Is My Company Ready For eBusiness?

IS THERE A MARKET FOR MY PRODUCTS AND SERVICES?

Some businesses are more "eBusiness ready" than others. If you sell products from a catalogue to users who have computers, eBusiness marketing can be a logical extension of your existing sales efforts. It can also help you reach prospects who are looking for businesses like yours - in many cases, prospects you might never find on your own. If, on the other hand, you sell gravel by the tonne to local contractors who phone you whenever they need a truckload, eBusiness may not be cost-effective - although it has changed with MyOffice24x7 as your customers will be able to track their order execution in real-time.

HOW AMBITIOUS CAN BE MY E-BUSINESS GOALS?

At the simplest level, an eBusiness site can be nothing more than an online product sheet with an email link that says "Request a price quotation". At the intermediate level, an eBusiness site could be created with an easy-to-use web authoring tool. Individual pages within the site could link to a database of product descriptions and prices, with an e-form for submitting orders. With MyOffice24x7 this becomes a standard operational process.

WILL E-BUSINESS HELP ME SELL TO MY EXISTING CUSTOMERS?

Many companies sell to the same customers on a regular basis. For such relationships, an eBusiness portal will minimise the need for routine sales calls. It also makes ordering quicker and easier for the customer, who can make purchases via a step-by-step interactive process or a web-based electronic form, make payments, check order execution, have access to full history of ordering, invoices and receipts. .

HOW MUCH CAN I AFFORD TO INVEST IN E-BUSINESS?

The best way to answer this question is to estimate what you’d spend to grow your business without eBusiness. Would you hire a sales representative, spend more on advertising or use direct mail? Finally, would an eBusiness website reduce the cost of selling to existing customers as described above?

SHOULD MY E-BUSINESS SITE BE IN-HOUSE OR RUN BY AN OUTSIDE SERVICE PROVIDER?

Unless you have advanced computer skills, a web server and a dedicated high-speed connection to the Internet, usually you would want to have your site hosted by a Service Provider. With MyOffice24x7, you have both choices available.