Archive for Small-Medium Business

Teamwork, But Less Technology

Teamwork, But Less Technology

Mid-tier firms don’t use collaboration tools as much as larger companies do. Is that wise?

Small and growing businesses are not technology laggards. Mid-tier companies are more likely than large companies to be early and midstream technology adopters, and they are increasing IT spending faster, according to past CIO Insight surveys.

Fascinating article which looks at the differences in IT use between large and small/medium firms. If you look at the chart there are differences across the board, but the largest differences appear to be in specific collaborative technologies. The article speculates why this might be the case, but it would be useful to dig a bit deeper into how the large companies are using these technologies. What are the demographics that are different? Are the companies more productive or less when they use these technologies. On chart is particularly interesting:

25 March, 2008 | No comments

Small-Town Shops Bulk Up on the Web

Small-Town Shops Bulk Up on the Web - New York Times

Beyond the revenue from online sales, Manitowoc’s merchants say the biggest benefit of e-commerce is that it enables them to turn over their inventory much more quickly, so owners can add more products and variety to their sales floors. That, in turn, encourages more interest and customer traffic, diversifies the revenue stream and contributes to downtown street life here and in other small cities.

Another great article on how digital stakeholder relationships are impacting traditional stakeholder relations. They can work together. But the thing that I find funny is the experts predicted this would happen at the advent of the WWW, not 10 years later

16 November, 2005 | No comments

Seth’s Blog: Small is the new big

Seth’s Blog: Small is the new big

Big used to matter. Big meant economies of scale. (You never hear about “economies of tiny” do you?) People, usually guys, often ex-Marines, wanted to be CEO of a big company. The Fortune 500 is where people went to make… a fortune.

Great post on Seth Godins Blog about the problems with big and the benfits of small. Most American’s do not realize the benefits of big, but if you go to Europe or Australia they get it. They realize the importance of small business and the value it. Perhaps people like Seth spreading the benfits of small will help others think small. Thinking small will most definitely have an impact on digital stakeholder relations because we will not simply be numbers, but customers and friends.

6 October, 2005 | No comments

All Blogged Up And No Place To Go - Small Business Blog Survey

All Blogged Up And No Place To Go - Small Business Blog Survey

Adding to this claim is the discovery that 27 percent of those that do blog post less than once a month. Given this fact it is no wonder that 36 percent of the respondents also claimed that their blogging activity had done “nothing” for them in terms of marketing.

This survey seems to report different results than other surveys I have seen, but the difference might be its focus on SME’s. Blogs were perceived as an easy way to promote one’s business so this would surely appeal to SMEs which are constantly trying to get blood from a turnip.

6 October, 2005 | No comments

Las Vegas Business Press

Las Vegas Business Press

Only a few years ago, traditional travel agencies dominated the corporate travel market. Today, four in 10 business travelers book their trips online, according to Forrester Research, a New York-based market research firm.

Cost-conscious businesses account for as much as 7 percent of Priceline’s travel business, according to Forrester Research.

“Everybody’s more Internet savvy today than they were just two or three years ago and the (corporate travel) Web sites are easier to use. The result is the travel industry has changed dramatically,” said Henry Harteveldt, vice president of Forrester Research, who explained that 41 percent of business travelers now shop online, up from 37 percent a year ago.

Good review of how Internet Portals have changed the travel industry. There has been a huge impact on this industry as just a few years ago it seemed there were travel agecies on every corner. Now it seems there are only a few left in each city.

14 September, 2005 | No comments

Update: Oracle portals target SMB customers across Europe

Update: Oracle portals target SMB customers across Europe

The portals are intended to make it easier for SMBs to find software they might want to use from Oracle and its partners. Oracle was quick to emphasize that it is not selling directly to smaller businesses — a practice that has traditionally irked the channel partners of many large vendors.

Good use of portals to support the other channel relationships. Also, many companies neglect SMBs becasue they are not the “big buck” sales, but Europe recognizes the importance of SMBs. Perhaps some day the US will as well.

8 September, 2005 | No comments

destinationCRM.com: High-Tech Goes After SMBs

destinationCRM.com: High-Tech Goes After SMBs

Communications and High-Tech (CHT) companies are beginning to covet the SMB market, which they have traditionally ignored. According to a new report by Accenture, “Penetrating the Ultimate Market,” the declining price of PCs, servers, and telecommunications devices (combined with “razor thin” profit margins) are forcing CHTs to focus on smaller companies. SMBs worldwide spend more than $800 billion each year on IT and telecommunications hardware, software, and services, according to Kevin Bandy, a partner in Accenture’s electronics and high tech industry group. By 2008 that figure is expected to top $1.1 trillion, according to AMR Research. In addition, IT and communication spending growth among SMBs tend to outpace that of larger businesses.

All I can say is “It is about time!” Why do we as American’s have such a fascination with “big”? MIS researchers at universities in the USA see very little value in exploring SMB issues. However the rest of the world gets it. The rest of the world realizes that SMBs are are where the action is, where the good things happen.

31 August, 2005 | No comments

Learn The Basics of Online Sales Before Jumping Into The Web

Learn The Basics of Online Sales Before Jumping Into The Web

From the offices of AllBusiness.Com, the champions of small business, the following step-by-step guide will teach you the pathway to financial prosperity on the Information Superhighway.

18 August, 2005 | No comments

Small Firms Find Success Online, Too

Small Firms Find Success Online, Too

The implosions of thousands of Web retailers compounded by the rise of Internet giants like Amazon.com Inc. and Overstock.com Inc. could suggest there is no room online for the little guys. Success stories of eBay merchants abound, of course, but less heralded are the local tales of companies like BooksFree.com and District-based firms Gratis Internet LLC and Varsity Group Inc., which found sustainable business models offering goods through their own sites.

I think that I too have been subject to this form of thinking. The internet opens up all kinds of optiopns and just becasue someone else is doing it does not mean you can’t do something similar and be successful. How often do we see Lowe’s across the street from Home Depot? The bottoml ine is I go to Lowe’s because they do a better job of relating to this stakeholder (me as customer) while others will prefer Home Depot. the key is to understand your target.

18 August, 2005 | 1 comment

One Man’s Attempt To Stamp Out Spam Ends With A Lesson - 07/03/05

One Man’s Attempt To Stamp Out Spam Ends With A Lesson - 07/03/05

By Ariana Eunjung Cha | The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — In 2003, Meng Wong and a friend wrote a program with the bold goal of helping to save e-mail. Wong, a 29-year-old tech entrepreneur, worried that the worldwide message system was in danger of being overwhelmed by spam, phishing and other online scourges. He released the software on the Internet for everyone to use for free.

It drew the notice of software giant Microsoft Corp., which had been working on a similar product of its own. Nearly a dozen other companies — including Yahoo Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. — also were trying to come up with a way to make the e-mail system more reliable, but none could agree on a common approach.

4 July, 2005 | No comments

Chicago Tribune: My Tech - Internet Millionaire’s Life Now A Full Canvas

Chicago Tribune news: My Tech - Internet Millionaire’s Life Now A Full Canvas

Chicago Tribune staff reporter Alex L. Goldfayn offers an intriguing personal synopsis pertaining to the life and times of Boundless Gallery LLC founder Peter Gregory, 43, who discovered fame and fortune online.

2 July, 2005 | No comments

Chicago Tribune News : Technology

Chicago Tribune News : Technology

Web Merchants Learn From Dot-Com Disasters
Retailers regroup, forge partnerships to shave overhead, increase efficiency

By Dennis Nishi
Special to the Tribune
Published June 25, 2005

25 June, 2005 | No comments

HoustonChronicle.Com - eBay Pushes Custom-Built Web Stores

HoustonChronicle.Com - eBay Pushes Custom-Built Web Stores

Associated Press

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Eager to find new sources of income beyond its popular online auction format, eBay Inc. launched a new service today that encourages small- and medium-sized sellers to build Web stores that operate independent of the e-commerce powerhouse.

23 June, 2005 | No comments

PayPal introduces suite for SMBs | InfoWorld | News | 2005-06-20 | By Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service

PayPal introduces suite for SMBs | InfoWorld | News | 2005-06-20 | By Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service

The new suite, called PayPal Website Payments Pro, lets merchants offer three new payment options to their buyers with the ultimate goal of giving PayPal customers more flexibility and control over the checkout process.

20 June, 2005 | No comments

Light Reading - Networking The Telecom Industry

Light Reading - Networking The Telecom Industry

Vonage Picks Avaya For Call Center
JUNE 20, 2005

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. — Today, Vonage, the leading broadband telephony provider in North America, announced its sales and service subsidiary, Vonage America, has chosen Avaya’s SIP-based telephony and contact center solutions to quickly expand its call center capacity and productivity. To meet its goal to provide best in class customer service, Vonage turned to Avaya Inc. (NYSE:AV), a leading global provider of business communications applications, services and systems, to expand its customer service capabilities and greatly increase the number of callers the company handles daily.

As the market for broadband telephony becomes increasingly competitive, an emphasis on customer satisfaction will help give Vonage the edge to continue its growth

20 June, 2005 | No comments

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