Times are changing and every solo business owner needs to design his little company in a way that it can be globally competitive.
Before the Internet, it was often sufficient that a small business only worried about the competition in the local community.
You owned a gift shop and your customer pool was everyone within walking distance, easy driving distance, probably within the radius of your community and maybe a few other small towns within 25 miles.
If you could compete with the other gift sellers locally you probably did OK! Folks knew who you were, what you had to offer, and that they would find what they needed in your shop at a reasonable price.
But increasingly, customers now begin their search for a purchase online.
That simple gift that they used to shop for locally could now be purchased online from the convenience of their own home, without the travel, traffic congestion, time taken, gasoline spent, and probably at a discounted price.
Not only that, but the gift can be shipped directly from the online retailer to Aunt Hilda and she'll receive it, gift wrapped, with a personal note from you at her doorstep the day after tomorrow.
You don't have to pay sales tax on the gift, bring it home to wrap it, pack it up for shipping, and take it to the UPS drop off point yourself.
All of a sudden, it is incumbent upon you to try to compete with every other globally-focused gift shop online.
Yes, you can ignore this change in the way business is done these days. You can go on doing business as you've always do it.
Or you can make a few easy changes in the way you look at your business. You can refocus your efforts to identify how you too can compete globally. It's not difficult.
The longer you wait, the more business you'll lose. Eventually you'll be scratching your head wondering why your business doesn't produce like "the good old days!"
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Post#348 |
Now I agree being globally committed is cool, but I think that your perspective maybe a little flat. Not all businesses are able to use the net and those that do or will in the near future will do so and be very inadequate in their online development. First the people that develop the websites don't know the first thing about business.
Their idea of a business center or customer relations gets about as close as you throwing a rock at the moon. Over 90% of all online businesses or businesses that have online extensions go out of business the first year in the US and you can jump to 99,8% in the rest of the world. Anyone scared yet. You should be. The idea behind this post is to caution you to learn and study first and then take baby steps. You should know enough about what you want and how to get there to tell your web host, site designers and such what you want not what they want.
The same goes for those who want to try it on their own or use a college student etc. Learn first, steps second and never compromise traditional business processes and goals for the sake of an online presence.
I believe Forester estimated 46% of all Americans will purchase online this coming year. However, they traditionally overestimate and have never hit their target. It is closer to 26% will purchase on line and that's probably high. However, it is still a formidable number.
Posted by: Tim Whelan | July 3, 2006 12:02 AM | Permalink to Comment