Smart Small Business Leaders Connect with Customers Through Customized Website Design
Websites Generate Revenue Through E-Commerces and Pre-Qualifying Potential Customers before visiting Brick and Mortar Sales Points
The Digital Age of Commerce, How Did We Get Here?
Small businesses have been community connection points from the beginning of the agricultural era. People began forming bonds with the land and each other because crop growth made settling a more practical option than the nomadic lifestyle.
Forward-thinking individuals created laws, money and systems to ensure the survival of their hard work. And from these humble beginnings, small businesses were established.
People would barter and trade food, goods and services as these first roots were embedded. A consistent homefront also allowed individuals to explore the world and educate themselves.
Technology Always Means Growth
Pursuing education and research was possible because of the supportive presence of small businesses. These infrastructures guaranteed the continued financial and emotional connection between separated families.
Family members that maintained the residential domicile could receive mail and hear about the adventures of faraway lands.
This allowed technology to flourish. Industries grew. But advances in technology continued to set the course of how small businesses would meet the needs of their customers.
Automated Technology Disrupted The Industrial Revolution and Welcomed The Digital Age
The correlation between technology and the growth of cities, states and countries is undisputed. The industrial revolution restructured society and how small businesses operated.
Small businesses had to change because big corporations shook up local economies all over the world. Some relocated and others filled smaller niches that big businesses neglected.
During these shifting times, community connection was again nurtured through small businesses. They remained foundational pillars in the ecosystems of everyday life.
The Digital Age and Post-Pandemic Commerce
Small Businesses functioned according to their historic pattern during the Covid-19 pandemic. Customers relied on local businesses to deliver groceries, hot meals and medicine. Each knock at the door was a reassurance you weren’t alone.
However the polarizing effects of Covid along with unpredictable shutdowns and restrictive safety mandates; took a toll on small businesses.
Many small businesses had to close during the height of those uncertain times. As precautions eased some small businesses semi-opened or opened, while others never again re-opened their doors.
Like their innovative predecessors during the industrial revolution, the most resilient got creative. They got online and are still thriving.
The changes small-business owners are making to survive the recession caused by the coronavirus outbreak depend to some degree on company size. Businesses with 100 to 500 employees were twice as likely to have adopted new technology processes compared to those with just two to 99 employees (42 percent versus 20 percent, respectively), according to SHRM research. Those with 100 to 500 employees were also more likely to adopt new revenue streams, new safety measures, and new customer service and delivery processes than those with fewer employees.
Websites Are a Major Key to Small Business Success
The essential online presence that many small business owners overlooked, while their more savvy counterparts seized them, are websites. They could be the life-saving tool that resurrects failing small businesses in the digital age.
…95% of purchases will be made through eCommerce by 2040.
(Source: Nasdaq)
In 2018 46% of small businesses didn’t have a web presence.
35% of SMB owners think that their business is too small for a website.
South Korea is seducing investors with the fastest average internet speed in the world — 28.6 Mbit/s.
30% of people would return to a website they’ve purchased from before.
Having a website for your business is essential in the 21st century. It’s your digital storefront, where potential customers are free to browse and purchase with the ease of a mouse click.
In only a couple of decades time physical shopping will be almost gone, but even now in 2019, the percentage of online shopping is growing. So why leave your customers to go shop through your rivals, simply because you do not have a website?
The above numbers explain why some small businesses are unable to fully function in this digital economy. For many small business owners, entering the computer age is scary. It’s an unknown territory that is uncertain and rumored to be untrustworthy.
Why Don’t Many Small Businesses Have Websites
- Money. Good websites are expensive, they can cost more than $6000.00. Many entrepreneurs are unaware of the less expensive or free options available to get them going.
- They don’t think their goods or services are made for online opportunities.
- They don’t trust the digital age. This superstition cripples them from getting websites.
- They just don’t know what to do with their online power.
The good news is, once you leap these hurdles, you’ll wonder why you didn’t get a website sooner. Let’s dig a little deeper.
How Much Does a Website Cost for a Small Business?
The better question is, how much is my small business losing without a website?
For example, let’s say your new or redesigned small business website, generates 300 new customers per month, with an average purchase of $80.00. Over the course of a month, companies without websites have already lost $24,000.00 and $288,000.00 per year.
94% of customers desire easy-to-navigate websites. For those who already have a mediocre website, it’s time to step up your game. People aren’t wasting time on cumbersome, antiquated sites without good information about small businesses or the products/services you provide.
These numbers are shocking. The digital age is best utilized through tools that adapt. That means websites for small business owners.
Websites for small businesses range in price from +/-$300.00 to more than $6000.00. The price reflects who’s doing the work and the hours/programming necessary for your vision. There are also many free options available, if you are motivated to learn and set aside dedicated time to build your website.
They don’t think their goods or services are made for online opportunities
The idea of needing a website seems like nonsense to many small business owners. Especially entrepreneurs with small neighborhood convenience stores or local coffee shops that serve the same customers over and over.
They don’t realize that there is an entirely new customer base waiting for their products and services. Online e-commerce could sell name-brand coffee or mugs.
It’s a necessity that small businesses understand the necessity of cultivating a website tribe. It is how people are making decisions and how the vitality of life will flow through your business livelihood.
And a website makes small businesses accessible to people that are unable to travel. This topic deserves further exploration but isn’t in the scope of this article.
However, people that need alternative ways of reaching you, are more likely to get their needs met through a small business that makes their goods and services available through online consumption avenues.
They Don’t Trust The Digital Age
America Online and MySpace were the first online experiences for many of us. The sound of the internet buzzing through the phone line and hearing the authorization of finally being connected were exciting times.
A lot has changed since then and nobody thought it’d go this far. Now it’s normal not to have a home phone and using dial-up internet is nearly impossible because the speed needed to display modern websites requires much more juice.
I am sending out this clarion call to small businesses, it’s time to become a part of the new normal. Assimilation to online identities doesn’t mean conformity, it’s an opportunity to display your uniqueness and creativity.
They Just Don’t Know What to do With Their Online Power
Learning to speak the new language of digital is a new requirement for small business owners.
This could mean hiring someone or diving into the water yourself, but one thing’s for sure, there’s another world out there and it’s demanding your input.
If you're reading this, it’s probably an indicator that it’s time to get started.
How are you going to answer this call?
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/neolithic-agricultural-revolution by Erin Blakemore, 2019, National Geographic.com, What was the Neolithic Revolution?
Smith, A. (2002) The Wealth of Nations. Oxford, England: Bibliomania.com Ltd. [Web.] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://lccn.loc.gov/2002564559.
https://bebusinessed.com/history/history-of-small-business/ by Johnson Hur, BeBusinessed.com, History of Small Business
https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/all-things-work/pages/small-businesses-get-creative-to-survive-during-the-pandemic.aspx by Kathy Gurchlek, 2020, Small Businesses Get Creative to Survive During the Pandemic
https://review42.com/resources/small-business-statistics/ by Deyan Gorgiev, 2022, Review42.com, Small Business Statistics [Guide to Success in 2022]
Blackford, Mansel G. “Small Business in America: A Historiographic Survey.” The Business History Review, vol. 65, no. 1, 1991, pp. 1–26. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3116903. Accessed 7 Sep. 2022.
https://smallbiztrends.com/2019/01/easy-website-navigation-is-important.html by Michael Guta, 2019, Small Business Trends, 94% of Customers Say Your Website Must Be Easy to Navigate.
