Getting Your Small Business Online

The Sunraysia Rural Counselling Service was recently successful in obtaining funding through the Federal Government for the "Getting Your Small Business Online" Project, which will run over the next 18 months.

The objective of the Small Business Online Program is to assist small businesses, including home based businesses, to go online, significantly enhance their web presence, increase their website usage and engage in e-business capabilities to help reduce their costs and improve their market opportunities.

Information and seminars will cover the following:

attracting and retaining customers through website marketing,
reducing costs of marketing, communication and training
enabling e-commerce
enabling small businesses to become part of a regional or national network
identifying competitors through the internet
accessing banking and secure payment of accounts on line.

The Project will deliver skills development through training workshops, group mentoring and information services throughout the Mildura Rural City Council, the Swan Hill Rural City Council and the Buloke Shire Council regions. The Project plans to attract 180 participants to 12 training workshops, a further 120 participants to access group mentoring sessions and also expect to provide information about ecommerce generally, to another 100 participants. The major industry sectors to be targeted are accommodation, cafes & restaurants, manufacturing, retail, property & business services and cultural and recreational services.

What is e-business?

Many businesses are already doing e-business in some way such as:

communicating with customers, clients or suppliers via email.
sending emails to other businesses to order products and services.
Selling products or services via our website.
using the Web to find information, such as prices, phone numbers, reviews of products.
using the Web for research, such as the latest industry trends.
using their website to provide information about our products and services.
using their website as a means of managing the information in our business.
using the Internet for online banking and paying our bills using BPAY.

No level of e-business is necessarily better than any other level. Some businesses don't need a website but deal all day with other businesses and customers online via email and an e-marketplace . Other businesses have a website that helps them sell their products all around the world. It's up to each business to determine what level of e-business is right for them.

The difference between e-business and e-commerce

The term e-commerce has a narrower meaning than e-business. It refers to using the Internet to order and pay for products or services. So e-commerce is a sub-set of e-business.

E-commerce happens when a consumer orders a product from a business and pays for it either when they receive the product or directly online at the time of ordering. It happens when a business pays another business via its website for supplies.

E-commerce refers specifically to the paying for goods and services, whereas e-business covers the full range of business activities that can happen or be assisted via email or the Web.

Workshops will address the following topics:

"What is e-business and is it for me"

"Choosing the Right Website for your Business & Budget"

"All you need to start selling online"

"Website optimisation"