As mentioned in my previous article African Owned Businesses in the High Tech World!; African immigrants are well known for their entrepreneurial spirit and I believe that the key to success for business owners everywhere lies in the use of technology. Technology allows you to create efficiencies in your business processes and expand your market reach to different geographical areas. The Internet is a great technological advancement that allows people to connect anywhere in the world and it is an excellent tool for driving business growth. For example, if you have a business in Toronto, it is easy to showcase and market your products to someone in Vancouver, New York, Los Angeles, London, Accra, or Kumasi if you have a website thereby expanding your market to these areas. People around the world are using the Internet to find products and services and are either buying the product online or going to the store to buy them. Successful companies are using their websites to connect with these customers and are using their increased market reach to drive the growth of their business.

In this article I will detail some of the key reasons for having a website for your business.

Online Brochure

Think of your website as an online brochure and employee. Your customers can access it anywhere and at anytime to find out more about your products and services. It allows you to advertise your business 365/24/7 and the changes made to your products and services are immediately visible to your visitors. In essence, it gives you an employee who never sleeps and who is always promoting your products exactly how you want them to. Today’s technology allows for a safe and secure online transaction. You can now use your website to sell products, take payments and generate invoices! This allows for the entire sales cycle to take place online!

Cost Effective

Using a website to showcase your products and services is a cost effective marketing tool when compared to the high cost of traditional print media. Newspapers and print advertisements have a limited amount of space to promote your business and are usually considered a passive sales tool. A website is not limited in the amount of information that you can provide; you can gather visitor information, understand where your customers are located and what they think of your products and services. Using this information you can then proactively reach out to them with new product information or even a monthly newsletter. Adding a website address to your print media can expand the effectiveness of the ad and creates additional opportunities to stay in contact and/or close a sale.

Enhance Your Customer Service

Your website can be used to enhance your customer service. It can offer easy to access information regarding your address, hours of operation, detailed product descriptions, pricing, and special events. With the addition of a “Frequently Asked Questions” section you can reduce the amount of time spent on the phone giving out the same information to different customers. Utilizing your website in this way saves you time and money allowing you to focus on other aspects of your business.

Competitive Advantage

Studies have shown that more and more businesses are investing in a web presence because of the enormous advantages it presents. Most people now search online to learn more about a product before they decide to buy it. Your competitors may already be online selling to customers that you have never met. Regain the competitive advantage by using your website to provide information that distinguishes your business from that of your competition. Stay ahead of the curve and don’t be left out!

Creating your online presence is an exciting journey as you get to decide on how you want your website to look, what information you want to display and what products you want to promote. You can easily use website templates to design a website or employ the services of a Professional web designer to develop a website that has everything you need in the style and format that you want. Whatever you choose, a well-designed website can give you the competitive edge that today`s marketplace demands and it is a great way to market yourself, business or organization in an increasingly competitive economy. Stay tuned for my next article which will detail the 3 key things needed to get your website up and running!

Patrick Aboagye is the President & CEO of Danipa Business Systems Inc. He is dedicated to helping companies successfully develop their on-line presence while increasing their brand recognition and market share in a competitive economy.

Follow Patrick on Twitter @paboagye For information about Danipa visit: www.danipa.com