HOW MUCH SHOULD A BUSINESS WEB SITE COST?

The truth is, there's no way to provide a definitive answer to this question, because each case can vary so dramatically depending on your needs. However, that doesn't mean that the question shouldn't be asked...and that some attempt should not be made to answer it.

First of all, be aware that there are many companies who are perfectly willing to charge you in the neighborhood of 100K to develop your web site. That's not necessarily unreasonable, but it's probably unreasonable for you, if this is your first foray onto the web. You should know that decent web designers and programmers are available in the $20-50/hr range. You can certainly pay more, and plenty of those folks are well worth it, if you need their expertise. Writers and graphic designers can be all over the ballpark, if you need their services.

We've discussed a simple brochure-style site. Assuming 10 pages or less, you should be able to have a fairly nice little site put together for $1000 or less. Some of the factors which will (and should) dramatically affect the price include:

what kind of graphic design is involved...are you looking for something absolutely original, or is a basic template (tastefully incorporated) going to do the trick?
do you already have a company logo, or do you want one included in the design of your site?
are you going to create the bulk of your site's written content, or do you need to hire a writer...maybe you plan to write it, but you need some help editing and formatting the content for the web?
can you provide your own storefront picture, or are you expecting that to be taken care of for you?
are you planning to incorporate some of the advertising options that we discussed previously?

Plan on spending more if you need a shopping cart on your site (plan on $2500 or more), or other fancy features...like password-protected client login (so they can view the current status of a job you're doing for them). It really does depend on your needs...and, honestly, if you're site is doing well, your needs will most certainly change, and you'll be more likely to be willing to chalk it up to "the cost of doing business".