starting and growing small business suffolk 06 12 11

Information andcommunication technologyUnderstanding and utilising information and communication technology (ICT) is absolutely vitalin today’s hi-tech business world because it gives you the information you need to stay on top ofyour business.With constant developments in ICT it is sometimes difficult to keep track of what is available and what is most suitable for yourneeds. However, it is important to understand your immediate and future requirements and make the best choice that fits these - withinyour budget.ComputersIt goes without saying that computers are at the heart of anyorganisation’s ICT system. They can be utilised in a number ofways, from stock control, record-keeping and sales promotion tocustomer profiling, database and financial management,research and more. And, of course, email and internet access.Whatever your business, there are specialist software packagesavailable for all your requirements and an IT solutions companywill be able to tailor-make a suitable system that will save you timeand effort and transform the way you run your business.Think about how many computers you will need, whether theyshould be networked and whether laptops are better than desktopPCs. These days it is all about being accessible, so laptopsand wireless connections are becoming the obvious route.What printer do you require and will you need to share it with othercomputers in your office? If so, will you need a server or becreating a peer to peer network? Also think about what you will beprinting. If good quality output is very important then you will needa higher-spec printer that will cost more to buy - and to run. Andfinally, what other peripherals are you likely to need - a scanner,digital camera, back-up device or portable/removable hard drives?Whatever system you install, ensure you regularly back up allyour data on a networked server or external hard drive, and signup for a maintenance and support contract for both theequipment and the software. You will be thankful for it when thecomputer system crashes - which it undoubtedly will.EmailEmail is essential for your business, for keeping in touch withsuppliers and customers and for sending files and informationquickly and efficiently. Do shop around to find the right packagefor you as there is a huge choice of suppliers offering varyingoptions for different costs. When you’ve made your choice,ensure your email address reflects your website/domain name(see below). If your business website is www.website.co.uk, yourbusiness will look most professional if the email address reflectsyour website, for example; info@website.co.uk.WebsitesA website can be a relatively low-cost way for a small business topromote itself to existing and potential customers. The technologyallows you to not only advertise your business and what it offers,but also to perform e-commerce (buying and selling) and othercomplex transactions online.You should first decide what you want your website to say anddraw up a site plan diagram to demonstrate this. This can thenbe transferred into the website’s design by whomever youchoose to build the website. It is best to use the services of aprofessional web designer if you can afford to as designing agood website is difficult and complex. Establish how long it willtake the web designer to build the site and then ensure youagree on a final price and deadline date for them to work to - youcan’t afford a delay on the launch of your business. You mustalso consider whether you or the website designer will maintainthe website (keep it updated). The easiest way for this to happenis to have your website designed using a content managementsystem which enables businesses to maintain website contentthemselves. If this is the route you want to go down then ensureyou get the necessary training in the software used. But if youopt for the website designer to maintain the content, you need toagree a cost for the maintenance package and draw up aschedule for when the updates should be done.You will also need to think about domain names and whether youwant a .com, .co.uk, .biz or any of the other available options,and finally you will need to find someone to host your site.The cost for this varies from a few hundred pounds a year tomany hundreds, depending on the complexity of the site.With all this done, you then need to get the website noticedbecause having a great site is little use if no one visits it. You needto work hard to ensure that you get as many individual visits to yoursite as possible and having a good website name has a big effecton search engine rankings. It is, however, also important to have ashort but descriptive name that people can easily remember if theytry and find your business through a search engine such asGoogle. You also need to think carefully about how you want yourwebsite to be described - so each page should have an individualtitle describing the page topic. Also think carefully about the page’scontent, using relevant words specific to your business mixed inwith your page text as this is what the search engines look for whenthey look at your site. Make sure that the page content changesregularly so that search engines are kept interested.You can get listed onto Google for free. All you need to do is tellthem that your site exists, by using www.google.com/addurl.html.16