Starting a business

Taking a small business online Taking a small business online Having operated a business that deals with electronics for the last five years, I realized that there are benefits that would come if we take our business online. The firm is A-One Electronics, and it deals with electronic devices, such as television sets, radios, desktop computers, and laptops among others. After a long time of thinking and contemplating about taking this step, I started performing a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity, and Threat) analysis to evaluate the possible advantages and disadvantages that would be derived from such a move (Fine, 2009). I realized that getting our business online and creating a website with a place whereby all information about the business and answers to prospective question are handled can be advantageous. This is because a webpage can include a lot of content compared to posters or other printed materials. Likewise, having the business online would make it look professional and established, so this would help our business to make a full and positive first impression. Another major strength that I realized is that because our firm has operated locally for the last few years, this would be a good opportunity to keep and retain the customers who have enjoyed our services in the past and are spread over different geographical locations. Since most of our esteemed customers are out of town and know our products, the affordable prices, and the high quality of the goods, our buyers will be able to access them wherever they are. This is because as a business, we have an ethical responsibility to the society to offer products that are affordable to our customers and avoid consumer exploitation through high prices. Likewise, because our firm offers after sale services to our customers, such as transporting the products to our customers’ destinations, this will attract many people who are so busy in their jobs to physically buy the products. This helps in reducing the expenses that the customer would incur from doing purchases at our premises. Another strength in going online is that advertising our newly invented 6 to 8 hour delivery (depending on the customer’s geographical location from the time an individual places his or her order for delivery) would attract many buyers. Moreover, creating a website in the internet which is user friendly would increase the number of people who would log in due to its ease and the reduced procedures. This would help our customers to log into the website easily from any place, and they can immediately access the variety of products that is available. Hence, the customers can access our shop and place orders without having necessarily to travel to the shop – this is an aspect that saves time. Some of the weaknesses of this idea would be that the firm would be stretched financially because there are costs that will arise in employing a website administrator though our business is small and has limited capital. In addition, our firm cannot manage wholesale business due to its size like other companies advertised in the internet which enjoy economies of scale. Likewise, we cannot do product delivery to overseas countries which reduces our market share and the volume of sales. The opportunities of our firm arising from this would be very great and promising because this would expand our business to institutions and other organizations which offer good business. This would include delivering computers to these schools and colleges which would be promoted by our after sale services, such as repairs and maintenance. Another great opportunity is that with the advancement and increase in the number of people using the internet, our business would make use of the Pop Ups on our website which draws great attention among the prospective buyers (Kennedy, 2005). One of the threats from this would be the stiff competition from already established sellers who enjoy the benefits of economies of scale and have big capital to expand and offer better terms of sale. Another threat can be the existence of internet crimes and the black market whereby second hand and fake electronics are being smuggled into the countries and sold at very low prices. SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats High quality products Limited capital to expand its operations overseas Expansion of its market to schools and colleges Stiff competition from existing firms Affordable prices Short time in the market. Customer awareness through the internet. The emerging black market. Some of the key issues that affect this kind of business include trust. In order to address this challenge, our firm would ensure timely deliveries and provision of quality products which builds trust among the customers. On culture, our business will ensure that it offers products which are in line with the people’s culture because contrary to this, the firm will build a bad reputation. Our business would also ensure that it is informed concerning the laws governing international business to avoid being in conflict with any country due to law breaking (Ritcher, 2009). Some of the crimes associated with e-commerce include phishing which involves scamsters creating counterfeit websites that look like those of legitimate businesses and the ID crime which has become so difficult to combat. Although it is very difficult to control these crimes, our business would conduct consumer intensive education through the website. Furthermore, posting clear rules on the website would help reduce these crimes since people would be well informed. In conclusion, it is important for the small businesses to expand their reach and connect with a larger audience to have a website. This is because the advantages of having a website outweigh the disadvantages. Monitoring the changing trends in technology and having a business online will always give a business a competitive edge needed for its growth (Wallbank, 2011). References Fine, L. G. (2009). The Swot Analysis (2nd ed.). Washington: CreateSpace. Kennedy, J. (2005). The Small Business Owner’s manual. New York: Career Press. Ritcher, A. (2009). Swot Analysis- Ideas, Methodology and a Practical Approach. New York: Wallbank, P. (2011). 7 Steps To Get Your Small Business Online. New York: John Wiley & sons.