Should Small Businesses with an exclusive product go E-commerce?

By Dr. Cheryl Cottle
Many small businesses that deal exclusively with unique, one-of-a-kind, limited editions are now thinking about whether they should expand their exclusive business by going online. Many wonder if this approach to selling will reduce the value of their product in the eyes of their clients. The answer is no. What going online means is that you are now taking your business to a wider target audience. It means that you are now opening up what you do to others who will get a chance to see what you do, appreciate what you do and buy what you produce. It will also mean that you now have the opportunity to leverage the value of what you do. You now have a larger market; your would-be customers are no longer local but also international.

Going e-commerce does not mean that you are closing your “brick and mortar” store or your home-based store. It means that it is an extension of your business or an enlargement of your marketing plan. E-commerce simply means using a website with a shopping cart to enable your customers the ability to buy online.

 E-commerce provides you with the opportunity to increase your market and take it before an international audience. It creates the opportunity to move from your mini local market to a macro market. However with this type of marketing, there are additional changes that will incur on your production, manufacturing, marketing, customer service, machinery and equipments, computer technology, shipping and handling and other key operational processes within your company. In some cases it will require an additional workforce to manage each operation as you expand.

 Things that you will need in going e-commerce: 

• An e-commerce website will have to be designed and constructed. You can self-design and construct your own website if you have the skills to do so
• Access an outside web designer to translate what you have in mind with sound design techniques to come up with an e-commerce site that meets your needs.
• Register a domain name
• Decide which web hosting company to host your website
• Think about the design features for your website
• Determine which products you will display
• Generate your product description
• Product Photography
• Select a shopping cart
• Establish a merchant account
• Establish policies (including, purchasing, customer services, shipping and handling, etc.)
• Shipping and handling - - which shipping provider will you use to facilitate your customer’s order
• Establish a customer service unit to deal with customer-related issues.

If you require an ecommerce website we can build it for you. For more information on how we can help contact us at: ccottle@drcottle

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Author:
Dr. Cheryl Cottle is the Chief Consultant of Cottle's Professional Consulting. Cottle's Professional Consulting has a multidisciplinary portfolio including education, organizational development, professional development, and business development. Dr. Cottle is also a coach and mentor in areas of professional and business development. Interested in a service, please contact her at: ccottle@drcottle.com


©Copyright 2010 by Dr. Cheryl Cottle and Cottle’s Professional Consulting

Do you need a website? How to best leverage technology to benefit in the marketplace?

By Dr. Cheryl Cottle
As an entrepreneur, both male or female, gone are the days when you only needed a hand shake to do business. In today’s global economies with the advent of computer technology and the internet, you must change, or you will be forever left behind; and this is not a cliché: It is a fact. Businesses regardless of size must get onto the bandwagon of technology. You no longer need a mobile phone and a fax machine; you also need a website, e-mail, access to the internet over all, and high speed internet connection. Technology is here and it is here to stay. With the advent of computer based technology business has become more competitive, but it has also provided people with greater opportunity to leverage what they can do ― their services and products. If you are also into selling your product and you will like to take your product and services to a wider market, then you will have to think about integrating e-commerce into your business strategy. This allows your customers, regardless of their geographical location, time, and currency exchange, to access your product and make a purchase.

What technology and the internet have done for the entrepreneur: 

• It has opened up connection and removed the barriers between individuals in different countries and continents who want to trade with each other.
• You can easily conduct a detailed search of a company so that you know with whom you are doing business.
• If you are looking for that special product or services, a search of the internet can put you in direct contact with the best in the market.
• The internet and computer based technologies enables you to do business twenty four hours a day from where ever you are in the world and with whom you want to.
• It also enables you to make contact with people with whom you might never have met.
• The internet also puts you in direct contact with your supplier, or buyer thus reducing cost and time as in traditional business transaction.
• Essentially the internet removes national boundaries thus opening a global gate way to commerce.

Interested in having a website for your business because you will like to extend your market globally, and will need visibility, Cottle’s Professional Consulting can do it for you. We will work with you to come up with the best design! Give us a shout out at: ccottle@drcottle.com

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Author:

Dr. Cheryl Cottle is the Chief Consultant of Cottle's Professional Consulting. Cottle's Professional Consulting has a multidisciplinary portfolio including education, organizational development, professional development, and business development. Dr. Cottle is also a coach and mentor in areas of professional and business development. Interested in a service, please contact her at: ccottle@drcottle.com

©Copyright 2010 by Dr. Cheryl Cottle and Cottle’s Professional Consulting

Small business hunker down for survival

This article examines strategies that small businesses can to combat the challenges of the economic times.


The author notes:

From the beginning of this year through Sept. 30, sales at small businesses (privately held companies with revenue of $10 million or less) have fallen 3.75 percent, according to figures from Sageworks Inc. At the same time, net profit at these businesses has risen to 6.5 percent. How have they accomplished this? By cutting their costs. Overhead, payroll and advertising as a percentage of sales have all declined

To read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/business/smallbusiness/08count.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

One in Four Businesses Calls the Owner ‘Ma’am’

This article looks at a study conducted in the US that examines women in business and their contribution to the economy. It states that: 8 million or 28% of all businesses were owned by women and that those businesses accounted for 16 percent of all jobs in a range of industries including, business services, communication, real estate, personal services and health services.

To read more:


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/business/smallbusiness/05sbiz.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Challenges Women in Business Face!

Research shows that one of the primary challenge that women in business face is access to financial resources in order to grow their business. However, there are other issues that impede businesses of women. Some are:

• Economics' access to funding through financial institutions


• Inability to qualify or meet banking institutions' requirements


• Having to hold two or more jobs to make money to manage their business


• Children and other family responsibilities


• Dealing with divorce and learning to be independent and financially independent


• Dealing with the loss of a loved one, and learning to cope and develop a business at the same time


• Finding an adequate location for one's business


• Inability to pay for space rental


• Dealing with health issues and managing a business


• Developing a clientele


• Developing reliable referrals


• Education barriers


• Insufficient training


• Other barriers : You can add to the list