New to design: at what point can I start my business?

Business
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I’m new to web design but pretty tech sauvy. I currently work for a large healthcare software company and I’m taking courses in conjunction with a state university for a CS certificate. As I’ve been reading about what those entering into the CS job market should know, HTML/CSS seem a first tier topic to learn. And as I started learning more about HTML/CSS/JS and some of the back end languages, I started realizing I could try my hand at website design for some local businesses who might need a basic site.

So my question in general is, when could I actually start designing websites for money?

I plan on learning HTML/CSS to be able to build from the ground up and to make adjustments to templates available from Wordpress, for instance. I was thinking that a basic website is all many businesses need to get started. For example, a local foreign car repair shop likely needs their contact info, directions, a list of services, a contact form, and a gallery or two to give them some initial web presence.

But as I looked into the business side of web design, I started wondering if anyone would pay for something that simple, since you could design it quickly with some of the template sites. Web hosting seemed a good way to earn some cash each month in case the business owner didn’t want to deal with the website hosting and maintenance.

So would something at this level be okay to start a web design business? Or would I have to learn some back end database language(s) to be able to provide a more robust and interactive website?

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I plan on learning HTML/CSS to be able to build from the ground up and to make adjustments to templates available from Wordpress, for instance. I was thinking that a basic website is all many businesses need to get started

You’re right about many businesses only needing a basic site. The problem is that you won’t be able to filter your enquiries. When you start to advertise your services, you’ll get enquiries from all sorts of customers, with many different requirements. Some will need a simple site, along the lines you suggest. Others will ask you to tweak an existing site. And you’ll get some who want something more sophisticated than you can do with Wordpress.

For that reason, you will need to go quite a long way with HTML and CSS before you start out. Plus, you should add Javascript to the mix. You might not need to be completely fluent in all three of those languages from day 1, but you will need more than just the basics.

I started wondering if anyone would pay for something that simple, since you could design it quickly with some of the template sites.

No. It might well be easy for a non-tech person to do their own site with templates, but most small business owners wouldn’t have a clue how to start (most have never heard of Wordpress, for example). And most would not have the time. So don’t worry about that.

Web hosting seemed a good way to earn some cash each month in case the business owner didn’t want to deal with the website hosting and maintenance.

You won’t earn much cash from small-scale hosting. The market is too competitive, and the rates are too low. However, it’s a good thing to offer, because your customers will need it, and you don’t want to send them to a separate hosting company, who might then try to sell their own design services to the customer.

The easiest way to provide hosting is to become a reseller for an existing hosting company. Your earnings will be pretty low, but it will be a lot less hassle (and less capital-intensive) than running the servers yourself.

The above doesn’t answer all your questions, but I hope it will be of some help. Good luck with the venture.

Mike