Budget for Starting a Social Networking Site

Anyone know of any good design/coding firms that create social networking sites? I looked at a few that are based in the U.S., and the prices ranged from $10,000 to $200,000.

I assume that firms outside of the U.S. will cost a fraction of that, but the problem lies in the fact that these firms may have designs not fit for an American market.

Freelance websites may be a good choice as well.

Any thoughts?

 

Why not you using existing engine such as PHPfox then create custom function for it?
It much more cheaper than built from scratch

 

If you're paying $200K for a SCRIPT then you know you're being ripped off...

Just pay a freelancer or someone here at DP and you can get it for about $1k or so.

 

Just make sure you know exactly what you want going into the project. Extra fees can pile up quickly as you decide to make changes prior to launch.

 

You're better off using one of the scripts mentioned above and then use the remainder of the money for marketing, instead of spending thousands on just the development of the site.

When the site picks up you can then at a later stage have a custom site built (if you want)

 

Look into hiring someone locally on a contract basis for 6 or so months full time. Place a local job online and interview local developers. Just make sure you don`t rush the hiring process and take your time interviewing respondents. You will save a ton of money and enjoy having full control over the development of your project.

 

This is a good option. Especially if this is a long term venture.