by Shannan Hearne
http://www.successpromotions.com
Mama said there'd be days like
these. And boy, have we had days and
days of them. With an unstable
economy, a nation on the brink of war,
an impending sense of "waiting
for the other shoe to drop"
following 9/11, and for many of us
either no second income spouse at home
or a diminishing second income from
the spouse at home; it is becoming
imperative that our small and
home-based businesses not just survive
but begin to show a healthy profit.
How is small business, and more
specifically, your small business
going to survive in the new economy?
There was a time not long ago when
many of us were successful in our
small and home-based businesses almost
in spite of ourselves. Those days are
long gone. Growing and competing
locally and online is going to require
new plans of survival.
According to the Business Journal
of Houston, "The recession has
been especially harsh on women-owned
companies, which comprised 40 percent
of all small businesses two years ago
but now command only 32 percent of the
pie. Home-based businesses have been
clobbered, too, comprising just 19
percent of the small-business universe
compared to 26 percent in 2000. "
What if we are giving our
businesses all we've got and we still
aren't giving them enough? For low
cost, far reaching marketing options,
we need to fully tap into the internet
as a global marketplace.
"Although more small
businesses are experimenting with Web
promotion of their products and
services, the market is far from
saturated and there is still plenty of
room to grow," said Raymond
Boggs, IDC vice president of small
business research. Now is the time to
cultivate strong online relationships
and delve into both business to
business sales and business to
consumer sales. If you aren't doing
this, your small or home-based
business may be a 2003 obituary.
According to current statistis,
"Of those small businesses buying
over the Web, 30 percent have made a
purchase within the past week, and 64
percent have done so within the past
month. Of the 1,500 small business
owners and top-level executives
interviewed, 600 respondents, or 39
percent, said they had access to the
Internet, up from 32 percent who said
they had access in a similar survey
sponsored by the two companies in
1997. More than half (55 percent) of
respondents with Internet access said
they've made a business-related
purchase via the World Wide Web in the
past year, more than twice the number
who said they did in 1997." Its
time to take a long, hard look at your
business and make plans to market to
small businesses as well as consumers
for enduring success. Networking is
again, the name of the game for
survival. If you cannot market to
small businesses, then put into place
plans to cooperatively market with
them.
Perhaps all you've got hasn't been
enough to sustain your business. But
if you can combine all you've got with
all everybody has to offer as well,
you can live long and prosper online
with your small or home-based
business.
Shannan Hearne is the president and
wizard of http://www.SuccessPromotions.com,
an online marketing services company
specializing in helping small
businesses take root and grow in the
global internet economy.
