Most small business websites fail at one of three things: they are slow, they say nothing a customer needed to know, or they went stale the week after they launched because changing them meant emailing someone.
Nuri Studio is a one-person web studio in Christchurch. The website designer, the developer and the person who answers the phone are all the same person. It builds for small businesses: the practice, the restaurant, the trade, the shop. When a website alone is not enough, it builds the ordering and booking systems that sit behind them.
Most quotes for a small business site come from an agency that will assign you to whoever is free, or from a template shop that will hand you something you cannot change afterwards. This is neither. You talk to the person building it, you see it on a real link while it is being built, and when it is done it is yours.
The studio is in Christchurch, and that is a fact about the studio rather than about who it works with. The published work is a Christchurch rental company and an Auckland practice. Everything happens over a video call, email and Instagram messages, so it makes no difference whether you are across town or in another country. Sitting across a table from you is welcome when it is possible, and it has never been necessary.
What you get
The pages that answer the question
What you do, who you are, where you are, what it costs if you are willing to say, and how to get hold of you. Written in plain language, not in the language of a brochure.
Right on a phone first
Most of your visitors are on a phone, often on mobile data, often standing outside your shop. Built to open in an instant, even on a patchy connection, because speed is the difference between a visitor waiting and a visitor leaving.
Something you can change yourself
Prices, hours, photos, a new service, a notice that you are closed next week. If it is the kind of thing that changes, it is the kind of thing you should be able to change at seven on a Friday, from a phone, without ringing anyone.
Findable by the people looking for you
The behind-the-scenes details that tell Google what you do and where you are, set up when the site is built rather than sold to you as an extra six months later, so you turn up when someone nearby searches and are described correctly when someone asks ChatGPT or Siri for a recommendation.
An enquiry that reaches you
A form that emails you directly, keeps what the customer typed if something goes wrong, and asks for enough to make your reply useful.
What it costs
Most studios want $5,000 to $15,000 before they start. I don't.
A custom-built website, hosted, looked after and kept working, for one monthly fee, with nothing to pay upfront.
Starter
from$249a month NZD + GST
under $60 a week
A site that explains your business and brings you enquiries.
A custom-built site, written for your business, usually five to eight pages
Hosting, your web address and the padlock in the address bar, all set up
Built for a phone first, because that is where your visitors are
An enquiry form that comes straight to you
Google Business Profile set up, so you turn up in the map results
Hours, prices, photos and anything else that changes, edited by you, from a phone
Up to ten content changes a month, done by me
Professional
from$449a month NZD + GST
under $110 a week
A site that runs part of your business.
Everything in Starter
An ordering or booking system on your own site, with no commission on anything
Unlimited content changes done by me: text, images, new sections, layout
Ongoing search work: the site tuned for what people near you type into Google
Your Google Business Profile looked after, not just set up
A short note each month on who visited and what they did
First in the queue when you need something
Nearly everyone pays exactly the figure above. "From" is there for the rare site that is genuinely bigger than the plan: a second language, a dozen extra pages, a second system. You'd know that in our first conversation, before anything is built.
No contract. Cancel any month. You stay because the site is working, not because you're locked in.
You pay nothing while the site is being built. The first payment is on the day it goes live, and each payment covers the month ahead, the same way Netflix or Spotify bills you.
After twelve months on a plan, the site itself is yours to take anywhere. Your words, photographs and customers' details are yours from day one.
Which one is yours depends on whether the site needs to do something, like take an order or hold a booking, or simply explain something. Most businesses know which they are. If you don't, that's the first thing we'd talk about.
You see a first version within two working days. The free mockup is exactly that. Most sites are live in around three to five weeks. Ordering, booking, anything that does more than show information takes longer, and I'll tell you which one yours is after our first conversation.
You need it live next week. Good work takes the time it takes, and I would rather say no than hand you something rushed with your name on it.
You want to pay once and never think about it again. This works because the site keeps being looked after. If you'd rather own a finished thing outright from day one, an agency is the better fit.
You would rather hand over a brief and not think about it again. This works because we talk, and if that sounds like overhead we will both find it frustrating.
The quickest way to start
Want to see what yours could look like before you decide anything? I'll rebuild your home page for free and show it to you on a 15-minute call.
The person who answers the phone is the person who builds the site.
Nothing is relayed, nothing is handed down to somebody you have not met, and there is no second person to re-explain your business to a fortnight later.
I've been building websites since my second-to-last year of high school, through three years of university and two in a corporate web team. Nuri Studio is the first time the name on the door is mine.
I work from Christchurch, in English and Korean, and almost entirely online. A video call to start, then email and messages while it's built, so where you are has never changed how it goes.
A small studio, one pair of hands, working directly with the person whose name is on the door.
Questions
Do you only work with businesses in Christchurch?
No. The studio is based in Christchurch and works with businesses anywhere. The published work is a Christchurch rental company and an Auckland practice. Everything happens over a video call, email and Instagram messages, so it makes no difference whether you are across town or in another country. Being in the same city means we can meet, which is nice and has never been the deciding factor.
What kind of businesses do you build for?
Any small business with something to explain and customers to reach. The work so far is a car rental company, an immigration practice and a restaurant, which have almost nothing in common except that all three needed the site to do a job rather than sit there.
How long does a website take?
It depends on whether the job is a site or a system behind a site. A straightforward business site is a matter of weeks; something with ordering, bookings or an owner's dashboard behind it takes longer, and you see it on a real link the whole way through rather than waiting for a reveal at the end.
Will I be able to update it myself?
Yes, for the things that actually change. The point of the dashboard in the work above is that the owner adds a dish, changes a price or closes next Sunday without a developer and without waiting until Monday.
I already have a website. Can it be fixed rather than replaced?
Sometimes. If the problem is the wording, the speed or the fact that you cannot edit it, that is often worth looking at before rebuilding. Send the address and you will get an honest answer about which one it is.
Who will I be dealing with?
One person, the whole way through: the same person who builds it. There is no account manager and nothing gets handed to a team you have not met. It starts with a conversation about what the business actually needs the site to do; not a brief form, a conversation.
