Going Online

1. The Benefits

1.1 Email enables you to send messages to any other user connected to the Internet. Email is essential for almost every business, as your customers will expect to use email to communicate with you. It offers several benefits.

• Sending documents such as letters, spreadsheets and pictures by email is usually fast and straightforward.
• You can send email to multiple recipients. This is cost-effective for marketing campaigns, technical updates, product launches and price-change announcements.
• Email is less intrusive than the telephone, as the person receiving an email does not have to read the message immediately.
• Email messages can easily be kept for future reference.
• Email is cheap. Your main expense is the cost of connection to the Internet. You will probably have to pay an Internet service provider to provide this connection.

1.2 You can find useful information on the Internet.

• You can discreetly research your customers and competitors by looking at their websites.
• Many detailed market reports are available online although you may have to pay for these.
• You can find new suppliers and compare them with existing ones by checking their websites.
• Online credit-checking services can provide instant results when assessing credit limits for new customers.
• You can find details of grants and loans.
• You can keep up with the latest developments in your sector through specialist websites and news services.

1.3 You can improve your internal communication, particularly if you have people working in more than one location.

• Simple issues can be communicated to employees via email or an internal website.
• Employees who work at home or out of the office can access your systems. For example, they can use your customer database or save their work on your server.

1.4 External communication can be streamlined.

Carefully consider security if you are going to open up your systems across the Internet.

• You can create and manage a website for your company that can be used as a shop window for your business.
• Marketing by email is fast and inexpensive.
• You can allow customers access to certain areas of your system. For example, an architect may allow selected clients to view plans held directly on the architect's system. This can save time as well as transport or delivery costs.
• You can use online banking facilities. Some banks set lower charges for accounts managed online.
• If your suppliers offer online services, you may find it quicker (and sometimes cheaper) to order through their websites or via email.