WHY 50% OF SMALL BUSINESSES STILL DO NOT HAVE WEBSITES
Half of small businesses still do not have websites.
WHY?
41%* of these businesses without websites say their business “DOES NOT NEED A WEBSITE.” This is a dismissal, not a reason.
IF WE DIG DEEPER:
As you can probably guess, most small business owners without websites are not tech savvy. They dismiss the need for a website because:
1. They do not understand it and how it could help their business?
2. It seems too expensive, complicated, time-consuming, etc.
3. They are “doing just fine without it” or they have “NEVER NEEDED ONE BEFORE”
Consider how much the internet has changed in the last 10 to 15 years: smartphones, tablets, Google, Facebook, Twitter, the slow death of newspapers, Amazon, etc. IT IS A FAR DIFFERENT WORLD.
76%* of small business owners are over 45. As we get older and busier, we fall out of touch with technology as we settle into our ways. These changes are easy to miss if you’re busy running a business and most of your customers are repeat customers or referrals, but this is a DEADLY DECEPTION. Just because things seem OK now, it does not mean everything is fine.
That’s like jumping off a building and halfway down saying, “SO FAR SO GOOD” This is HOW BUSINESSES DIE: they do not see the need to change until it is too late.
The real problem The “DO NOT NEED IT” argument comes down to TWO things:
1.LACK OF EDUCATION: Not understanding:
a/ How a website helps a business.
b/ How a website helps customers.
c/ The long-term negative impact of not having a website.
2.NOT EASY / AFFORDABLE ENOUGH:
Getting and maintaining a website (still) is not fast, easy, or affordable enough for most small businesses to feel comfortable.
As professionals in the web development community, this is a failing on our part?
If so, HOW CAN WE FIX IT?
NEED VERSES WANT (It Enough)
Almost half of small businesses without websites say they do not need a website, but they really mean THEY DO NOT WANT IT ENOUGH. There is a threshold where the want for something surpasses the pain (cost / complexity / time) of getting it.
I would guess that 99.9%* OF SMALL BUSINESSES claiming they do not need a website, would CHANGE THEIR MIND if they could snap their fingers and have a fully built, maintenance free, zero cost, zero effort website?
No such thing exists (yet), but that’s not the point. The point is that if it were easy / cheap enough, they would want one. Now it’s just a matter of HELPING THEM WANTING IT ENOUGH to cross that threshold.
THAT IS WHERE EDUCATION, EASE AND AFFORDABILITY COME IN:
Education raises their willingness to get a website. Making it cheaper and easier lowers the threshold.
WHY?
41%* of these businesses without websites say their business “DOES NOT NEED A WEBSITE.” This is a dismissal, not a reason.
IF WE DIG DEEPER:
As you can probably guess, most small business owners without websites are not tech savvy. They dismiss the need for a website because:
1. They do not understand it and how it could help their business?
2. It seems too expensive, complicated, time-consuming, etc.
3. They are “doing just fine without it” or they have “NEVER NEEDED ONE BEFORE”
Consider how much the internet has changed in the last 10 to 15 years: smartphones, tablets, Google, Facebook, Twitter, the slow death of newspapers, Amazon, etc. IT IS A FAR DIFFERENT WORLD.
76%* of small business owners are over 45. As we get older and busier, we fall out of touch with technology as we settle into our ways. These changes are easy to miss if you’re busy running a business and most of your customers are repeat customers or referrals, but this is a DEADLY DECEPTION. Just because things seem OK now, it does not mean everything is fine.
That’s like jumping off a building and halfway down saying, “SO FAR SO GOOD” This is HOW BUSINESSES DIE: they do not see the need to change until it is too late.
The real problem The “DO NOT NEED IT” argument comes down to TWO things:
1.LACK OF EDUCATION: Not understanding:
a/ How a website helps a business.
b/ How a website helps customers.
c/ The long-term negative impact of not having a website.
2.NOT EASY / AFFORDABLE ENOUGH:
Getting and maintaining a website (still) is not fast, easy, or affordable enough for most small businesses to feel comfortable.
As professionals in the web development community, this is a failing on our part?
If so, HOW CAN WE FIX IT?
NEED VERSES WANT (It Enough)
Almost half of small businesses without websites say they do not need a website, but they really mean THEY DO NOT WANT IT ENOUGH. There is a threshold where the want for something surpasses the pain (cost / complexity / time) of getting it.
I would guess that 99.9%* OF SMALL BUSINESSES claiming they do not need a website, would CHANGE THEIR MIND if they could snap their fingers and have a fully built, maintenance free, zero cost, zero effort website?
No such thing exists (yet), but that’s not the point. The point is that if it were easy / cheap enough, they would want one. Now it’s just a matter of HELPING THEM WANTING IT ENOUGH to cross that threshold.
THAT IS WHERE EDUCATION, EASE AND AFFORDABILITY COME IN:
Education raises their willingness to get a website. Making it cheaper and easier lowers the threshold.