I'm a big believer in letting the specialist do what they do best. I think that a lot of problems in the IT world are caused by people who want to be all things to everyone. It is important that we realize that although we may have a broad skillset and understanding (basic understanding of all pieces of an application is vital!), it is important to realize when certain tasks are better off handled by a specialist.
In setting up and launching my ISV I've learned this lesson in spades. For example, take my website. Granted, it is very clean and easy to read, but definately does not have any sort of "wow" factor to it. I set this website up on the cheap doing much of the work myself. Here's a screenshot of it:
Now jump ahead to me nearing the launch period for Easy Assets .NET. I look at my website, which needed to be reworked on content since I'm adding products and a purchasing/registration interface and I decided that I wasn't all that satisfied with how the site was looking. I bit the bullet and hired a professional designer to rework the look and feel of the site. Here's what he came up with in less than a week:
Personally, I'm thrilled with the way the site is turning out. Professionally, I'm kicking myself for not just hiring a designer in the first place. I spent more of my valued "time" working on the original site than I paid a professional to do the job.
Here's the contact info of the designer. Just be sure you let him know you found him here. ;)
Brian C. Lanier - Design work of all types - 3D, Web, Corporate Identity
brinskee@yahoo.com
www.lizwatkins.cc/blanier/