Open Source Content Management

Almost all of the Start ups that I have assisted over the years have had the urge to spend a good deal of money on stuff like ; website development, accounting packages, marketing and advertising, office equipment, staff and the likes. Perhaps I have matured along the way and have seen the 'build it and they will come" mentality fail enough times to know that it is a falacy to bet your investment on this.
I do not want to debate this but.. I would like to say that I have created a home based office and have been able to set it up with a total of R2500. I am gratefull to say that it is proving to be a success and... i am happy to share what i have achied with you. My little website at www.pabx-south-africa.co.za has been going for a only a few months and is featured on Google 1st page ( try it ... serch for, hmmm lets say, 'small office telephone system south africa". You should come across Grace Telecom on the 1st or 2nd page !
I am getting quite a number of requests off this FREE website. So, if I can be of assistance, i will gladly share. "Freely you have received, freely give"
Britsy

Brits wrote:
You don't want to debate this, but you are posting it in a discussion forum. hmm

I firmly believe in paying for quality services and products and receiving quality results.

Wow, what a welcome from a moderator.
I appreciate your comment and will refrain from voicing my humble opinion. Clearly you have achieved and have your own methods firmly in place. I bow to you superior opinion.
allow me to gracefully leave it at that.
Britsy

This is a forum. Different users have different opinions.

If you don't want to discuss something then a forum may not be the best place to post it.

I'd suggest rather writing an article on "free start up resources". You can include links to all the freebies you know of. This is much less likely to spark a discussion.

I've just seen too many people wasting valuable time on freebies that don't do the job properly and therefore don't deliver results.

I'm with you Dylan. It really depends what value you put on your time.

There are definitely good free resources out there; the problem is they often take more time to understand or implement. I'm always happy to pay money for a service that saves me time.

On another note, perhaps there are certain systems one can use that are relatively simple to setup and maintain with minimal knowledge.

However, when it comes to publicity, perception is reality. I wouldn't risk putting an image out there (say, via a website or classifieds) that I wasn't a hundred percent happy with.

Your website, Grace Telekom, needs some serious reconsideration. The format is ugly, the styling doesn't seem to be compatible in Google Chrome and not a lot of thought seems to have gone into the image you're trying to project.

Also, keyword searches in Google are only as good as exactly that - very specific keywords. Personally, I'd want to keep a website that looks like that far away from the public until I'd given it more thought. This is just one justification for spending a little more time on resources you use.

The next challenging thing then is finding cost effective services. South Africa leverages some great prices for an online presence. What's more is there are many firms dedicated to different aspects of putting your business online (i.e web design, function development, styling, SEO etc...) so you spend as much as you want to spend on different stages of your growth.

It's just an idea.

Also, don't be offended by the moderator's post. It didn't really make sense to post in a discussion forum if you weren't keen on a debate. I for one think this is an excellent topic of discussion. In a country where our economy relies heavily on SMMEs for job creation and GDP output it's interesting to understand what deters new entrepreneurs.