Many business owners assume they need a website, but not all businesses need one, depending on your particular situation. There are four general reasons to have a website:
- to sell products and services
- to provide information
- to increase visibility
- to provide additional customer service
First, decide if any of these reasons make sense for your business. To sell products and services on the Internet, success involves:
- having a great product or service
- attracting a targeted market
- selling and satisfying your customers
E-Commerce (selling through a website) is a six step process; all online businesses will go through the first three steps:
- Create the online content.
- Host the content on the Internet.
- Market the website and content.
Businesses conducting online sales will need to complete three additional steps:
- Collect and record customer orders
- Process payments
- Fill and ship customer orders
Before committing valuable cash and precious time pursuing the development of a website, you may want to meet with an SBDC consultant to determine whether your business would benefit from having a website.
