Small Businesses Offer Web Tips
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, AP - June 99
Small businesses looking for success on the Internet
should have functional, well-designed Web sites and advertising good enough to lure
customers, a New England seafood retailer told a House committee Wednesday.
Hanson Bros. Fresh Seafood of Portland, Maine, launched its Web site in February
and already Internet sales account for 25 percent to 30 percent of the company's fresh
fish and seafood business, said Brian Hanson, the owner.
He was not sure what to expect from going online, but said he was lucky to get
help from an Internet service provider that helped put him on the Web.
``I realized that on our own we had very little chance of succeeding on the
Internet,'' Hanson told the House Small Business Committee at a hearing on the effects of
``e-commerce'' on small businesses. ``We lacked technical skills, large capital for
equipment and advertising and the time necessary to manage it all. ``Though the
Internet seemed a democratic forum for thought and dialogue, the advantage, as always,
goes to the big players,'' Hanson said.
But being on the Web has been beneficial, he said. The venture has created
another avenue by which to sell the fish, broadened his customer base and generated sales
in slower months to keep money flowing into the small, family owned business. Rep.
Jim Talent, R-Mo., said less than 2 percent of the 7 million businesses with fewer than
100 employees operate online, compared with about 40 percent of companies with 1,000 or
more workers.
He said the numbers ``mean that small businesses face the potential of losing
market share to companies that are staying ahead of this new technological wave.''
Daniel Hill, assistant administrator for technology for the U.S. Small Business
Administration, said the agency was working to encourage small businesses to take
advantage of the Internet, where some 27 million purchases are made daily.
Others said consumer questions about privacy concerns prevail. Alan
Anderson, senior vice president for technical services at the American Institute of
Certified Public Accountants said about three-quarters of customers do not complete
transactions over the Internet because of such worries.
Hanson said 10 percent to 15 percent of his customers who order online will
telephone later to make sure the order was received and processed. ``It's going to
take a while for people to feel comfortable,'' he said.
