I have a small business – do I really need a website?

You’ve done it! You’ve escaped the rat-race and are the proud owner of your own small business. Despite the stress, you love being your own boss!

You’re thinking you’ll launch your company website later down the line when your company has grown, but I’m here to tell you there’s no better time to put your mark on the world than right now.

Small, but not insignificant

You might think that having a small business means that you rely on word of mouth and maybe you are one of those with your business name and cell number plastered on the back of your bakkie. Probably you hire someone to give out flyers every month, and you have a recurring ad running in a small business magazine. You might think that websites are only for big, established companies, and one day you’ll get there, but this is the opposite of the truth!

Think about it: do you need to find Coca-Cola™️ on the internet? Of course not! They are an established brand and everyone knows who they are and the beverages they produce.

If you are a small fish in a big pond, you need every tool to your advantage and these days, your online presence is the #1 way people will find you. Even more than the big companies, smaller businesses have to put themselves out there. Small businesses haven’t had the time to establish themselves as “top of mind” in the eyes of the consumer, so they need to work even harder to be seen and heard.

So Much To Do, So Little Time

When you start your own business, time is literally money. You’ve traded in a steady pay check for an income which is 100% linked to the amount of business you generate. This realisation is both thrilling and terrifying at the same time.

On the one hand, being your own boss means your earning potential is far beyond what a company would be willing to pay you to work for them. On the flip side, it means that you need to work extremely hard, reducing costs, streamlining your processes and ensuring your clients receive the best service on the planet. All the time.

Oh, and you need to find time to market your business!

The Boss’s Dilemma

Feeling overworked and stressed goes hand-in-hand with owning your own company, but something which can fall into the “last minute” category is your online presence.

This is because building your website is not so easy, and online marketing requires actively engaging with people to build their trust before they buy from you.

For many of us, setting up a website translates into endless hours spent watching how-to videos on YouTube, with limited success. Not everyone is tech-savvy and to be realistic, most business owners simply don’t have the time to do it all.

So what do you do? You just give up on having one altogether.

The No-Website Camp

If you’ve been running a profitable business for years on end without having a company website, congratulations! You have found a winning formula and you should keep rocking on with whatever you are doing because clearly it is working for you!

However… if you don’t have a website yet, and you can’t boast endless business success… then you are also a member of the “No-Website” camp and you need to make your online presence a priority. Maybe you think you won’t ever need a website OR maybe you plan to only launch a one much later on your business journey.

Either way, I want you to pause for a moment and consider how these beliefs could be impacting your business, and not in a good way.

Websites = Tool for Modern Day Stalking

What is the first thing people do when they need to find a product or service, or they want to scope out a company before buying from them? That’s right! They Google them! So how can the world find your brilliant brand if you don’t have a spot on the internet?

Even if you plan to start a website when your business finally takes off and you have more customers, ask yourself truthfully whether you will actually make the time to do so.

Having more customers or orders means that you will be even busier, won’t you? Increasing your business is great, but it means that you will be under more pressure to deliver to your clients. Chances are high that launching a website will be the last thing on your mind. In fact, you will probably use the increased business to convince yourself that your company doesn’t even need website, so why set one up in the first place?

Remember, every day that passes without your ideal customers being about to find you on the web, is probably a missed opportunity to connect with them, help them like and trust you and eventually make a sale.

Still On The Fence About Getting A Website?

Granted, there is time and money involved in setting up a website, but have you considered that websites are more than just an online “banner” for your company?

Websites can do a lot more than just show off your products or provide your company address.

Think of your website as something to complement your customer service. If someone is looking for a specific product or service, they must feel relieved when it is so easy to find on your page.

Websites are also excellent places to deliver value to your customers, by providing how-to guides related to your product. Or you could have a blog which gives away loads of useful information to your customers for free (like this one!)

Websites are perfect spots to set up “opt-in” blocks where you capture people’s names and email addresses, in order to add them to your email mailing list.

Growing your email list is a very smart way of running your business, because you can send emails directly to the people who have voluntarily opted in. Over time, you might turn someone who was merely curious into a loyal purchaser.

Without going into too much detail, it is possible to run ad campaigns on social media to direct people to your website. It is also possible to reverse engineer it: you can target all the people who have visited your website, and then place ads on social media that will be shown to that specific group of people. This is such a powerful way of displaying your products and services to the people who have already expressed interest in your company, and having a website makes it very easy to do.

The Takeaway

Your website should be seen as an extension of your company and should proudly display everything you believe about what you offer the world.

It is a resource with endless potential to help you grow your business successfully, and should be one of your top-performing customer service agents.

In another blog, we will chat about some of the essential things you need to do to keep your website running at it’s best, but for now, just seriously consider getting one.

If this article has managed to convince you, we are thrilled! You are on track and just need to get it done.

If you don’t have a website yet, why not look further into it? Take a look at all the benefits you stand to lose out on, and consider taking the next step forward to putting your mark on the online world.

As a business owner, launching your own site is an extremely exciting moment, and gives you the feeling that your company is “official”. You can put your web address on your business card and have a link to it at the bottom of email signature… Like I said, the possibilities are endless.

Websites really are a must-have so no matter how big or small your company is.

Don’t put it off until you “get more business” or “grow”.

We challenge you to go for it now!