Is a Website Worth It For Small Businesses?
As a business owner, there are endless demands on your time and a continuously growing list of potential tools, services, and products to spend your budget on. It can feel overwhelming. And with all that is vying for your attention, many of you may be encountering the ever-looming question… do I really need a website for my company to be successful? They can be expensive and can be an investment not only of money but also of time… Are they really worth it?
Well, the short answer is, maybe. Now you might be saying, wait, what??! You’re a website design company telling people they may not need a website? I’m confused… But let us explain. You can be successful without a website. There are many companies that do it today! Their revenue and marketing are based solely on word-of-mouth and local business and they are making enough money to meet their current needs.
So What Should I Do?
The real question you should ask yourself is, what you are trying to accomplish? If your main goal is growth, then don’t ask yourself if you can be successful without a website, but rather how successful can you be without one? If you are considering moving your company into the expanses of the internet marketplaces, I would suggest including the following questions into your considerations:
1. Who is my target audience?
Who are you targeting with your products or services and how are you currently reaching them? Could you increase your success if you could reach a larger number/variety of people? Could you benefit from a larger reach? Though a website is not the only way to do this, a website can definitely help!
2. Could I add additional benefits for my customers/clients?
Could the benefit you am already providing be increased by adding technology that would streamline things like productivity, payments, communication, etc.? Would this decrease the time your clients spend and, therefore, increase their bottom line? If so, think of the added value you could give your clients!
Even adding the ability to pay online using invoicing services (like Waveapps, Hello Bonsai, and many others) has the potential to increase the speed and ease with which your clients pay you which, not only makes them happier, but also creates a more streamlined process for you to be paid.
3. Could it save my company money?
In continuation to the second question, how much time are your employees (or you!) spending on different pieces of your business that could potentially be improved by automating or streamlining some of your processes? This could then open your employees up to spending more of their time on revenue-related tasks.
So What Does This Mean for Me?
If you have answered “yes” to any of the above questions, it sounds like a website could be a good investment for your company, even if you begin to implement that change in little steps at a time.
With the ever-increasing movement to online interactions, having a website can be incredibly beneficial in so many ways, but asking yourself these questions can help you decide if this would be a good choice for you.
