WordPress is the platform that gives everyone an opportunity to start web design business with minimal effort. But that’s only half true as you cannot overlook the power of thousands of amazing free and paid plugins, which make it possible to add various kind of functionalities to serve the needs of various kind of clients.
For instance, in my opinion, Divi Builder is the best layout creator plugin at the moment and it is taking web design with WordPress to an altogether new level. With this plugin, you can not only create layouts from backend but also create and edit layouts from frontend and all for real. You can buy it for full one year just by shelling out no more than a few bucks, and not only that, you are free to use it on unlimited websites including client websites.
Another example is Formidable Forms Pro and Toolset. Both plugins (or rather say a plugin suite) are rare plugins, which allow a non-programmer (who doesn’t have any programming knowledge like that of PHP or ASP) to create database applications like online data management system, school management portal, staff management/patient management system, city directory, real estate listing website, booking system and even email marketing system etc.
These plugins are growing and developing rapidly because we are buying them and loving them. If we stop buying these plugins and start using their pirated/stolen copies, the plugin developers will not be paid back and the hard work and the time they put in the development will no longer be able to support them financially and ultimately they will lose interest in the further development of their plugins (or themes). And one day you’d wake up to know that the plugin which you have been so dependent on is orphaned. After all, what is the point of continuing the profession that can’t guarantee to pay your bills? In simple words, we will not get any update or support from the end of developer.
Headway is a live example of how piracy kills software. At one point in time, Headway was the best drag and layout builder WordPress theme framework. Now it is dead and there has been no product update since 2016. Unofficially, Headway is no more and the reason is simple – Piracy. To save some bucks, people download and use nulled version of themes and plugins on their own sites and client sites. It all results in huge loss to developers and like everyone they start looking for better alternatives to earn money. And eventually it is the guy who pirated suffers and faces the real loss. As in case of Headway, websites which were built using using Headway have already stopped getting updates and support and soon Headway will no longer be compatible with the latest version of WordPress and the only way to continue the websites will be to pay heavy bills to third party developers to manage old code of Headway.
You love many plugins and get umpteen benefits from those plugin. You are happy and the developer is happy. But if you steal them, you are killing them and for all practical purposes you are chopping the branch you are sitting on. In effect, you are killing your own business by doing so.
So if you like any WordPress theme or plugin, buy it if you can to save your web design business.
The simple infographics more aptly and within few seconds can explain what I am trying to get across.
