Is Your Business Dead?

Thanks to everybody who joined us for the 2007 Small Business Summit in New York City last week.  It was fantastic to see 350 small business owners in one place, especially when so many of them were Homestead customers!  I am always inspired by the passion and creativity that you all put into your businesses and organizations on a daily basis.

For those of you who couldn't make it, I thought I would share a few of the highlights from my speech, entitled Your Business Is Dead and You Don't Even Know It.  My point was that starting a business today is more risky, but also more exhilarating, than ever before.  All because of this little thing called the Internet. 

Even twelve years ago, when I started my business, it was significantly easier to survive than it is today.  Big companies acted like big companies, only going after the giant targets, leaving a lot of smaller targets for small companies.  If you could provide a unique value proposition, with great customer service, you could survive.  However, making it big was harder, because it took a long time and a LOT of money to extend the reach of your products/services and build the necessary infrastructure.  Neither of those things is true anymore.

Today you can look big fast because of the internet.  You can get big-company infrastructure for cheap...again, because of the internet.  You can reach the entire world, 24 x 7...because of the internet.  However, big companies are now offering amazing levels of service, flexibility, and customized products... all because of the internet.  The "long tail" theory is giving niche products a much bigger marketplace, but big companies are now able to justify competing in those niches. 

So, if you can leverage the internet, your new business can get ahead like never before.  If you ignore the internet, you're dead before you know it.  Here are ten signs you are in the dead category:

1. You think the internet is a coming revolution. Sorry to break it to you, but the revolution already happened. How often do you use the yellow pages compared to five years ago?
2. You still don't have a website.  Unless your business is less than one month old or you are intentionally trying to make this hard, you have a major problem.
3. You have a website, but you don't know how to change it.  A website that doesn't change frequently is dead.  And a dead website is a dead business.
4. You acquire less than 1/2 of your customers via the internet.  Over 1/2 of your customers are looking for you online, so who is getting your share?
5. You think your website is just for acquiring new customers.  Most businesses earn over 50% of their revenue from repeat customers.  Is 50% of your website dedicated to driving repeat business?
6. You think your business is local.  Flower shops, travel agents, tax preparers, bookstores, all thought they were local businesses.  Guess who dominates those categories now?  'Nuff said.
7. You think your website is just for the "front office."  More and more "back office" services are being offered on the web: payroll, voice services, accounting, marketing, etc. all can save you time and money and help you compete.
8. You think your website is your internet strategy. Without connections to lead sources, comparison shopping engines, online communities, search engines, mobile services, other websites or blogs, etc. you are living in a Field of Dreams.  Trust me, if you just build it, they will NOT come.
9. You try to hide that you are a small business.  Don't hide it, small is beautiful.  The internet can help you provide big company value, but customers still want small company service.
10. You take all of my advice (or anybody else's). No two businesses are the same, so you have to figure out for yourself exactly how the internet can help your business.  Test, learn, improve. 

There you have it--I saved you a trip to icy New York.   Thanks again for all of the wonderful support from those of you I met in person, and I look forward to meeting many more of you in the future.  Maybe they'll take the Small Business Summit on a nation-wide tour?

--jsk

Comments

[Ken Clark]

While I found most of your comments helpful, the one about the print yellow pages is really off-base.

US adults referenced them over 15 billion times last year. And that’s just the print versions. 90% of all adults reference them at least once a year, 75% in a typical month, and 50+% on average month. How about on average 1.4X each week? And let’s remember that not everyone has Internet access to reference those websites you are talking about.

I realize it may seem like the world revolves around NYC but people outside the city really do use their books.

There is still no other directional media that can provide buyers the information they need when they need it about local businesses than the print Yellow Pages. It is truly the original local search engine….

But if businesses insist, that same Yellow Pages sales rep also has a complete portfolio of local search and Internet based products that they can help you with.

[James Galvin]

I think that it is a really good idea to not hide your "smallness." I wonder if in the future you could find any evidence that customers trust smaller businesses or larger ones across a variety of industries. Do consumers trust Citigroup or their small bank? Do they prefer Safeway or their local grocer? I think this would be an interesting and illuminating study.

[Ramon Ray]

Justin, to answer your last question about taking the Summit on tour....absolutely. I want to take it on a national 4 - 8 city tour (maybe even more)! - thanks again for coming to speak.

Ramon Ray, Smallbiztechnology.com

[Justin]

Ramon, great event last week. Sign me up for the national tour. :o)

Ken, thanks for your comment. I don't disagree that people still use the yellow pages in great numbers, but I'm afraid your industry is going to be in for a big shock soon. When I asked the audience of 400 people in NY if anybody had used the yellow pages in the past month, NOBODY raised their hand. You can say that NY and SF are early adopters, but you're kidding yourself if you think people aren't using the web to do local searches all over the country. I'm from Kansas, and nobody under 30 uses the yellow pages there either.
Justin

[Dawn Rivers Baker]

Justin, I have to disagree with one thing you said here.

"However, big companies are now offering amazing levels of service, flexibility, and customized products... all because of the internet."

While it's true that big companies have invested in some of the programming razzle-dazzle that allows for things like web site customization, I don't think their levels of customer service or their flexibility are necessarily improving - for two very specific reasons.

One of them has to do with size and scale. However much technology might give larger companies the ability to be more flexible, much of corporate culture leans in the opposite direction. And because of downward costs pressures, a lot of those companies are hiring lowest common denominator customer service reps who have trouble departing from their scripts, only speak English marginally, and don't seem to know enough to be helpful.

Not exactly what I would call superlative customer service.

In addition, the big boys might be targeting a broader array of customers than their fellow big boys, but they still don't have much of a clue about what those smaller entities need in the way of products, services or price.

Until such time as they acquire said clue, I don't know how much of a threat they'll prove to be, especially to Long Tail microbusiness B2B suppliers.

Sorry I got snowed in and missed you while you were on the East Coast. I'll have to catch you next time you're out this way.

(Hi, Ramon!)

Dawn Rivers Baker, The MicroEnterprise Journal

[Shawanda Poree]

I had a great time at the Small Business Summit in New York. As a small business in the south, it was a great opportunity to see what everyone else is doing to grow their business.

Thanks,

Shawanda
Poree's Embroidery
www.porees.com

[Rick Lynch]

Homestead did a great job of becoming more "Alive" and less "Dead" by improving search engine optimization for your own site. I might be interested in switching to Homestead from Geocities (another WYSIWYG hosting service), but SEO is one of the factors I will be considering. I know you can pay for ads with Searchlight, but are you doing anything to make your customer's sites perform better with SEO...no frames, good URLs, etc?

[Sam]

Justin,
I want you to contact me ASAP and provise me a direct phone number to you.

[R. B. Chandler]

Is my business dead? Hmmm.... Well I haven't really gotten around to the business end of things yet so it is hard to know.

I'm still working on telling my stories in an interesting fashion. It has taken years to reach the level of complexity I envisioned back in the '90s when I barely knew what a web site was much less have the skills I have today. I think I'm on my 8th or 9th upgrade with a complete overhaul of all my web sites with an eye toward getting into the business part of things sometime in the near future.

Is my business dead? It has never really been alive, but soon I will raise it into the storm, flip the switch, and if I get hit by just the right bolt of lightening I get to scream "IT"S ALIVE!" into the night.

[yoyou]

we're a small business but we're starting to utilize the web nicely now! our funny video's on youtube are starting to catch on!

www.youtube.com/reeceracer

[Milli Madara]

Hi,I`ve only just started on this online business. I am an artist and will be trying Homestead for a website as soon as I can get my finances in order!!I like what I saw enjoyed your blog too-informative.So watch out for me soon
Milli

[Mike]

Internet business is dead..!

It's great to be able to provide a website with your products .. etc..
But how do you deliver? Most (international)internet ordered items are stolen before they reach the consumers...! Either individualy by the postal representative.. or in the container load! So don't rely on internet transactions to boost your business... Only offer a secure transferal method of goods.. courier or better..

[Ahmed Roushdy]

National tour?!?!
What about international tour? I'm from Cairo, Egypt.. and Im telling you if you could come here.. the people will love you and your amazing ideas..

let me know if you are interested!!