qprev_HBB Manual 2.qxd - Small Business BC

need to be clear on the advantages anddisadvantages for their business of implementingtechnological change.AdvantagesE-commerce offers several benefits for the smallbusiness owner. These may each appear to beobvious at first, but when taken together theircollective power is considerable:• Improve response time – Informationtechnologies have revolutionized our ability tosend messages quickly. Customers can placeorders and have them fulfilled far faster usingnew technologies than they could only adecade ago. Business correspondence can besent and received and acted upon in the sameday. Credit card enquiries are now approvedinstantly. The Internet can transmit a 42 pagedocument, for example, from Toronto to Tokyoin two minutes – that’s 720 times faster thanovernight delivery by courier.• Overcome geographic distances – The worldhas shrunk as new technological advancesbounce signals around the globe. Customerscan shop without leaving their living room.Salespeople can remit and receive informationremotely. Information can be accessed fromlibraries and databases anywhere withouttravel to the physical location where it isstored. New markets can be penetrated orserved without needing a branch office in theregion.• Reduce operating costs – Convertingprocesses into electronic formats has sliced thecost of doing business for many firms. Usingcellular phones, word processing software andelectronic DayTimers have reduced the needfor secretarial staff, for instance, while just-intimeinventory handling and automatic orderprocessing have reduced distribution costs andother overheads. The cost of communicationhas fallen dramatically as well. Transmitting a42 page document from Toronto to Tokyo viae-mail costs about $0.095 compared to $26.25by overnight courier.• Restructure relationships – The ease ofaccess to the benefits of technology allowcompanies to re-invent their connections tosuppliers, customers and even competitors.New strategic alliances become possible andold dependencies are reduced. For instance,companies can shop the world electronicallyfor suppliers rather than be limited to localproviders. Small companies can combineexpertise to handle larger and more complexorders together, liaising with each other byelectronic means.DisadvantagesAs the pace of technological change growsand more business applications are found,the consequences of becoming caught in awhirlwind of trouble become more serious.Investing in e-commerce seems inherently risky,perhaps even a gamble.• Rapidly changing – Only ten years ago thefax machine was a marvel which introducedthe electronic transmission of pictures. Today,fax machines collect dust in the wake of ourability via e-mail attachments to deliver digitalimages that the receiver can download andmanipulate. The same transformation isoccurring with ordering processing anddatabase management technologies as well as100solutions for small business home-based business