it will be reasonable to predict changes and adjust the projects of the web studio according to them.
Figure 5. Management of challenges
In order to open a web studio, it will be effective to use the project cost management method because it will be possible to measure and monitor the implementation of plans. Earnings management techniques will assist businesses in meeting these challenges. The system combines the analysis of the entire volume of work on the project with the product plan and the cost of its implementation (Moradi, et al., 2017). Recognition of the possibility of comparing the initial calculations and the actual charges for opening a web studio, it will be reasonable to control the indicators of the project and assess the real state of affairs.
The project will use such EVM indicators as Cost Performance Index (CPI), Earned Value, and Planned Vale. The first metric can be used to determine what objects have already been done for the money spent. CPI helps to understand whether the project stayed within the budget or exceeded it (Heagney, 2016). It relates the physically accomplished work, expressed in its estimated value, to the actual costs incurred to accomplish the task. Budgets can be arranged with various monetary values, hours, results – anything that can be measured. The key is to establish whether everything is going according to plan. Previous achievements can be used to accurately determine the requirements for the final performance to meet financial goals.
Another metric used in a project is the earned value (EV); it represents the income the project earns as work is done and milestones are reached. There are several ways to make income in business. In the context of a web studio, the best way would be to generate revenue when managers estimate the percentage of completion for the entire project. Such calculations are often made every month and are usually based on progress to date and how much work endures being done. Planned value (PV) is also the baseline that helps tracking project performance in EVM, representing the value the project is expected to bring over its life (Moradi, et al., 2017). PV represents the revenue expected to be generated after completing all goals, added to the total fee or budget.
After the completion of all stages of preparations, at the consideration of the customer, work can be performed on the initial filling of all sections of the site. Such as articles, detailed pages, and cards of the catalog of goods or services, news and others. It can also publish on the hosting and create a unique domain name. Moreover, an important point will be training employees in site management and transferring the web studio to the trial period of the work.
References
Heagney, J. (2016). Fundamentals of project management. Amacom.
Moradi, N., Mousavi, S. M., & Vahdani, B. (2017). An earned value model with risk analysis for project management under uncertain conditions. Journal of Intelligent & Fuzzy Systems, 32(1), 97-113.
Müller, R., Drouin, N., & Sankaran, S. (2019). Modeling organizational project management. Project Management Journal, 50(4), 499-513.
Orgut, R. E., Batouli, M., Zhu, J., Mostafavi, A., & Jaselskis, E. J. (2020). Critical factors for improving reliability of project control metrics throughout project life cycle. Journal of Management in Engineering, 36(1), 1-13.