Business Owner Article - Herald Sun Thursday 24, 2008

Small and medium businesses are embracing technology so they can mix it with the big end of town. The 2008 Sensis e-Business Report has found that smaller players are tapping into the internet and new mod cons to work more efficiently and grow their businesses. The role of a website in sales and marketing of small and medium businesses is highlighted. In February 2006 just 26% of SMEs said they had a website. This year 55% said they had a website, up 3% on the past year. But more telling was that 12% of the businesses surveyed said they would have a website in the next year, indicating how powerful websites are for business of all sizes. When asked whether a website increased their business effectively, businesses had a number of responses. The majority of business, 65% said their website increased business effectiveness. One in five said had generated more business. Promotion and marketing was a by-product according to 12% of businesses. A website provided easy access to information for 27% of business. Around 1800 businesses were interviewed for this wide-ranging survey. The report found that: - The number of businesses who said they took orders online had grown from 15% in 2000 to 54% this year. The number of small and medium enterprises that placed orders online also had increased to 67%, up 10% on last year.