This is a long one!
I found this article on the merits of websites for small businesses on the BBC page and thought it was quite interesting.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7096900.stm
I wanted to comment on a few of the sections.
As far as web-literate consumers are concerned, internet search engines generally offer the best way to track down a local plumber or find out where the local pet shop is based. After all, a reputable company will have its own website, right? Wrong. In a world where e-trading has become as mainstream as microwaved ready meals, it comes as a shock to many to discover that no more than half of Britain's small to medium-sized businesses have a web presence.
I agree with the first section of this statement. People can go to google and if they are looking for a particular company or business they can punch in the name and largely they will be able to get the contact details for that business from some kind of directory or information bank, but it won’t always yield a website – simply, because it isn’t there. Why?
No more than half of Britain's small to medium-sized businesses have a web presence.
I wasn’t so surprised by this. The problem is the common misconception among some small business owners that a web site has got to be a colossal e-behemoth! An expensive, cumbersome, ineffectual burden and a drain on resources. Surely the local fish and chip shop doesn’t need a site? Well that is perhaps true, but consider how that local fish shop might advertise it’s web site on it’s paper menus. People pick up the menu and see the site address printed on the bottom. They go to the site “just to see it”. They see that by signing up to the website for free they can get a 15% off voucher in their mail for their first order every week. So they sign up and enjoy getting a pound or two of their meals every week. Suddenly the business for this fish and chip shop goes up by 25% because customers are coming to this local fish and chip shop instead of the other one two streets away.
I admit it’s a contrived example, but that is the kind of thing a small business can do with a website. Websites offer small businesses that opportunity to get the edge over other small businesses offering the same kind of services. Consider something like a driving school. People are learning to drive everywhere, everyday. Bob goes online to see what his options are and lo and behold, on searching for a driving school he finds one in his area he likes the look of. He visits the website and he gets to see the car he will be driving, the people he will be working with and what resources are available to him as he goes for his different exams. He loves what he sees and decides he isn’t going to get out the Yellow Pages because he has found something he likes. He contacts the driving school and gets his lessons booked, and he gets his learning materials in his email. Lovely.
Something like a driving school is an easy example to illustrate, because there will always be people wanting to learn to drive. What about those businesses with no apparent room for growth. I thought the story of Wiggly Wigglers was a good example of a small business going big on the internet -
"We are based on a farm in a village of 63 people in rural Herefordshire," she says. "The passing trade is virtually nil." The site was adapted for e-commerce in the white heat of the tech boom in 1999, when turnover surged from £6,000 in 1995 to £200,000. And the dot.com crash did little to dent Wiggly Wigglers' performance. The company's turnover has now reached £2.5m. It’s customers come from all over the UK, the Irish Republic and Western Europe and has its own group on social networking site Facebook.
There are those that don’t want to make a move for the potential growth an internet site can offer -
"I don't feel like I need a website," Ms Corrance says.
"The whole point of my business is that each client will have one dedicated carer who will offer a high standard of care.
"I don't want my business to grow more quickly than I can handle because I don't want to have to let people down if I don't have the staff to provide the services."
And this is a good way to think. You don’t want to compromise your business ideals and values for the sake of a website. Your website must reflect your business. It has to compliment your ideas and goals. As long as it does, it will be an asset to your business. There is little point in developing a website that does not fit with your business strategy. However, surely the value of having an online presence adds to the credibility and standing that a company can offer to it’s customers? Again, it’s all about the right tone.
It was for this reason alone, after repeated requests from potential customers, that Mr Pople says he even bothered to launch a website at all.
"Perhaps it is just useful for giving clients peace of mind before making enquiries," he says.
There are arguments and counter-arguments about whether a small business needs a website. In my opinion it can certainly do no harm and it’s an extra string to you business’s bow. It offers an extra point of contact for customers and with a little care and attention in the early stages of planning your website, you can reach potential customers much more easily than you may think.
Small business can also trade links via their web site with already established firms that would compliment each other’s services and open up new channels of growth in that manner. But let’s be honest the website isn’t going to be a miracle solution for boosting your profits by 500%!
The reason why so many companies are disappointed with their website's performance is that they have failed to maximise their potential, believes Mr Scargill. (Federation of Small Business IT Chairman)
"A website is a passive device," he says. "Unless you have a well recognised brand name you need to have some way for people to find your site. If you haven't marketed it properly, it's like taking a bunch of brochures, putting them in a cupboard and then wondering why sales aren't going up."
It is my opinion that getting the right online solution for your business is what is important. It doesn’t have to be a massive site with fancy e-gadgetry and all manner of bells and whistles. You don’t have to offer thousands of products for sale and prices that will put you out of business! After all, who in Australia wants to mail order a fish supper from your chipper in Belfast? If you have products to sell to a world-wide audience by all means go ahead and do it. Branch out and push the boundaries. Sometimes, however, for many small businesses it’s just enough to let people know you are there.
DS
