Shawn DeWolfe: Building Websites and Fixing WordPress Problems

I have 25 years of web design experience. I started Shawn DeWolfe Consulting in 2016. We build websites and fix WordPress problems.

Tell us about yourself?

I started in computers in the 1980s. I was doing a mix of writing, game design and programming. In the 1990s, the Web felt like an accessible set of technologies, so I dived back in and have been build websites and web applications since 1996.

If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?

Stick to your strengths. Build plugins and themes for sale. Don’t buy apps.

What problem does your business solve?

Problems in WordPress plugins and themes. Problems in web design. Problems in web marketing strategy.

What is the inspiration behind your business?

I want to help make the Web an easier place for everyone to use. When I look at a problem, I will look at the return-on-investment and ask if I can provide a value higher than the cost to implement.

What is your magic sauce?

I understand the field and the technologies. I also understand what doesn’t get great adoption and what really works. I work to share that expertise with clients.

What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?

In 2020, we started up Web321: a service dedicated to WordPress website management. Lots of businesses and organization get a website going and then it falls out of order: little glitches, additions, updates, etc.. Our spin-off company takes care of all that for our clients.

In the next five years, we want to scale what we’re doing. We have worked hard to build a scalable system. We almost at the break-even point now and look to continue to build on our work ethic and what we have in place to serve customers.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

COVID changed the game. I used to be happy running in-person seminars, networking and meeting with clients. People have flipped from in-person to remote by default. We have adapted too: sending advice via custom made Loom videos; running Zoom sessions; and sharing more about our process and the value of our services.

How do people get involved/buy into your vision?

We want to talk with small-to-medium businesses: consulting firms; counsellors; medical practices; environmental organizations; and tourism businesses. We have a great track record of working in those fields, so we have expertise that can inform a business that wants to achieve great things online.