Responsive means your website is designed to respond to the screen it's being viewed on, automatically resizing images and re-positioning text to give the user a better experience on their device. 

Don't be fooled - user experience is critical for keeping someone moving through your website, as opposed to getting frustrated because the text is too small and going elsewhere. Also, it's free as it should be an inherent part of the way your website is designed & built.

For a great example of what a responsive vs non-responsive website looks like, check out this post: UpBound Blog - Think You Don’t Need A Mobile Site? Think Again.

Of course you can build your own website. But just like doing anything yourself, as opposed to hiring a professional, you run the risk of these issues:

1. Spending a huge amount of your own time
2. Not knowing how to maximise the platform after building dozens of previous websites
3. Not giving it the best chance to perform in Google
4. Losing potential business because the structure & design doesn't grab the visitor's attention.

We get it, small business runs on a tight budget and you have to start somewhere. To give you all the information we have on the website builders we've used (yes, surprise! We use them too!) check out this article: UpBound Blog - Building Your Own Website? 7 Things You Need to Know Before You Start.

Rather than thinking about needing a website, what every small business should be thinking about is a sales funnel, which is clear system that leads potential buyers through your marketing, educates them about your product or service, builds a relationship with them and gives them a reason to do business with you. 

A website is a really effective way of achieving this, but too many businesses focus on getting the website and not what it's actually supposed to be doing. 

This article goes into more detail, and gives you some ideas as to how you can implement this concept in your own small business: UpBound Blog - Web Designer Confession: You Don’t Need A Website.