Implications of Internet Use in Small and Medium-Sized Businesses

Implications of Internet Use in Small and Medium-Sized Businesses

Over one billion individuals use the internet every day. Those individuals are a source of information to small businesses. For instance, the Internet has enabled small and medium-sized businesses with access to information infrastructure more than even what larger institutions could access. Significance on the use of the internet in small enterprises is exhibited by the growing number of researchers internationally with interest on this topic. For instance, most Small to Medium-sized Businesses has previously ventured in using custom application software (Bresciani, Ferraris, & Del Giudice, 2018). These systems are organization dependent and can rarely become useful to other institutions. The internet attributed to unique characteristics. The internet is not owned by any individual, company or government institution. Secondly, it is not easy to determine causality.For example, the response may depend on a specific link and may vary over the day. Therefore, this paper provides a detailed overview of the implications of Internet use in Small to Medium-sized businesses.

Most small businesses still lack a local online listing. Even those that are listed online still do not have a full online presence optimization. Therefore, online domination for Small to Medium-sized Businesses can boost sales and customer loyalty through the web. Small businesses that have had a primarily online presence have gained from increased sales and also taught more customers than those that have not. Thus, online presence enhances the accessibility of the business by the clients. It gives customers a means of using less effort to check for prices and make an appropriate comparison before making decisions. As a result, Small to Medium-sized Businesses will gain more customers if their online presence dominates (McCormick & Fernhaber, 2018). Therefore, an online web presence is not only just significant to growing small businesses, but it is crucial. Online shopping is an upcoming trend, where the online share of marketing is increasing rapidly. Most Small to Medium-sized companies is investing in this to market and sell their products. The number of pickup stations is vastly growing in several countries. Times back, retailers delivered goods to consumers’ homes through mail order, butcurrently, mail order companies form a larger community of online shopping. Consumers appreciate the home delivery type of online shopping because it saves their time and eases how they acquire their products on demand. This is all an implication of internet use, especially for small to medium-sized businesses.

A vendor portal is an internet-based platform where customers, vendors, and partners would communicate efficiently. It allows for seamless communication among these parties. A connection is a useful tool in business, and, therefore, it is necessarily needed by small-scale companies to succeed. Small to Medium-sized Businesses have therefore ventured into using these business tools to grow their businesses. They become able to collaborate in a secure environment using the internet. Social media has had a lot of impact on internet use. Most people spend the majority of their online time in social media platforms. This has therefore motivated small scale businesses to transform their way of doing business. Social media platforms have transformed into practical tools for the operations of small enterprises. This is by making small enterprises to use opinion and suggestive content pages to improve their core business goals. A VPN is an encrypted data transmission network which provides a safer environment but uses a less secure network such as the internet. Therefore, as much as the internet is beneficial to businesses, it possesses several threads that can cause harm to businesses. Companies have to protect their data to the extreme. They, therefore, have to use VPNs when necessary so as not to be at the loose ends. Businesses may have classified information, and consequently, specific information will have a particular target audience. Therefore, to ensure that information does not leak, even small companies invest in using a VPN. Initially, VPNs were developed to provide a less expensive way to access corporate applications and data. However, currently, VPNs are used by remote corporate employees to gain access to geographically restricted information. Third parties mostly provide these VPNs (Hornuf, & Schwienbacher, 2018). On the other hand, cloud computing generally describes hosting services over the internet and explicitly having an organization’s data and applications stored and accessed over the web. Therefore, cloud-based technology can yield many benefits for businesses. Some of these benefits include simplified operations, efficient scalability, improved information visibility, sustainability, enhanced accuracy, and reliability. Majority of Small to Medium-sized Businesses are now realizing the importance of cloud computing.

In conclusion, the internet is very crucial to small businesses. For instance, the internet helps start-up businesses to acquire clients. The internet also is the source of information to small enterprises. Additionally, the Internet has had a lot of impact on how low to Medium-sized businesses operate. The changing technologies and introduction of new technologies have caused these businesses to adjust their operations. Small to Medium-sized companies still use the Internet as a mode of communication alongside telephone and facsimile, even though advertising and marketing are also driving Internet use. Online shopping and web presence are growing trends that every business, both large and small-sized, is putting more effort to improve their sales and profits.

 

References

Bresciani, S., Ferraris, A., & Del Giudice, M. (2018). The management of organizational ambidexterity through alliances in a new context of analysis: Internet of Things (IoT) smart city projects. Technological Forecasting and Social Change136, 331-338.

Hornuf, L., & Schwienbacher, A. (2018). Internet-based entrepreneurial finance: Lessons from Germany. California Management Review60(2), 150-175.

McCormick, M., & Fernhaber, S. A. (2018). Are growth expectations being met? Implications for the internationalization of micro-sized ventures. Small Business Economics50(3), 591-605.

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