All small business owners wear lots of hats—salesperson, bookkeeper, inventory manager, customer service rep. Another hat that many try to squeeze on: website developer.
The “nights-n-weekends” myth rests on the belief that, somewhere between long workdays and life’s other demands, you’ll find the time (and energy) to learn how to plan, design, build, launch, and maintain a professional business website.
Let’s set aside the expertise that actually goes into doing that well (we covered that in The “It’s So Easy” Myth). This article is about time. Specifically, the myth that amidst your 10, 12, or 14-hour work days, you’ll be ready to roll up your sleeves and build your site—on nights and weekends.
Where the Myth Comes From
You are, of course, a smart and capable person. You’ve built a business, developed a great product or service, and learned to wear every hat from bookkeeper to salesperson. So why not one more? Why shouldn’t you build your own website and save a few thousand dollars to boot?
That’s exactly the question platforms like Wix, Squarespace, and GoDaddy are counting on you to ask. Their marketing is designed to make you feel like building your website is just one more smart way to cut costs—an easy, empowering task that anyone can do with a few clicks and an hour to spare.
And their marketing works. Not because you’re naive, but because you’re practical. You’ve solved every other problem thrown at you—why should this be any different?
But this isn’t just about learning a new tool. It’s about trying to do a demanding, multi-disciplinary job in your spare time… after your real job has already drained your energy and attention.
The Reality
Running a business isn’t a 9-to-5 job—it’s a sunrise-to-past-bedtime job. Your time and energy aren’t just limited; they’re already spoken for.
Building a quality website isn’t something you squeeze into the margins of your day. It’s not a one-and-done task—it’s a process. One that takes deep focus, creative clarity, technical decision-making, and the stamina to push through dozens of details that don’t seem important… until they are.
Even if you do manage to carve out time, will you have the energy and headspace to write persuasive content, size and place images, structure page layouts… then structure them again for mobile devices, configure contact forms, handle DNS records, test layouts across browsers, optimize for speed and SEO, and meet accessibility standards? Probably not.
And so, one of two things usually happens.
First: you keep putting it off. Not because you’re lazy—but because you’re busy. The “Nights and Weekends” plan becomes the “I’ll Have Time Next Month” plan… which becomes “We still don’t have a website.”
Second: frustration takes over and you settle. You slap something together—whatever you can manage—not because you don’t care, but because you need something, and there simply isn’t enough time to do it right.
The Cost
Aside from the obvious consequence of a delayed website, or not having one at all, there are myriad other possible costs. These have been detailed in our “It’s So Easy” Myth article—but here’s a quick refresher:
- Clunky performance that turns visitors away
- Weak messaging that doesn’t connect or convert
- Disorganized layouts that confuse more than they clarify
- Behind-the-scenes issues with SEO, accessibility, or page speed
- Ongoing maintenance that gets forgotten until something breaks
Trying to build your business website in the slivers of leftover time rarely leads to the results you want. And the damage—missed leads, lost credibility, wasted time—is real, even if it’s hard to measure.
If this article helped you realize that your off-time is better spent running your business—or simply catching your breath—and you still want a professional, high-performing website without the steep up-front costs, our All-In-One Website Plans offer a smart, fully managed alternative.
