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How One Small Firm Replaced Its AWOL Site Designer -- Fast A stationery boutique owner had to do some serious bargain-hunting when she needed a web designer to add a 'shop online' element to her company's website.

By Jennifer Wang

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

People Who Need People
Custom stationery by Ijorere
Photo courtesy of Ijorere

It should have been simple: Ola Morin-Muhammed, founder of custom stationery boutique Ijorere The Invitation, wanted to add a small "shop online" component to her existing website, Ijorere.com. "I wanted to introduce something called "Love Letters' for Valentine's Day. I realized it would hurt my sales if I couldn't accept payments online," she says. But things got complicated, fast.

The site's original designer was no longer in business. The replacement designers recommended by friends were out of Morin-Muhammed's budget or didn't have the creative and programming chops to make the site really sing. "I stumbled a few times along the way," she says, admitting to a loss of about $600, a product launch delayed by several months and a dysfunctional shop-online experience that gave her website an "unfinished presence."

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