Size Doesn't Matter

Welcome to the Business InfoTech Strategies blog!

After more than twelve years in the Information Technology field, one fact still amazes me. Most small businesses don't understand how Information Technology fits into their overall strategy. I see it over and over again:

• A fledgling business struggles to pay the bills, but misses opportunities to cut costs with technology
• A successful business floats along, passing up critical opportunities for expansion
  
• A retail business expands with a new location, but fails to link it effectively with the first location

My objective with this blog is to help these businesses identify the basic strategies they can leverage to drive greater success on a day-to-day basis. Specifically, I will be discussing technologies that work well for small businesses, require little (or no) cash investment, and provide significant returns for the time (or money) invested to set them up.

So, for my first post, I want to introduce a technology that is very low cost, can be implemented in small steps, and allows a small business to compete with larger businesses anywhere in the world. That's right, I'm talking about the Internet!

The Internet is a vast, mostly-unregulated abyss, into which you can pour thousands of dollars without ever seeing a single penny in return. To avoid this, let's start by understanding what the Internet is (and isn't).

The Internet is comprised of many parts, here's my take on how it breaks down:

First and foremost, the Internet is the network which connects computers around the world. I won't get into the low-level networking details, so basically, you connect your home or business computer(s) to the Internet through an Internet Service Provider (ISP). So do other individuals and and organizations. By virtue of this general Internet connection, you can then communicate with any other computers on the Internet.

Second, the Internet is comprised of the systems which communicate through it. These are a few of the more common systems:

• web sites (both informational and transactional)
• e-mail
• instant messaging
• file sharing/distribution
  

Some of the newer and less common systems:

• voice communications
• video conferencing

Finally, what the Internet isn't: simple. Despite what many software or consulting companies might tell you, you can't set up a successful web site in fifteen minutes. You won't double your business just because you publish an e-mail address in the yellow pages. And you certainly won't be successful if you spend all day instant messaging. Approach the Internet with the respect it deserves. Understand that it is complex, but once mastered, can result in significant improvement to your business operations.

So, what does all this mean for your business? Well, you need to take a careful approach to what you do on the Internet. Start by following the same basic principles that have made you successful off the Internet:

1. Build a good product or offer a good service
2. Know your target market and ideal customer
3. Make it easy for your prospective customers to find your products and give you their business

Allow me to elaborate.

1. Showing off a good product or service on the Internet is very similar to selling in a retail environment. Put the best sellers at eye level, don't hide products in a dark corner, make the store easy to navigate, notice when the customer enters the store and greet them, make help readily available, have a clear location to check out when they're ready to pay. All of these principles apply on a web site as they do in a store - you just have to adapt your mode of thinking. I will cover e-commerce store basics in an upcoming post.

2. Understand who your customers are and how they will look for you - not how you want to be found. This is a critical failure point for many small business that jump onto the Internet. If 100% of your current business is people who walk past your storefront, then you will have a significantly different approach to your Internet presence than a retailer whose customers usually find them via the yellow pages. Think of the difference between a candy shop and plumber. You might walk into a candy shop as you pass it (and the kids won't be looking them up in the yellow pages), but you wouldn't drop by the plumber's office just because you were in the neighborhood.

3. Eyeballs on the Internet are a precious commodity. Once you have them, you want to keep them. Whether it's an e-mail in the inbox or the front page of your web site, you need to have a call to action that will result in a sale or at least enough information to continue the dialogue with your prospective customer.

I will leave you with one final thought for today. On the Internet, size doesn't matter. A well-designed web site and effective e-mail campaigns, run by one person, can be just as impressive and deliver the same results as those created by a company with thousands of employees.

I'm always game for a good debate, so I welcome all comments - as well as questions or topics for future posts. The next few topics will dive into much greater detail on some specific areas of e-commerce.