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Its a Small (interactive) World: A Prospective on On-line Small Business Success
The Internet has led to a revolution in business practices. Since its conception in the late 1980s, the Internet has been utilised by businesses worldwide as a means to increase their customer base and increase turnovers. Perhaps the biggest impact has been seen in the small business sector which has seen much growth and success. During the course of this essay I will discuss the current state of e-business with a focus on whether or not businesses have to be “big” to be successful.
A small business may be defined as a business with a small number of employees. The legal definition of "small" often varies by country and industry, but is generally understood to be a business with less than 50 employees in the European Union (www.wikipedia.com). There are several determinants of success; These include a level of social status, quality of life, company culture, maximizing profits and generated revenues (Schlenker & Crocker, 2003). For the purpose of this essay I will be focusing on the social status and the profit made by the business as the key meanings of success.
There are varied benefits of using the Internet as a marketing tool for small businesses including improving the corporate image and offering new products to customers on a worldwide scale. The most appealing factors to companies is the Internet's potential for revenue production and/or cost reduction (Poon & Joseph, 2000). In relation to marketing the Internet has many strengths. It is a specialized market which allows many businesses to develop, this niche f ...