eBusiness Solutions
- Why Your Small Business Needs One
-- by Rick Hendershot, http://www.sbo-linknet.com
-- http://www.redtienda.com/english/newsletter83.htm#1The rapid growth
of the internet commerce in recent years presents
established small businesses with a serious
dilemma. On the one hand they can stick with the
business model that has worked for them for the
last number of years. On the other hand, they can
make the shift to serious eBusiness.
Choosing
to stand pat is usually much easier in the short
term. But in the longer term this almost
certainly means they will be left behind by
technology, and lose many of their most important
clients to more aggressive competitors.
But
shifting to eBusiness may involve committing
substantial resources to developing a new game
plan. That usually means refining product lines
to make them easier to sell online, upgrading
computer systems and websites, and training
personnel at all levels to be more web savvy. It
also means developing or hiring staff to handle
the administration of new marketing, sales, and
delivery systems, and working with outside
consultants and service providers to handle the
technical aspects of the new program that cannot
be handled by your own people.
Is
adopting an eBusiness Solution worth the effort?
Are the
short term difficulties involved in making the
transition to eBusiness worth the effort?
In
virtually all cases, Yes.
It is
like any other investment in your business. Some
businesses look at the cost of upgrading
production equipment or of renovating their
office or retail space and decide it is simply
not worth the cost. They decide the future is too
uncertain to risk moving ahead, so they opt to
tread water until either circumstances change, or
they simply cannot continue any longer in
business.
In this
sense, choosing to stay abreast of technological
changes is a business necessity. And these days
deciding to get involved with eBusiness is the
most important technological decision many
current businesses will ever make.
Advantages
of eBusiness
Here are
some of the more important advantages of moving
to eBusiness.
You can
develop a more cost effective Communication and
Marketing Strategy - The most obvious advantage
of "upgrading" to eBusiness is that it
gives you a vital web presence. In an upgraded
"eBusiness environment" your company
web site becomes the focal point of your
communications and marketing strategy. And in an
era when an increasingly large number of people
are using the web as their first source of
product and service information, "being
there" 24/7 is extremely important.
You can
reach New Markets World Wide - The internet
offers exciting ways of reaching new markets that
could only be dreamed of in the past. There are
methods of promoting your products online that
allow you to precisely target the customers you
are after whether they are in your town or on the
other side of the world.
You can
reach Local Customers and Prospects more
effectively - Until recently, companies offering
a product or service to local customers could not
see the benefits of having an online presence.
But as more and more people become comfortable
with using the internet instead of traditional
advertising sources like classified ads or yellow
pages, having an aggressive web presence makes
better business sense even for local companies.
This may also offer a springboard to developing
new markets further afield.
You can
cut Advertising and Marketing Costs - Online
advertising is not only more efficient, but it is
often less expensive than traditional
advertising. After sales training expenses can
also be reduced by utilizing online seminars,
training videos and tutorials.
You can
streamline the Ordering Process by taking orders
online - Implementing an online ordering system
allows you to eliminate manual paper work or
telephone order taking. It also offers the
possibility of integrating your sales order
system with order fullfillment and delivery so
customers can be up to speed on the progress of
their orders at all times.
You can
cut Communications and Telephone Costs - While
the costs of voice communications using long
distance telephone services have been coming down
rapidly over the last few years, switching to an
eBusiness model offers the possibility of totally
eliminating many of these costs. Of course there
is traditional email. But beyond that there are
systems like "Live Help" where
customers can chat live with support or sales
staff. And the most recent development is VoIP
(Voice Over Internet) which promises to
completely revolutionize telephone service.
Finding
the right eBusiness Solution
Every
business is unique, so every business will
require a unique eBusiness solution. Chances are
most small businesses will not have the resources
inhouse to make the move. In that case they
should find an eBusiness solution provider that
takes a comprehensive approach to each situation.
Rather than offering a pre-packaged program, they
should be able to look carefully at a business
and make recommendations based on its specific
needs. That includes the ability to provide staff
training and ongoing support long after the
initial system is put in place.
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