Start ebusiness today!!!

ecommerce and Your business!

Whether you have an idea for a new business or are already running an established small business then you should carefully consider the potential and/or relevance of ebusiness. Using ebusiness techniques could have a dramatic impact on your business!

The type of business you are planning or operating will have a strong bearing on the ebusiness solutions that might be relevant. There are several issues that should be considered;

a. Is your business very localised by nature/choice - for instance Window Cleaning, Keep Fit Classes?

If so then the "reach" (National/International audience!) provided by the Internet is probably not relevant. However you may find that a simple advertising site with contact details generates additional prospects and customers. It may also be beneficial to offer an email communication option to your customers. A London Dentist now sends appointment reminders by Email!

Many communities now have Web Sites. Look your location up on the internet and see if you can find a Local Authority, Chamber of Commerce or similar Web site with a local services page - it could be worth advertising there.

b. Is your business localised but with potential to expand - e.g. a Butcher, Accountants?

If so then you might find that an Advertising site with an email contact/ordering system could increase prospects and customers. With seasonal produce customers will often travel outside their usual area to buy specialities.
Because an Internet site has such reach, it might be worth considering extending or tailoring products to be more suitable for long distance delivery. If you are a service provider then could you offer a remote version of the service via Email and post? How does someone in a remote location gain access to services?

c. Could the business you are planning be an ebusiness?

This obviously depends on the products/services you plan to supply but if they are suitable for online selling and post/carrier delivery then it may be worth considering a shift of focus to a total ebusiness solution.
There are many potential benefits including potential market size, customer perceptions of your business (basically based on your web site image and service quality), lower traditional overheads because premises can be located where convenient rather than prime locations, you may not need that shop! etc. A word of caution though! ebusinesses operate in a fast moving competitive world and your products and services will be open to scrutiny by competitors so innovation needs to be continuous!

d. Could you develop your own ebusiness?

This will depend on your in-house skills and your business plan. It is important that your Web site looks professional and operates smoothly. In most cases the best approach will be to employ a specialist web developer who can quickly translate your ideas and plans into a working ebusiness solution.

If you have basic HTML skills and time to devote to learning and testing an ebusiness solution then you could use one of the many site builder products. These products enable creation of your "shop front" and product catalog and most include links to secure payment services. These services handle different types of payment, for instance they will validate credit card transactions, authenticate the user, convert currencies and deposit your preferred currency directly into your bank within hours of a transaction!