Online E-Commerce Survey - Jan 2007

By The National Association of Small Business Development Centers

The survey sought to understand the challenges that small business owners face marketing their businesses online. Revealing highlights of the survey include:

• Almost half of the respondents (45%) ranked having a website as "very important"
• (22%) stated that it was "extremely important."
• A large percentage of respondents (66%) cited the cost of hiring a web designer or webmaster as a key barrier to owning a website.
• Other key barriers included:
  • Lack of technical knowledge (59%)
  • Finding and retaining a qualified web designer (43%)
  • The hassle and cost of retaining a web designer to manage and make updates to their sites (40%)
  • 65% stated that their clients believed that larger-sized businesses had more resources and knowledge than they about how to better market their businesses online
  • Almost half (46%) felt that having a website would help them effectively compete against larger-sized businesses
• Respondents were split on the average budget their clients spent trying to acquire new customers.
  • (42%) stated 5%
  • (42%) stated 10%
• More than half (57%) of ASBDC poll respondents ranked themselves as "somewhat" comfortable and knowledgeable in making online recommendations to clients
• (21%) responded as "very comfortable."
• Only (6%) considered themselves "extremely comfortable."

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About the Authors:
Homestead Technologies, Inc. provides a suite of easy-to-use, non-technical website creation products, ecommerce solutions and online marketing products and services for small businesses that wish to establish or enhance their presence online.
Established through a public/private partnership by Congress in 1980, the Small Business Development Center program is the most comprehensive, efficient and effective business assistance network in the nation.