[NOTE: This article was written in response to actual conversations between small business owners and our Web design and development firm.]
Hello. My name is Mr. Smallbiz Owner, and I own A Small Company in a smallville town USA. My shop has been in business for a number of years, at least since the 1990s. I have recently been approached by many representatives of Web design and development firms, trying to sell me on all the reasons as to why I, the small business owner of one shop in my local region, really needs a Web site in this day and age of the 21st century and how my small business cannot possibly survive any longer without a business Web site.
I would appreciate the opportunity to discuss the top 10 reasons why I as a small business owner do not need a Web site for my small business. Here are my simple explanations for why I feel the way that I do.
1. First, I have a solid client/customer base with good business relationships.
I don’t really need any more work; heck, I can’t even handle any more customers and I don’t want my business to grow in revenue anymore. My current customers provide me with all the work I will ever need. They aren’t going anywhere.
Besides, my current customers will never look at my Web site anyways; they know all there is know about me and my small business. All of them know we are here in smallville town USA. I don’t need anybody calling me because they saw my Web site online. I have more than enough residual income for my family to last one good year.
2. A Small Company will never be challenged by other competitors in my smallville town.
My small business is unique and nobody else does the same thing in this industry just like I do. Because A Small Company has been in this local area for so many years, we are known as the experts in our field and will always be known as the experts in the industry. We don’t need to learn anything new in our industry, because our industry hardly ever changes at all. Our customers will never go elsewhere to find other small businesses like us; they will always continue to go to us for their needs in this smallville town.
3. Word of mouth and referrals has always worked the best for me.
Our customers constantly refer their friends, relatives and colleagues over to us, and the potential customers that call me don’t even bother to ask me if I have a Web site. They usually ask me to mail them a brochure and a business card instead.
4. I am still in business today even though I do not own a Web site.
I am very confident I will continue to be in business for many years to come. No other competitors will move in or near me, and my nearest competitors are too far away for my customers to drive, so they would rather come shop with me, Mr. SmallBiz Owner, at A Small Company. My current customer base will always continue to shop at my small business only; they will never move away, never grow old and will never be without the need of my products or services.
5. I belong to several local professional business and networking organizations.
I am a member of my local chamber of commerce and the local Better Business Bureau and other business networking groups. All of the organizations I belong to provide me with enough leads on a daily or weekly basis, even though I have to pay an annual fee to remain a member of these groups. As a result of these memberships and affiliations, I will never have a need for a business Web site design. These organizations even help me with finding additional potential partnerships and professional alignments on a continual basis.
6. Most intelligent older people never look at Web sites anyways.
They are just too busy and could care less of the contents and images available on my Web site. They simply aren’t curious and the majority of people in the United States don’t own computers in their homes or offices to look A Small Company up online. They would rather spend the time out of their hectic lives to jump into a car, weave in and out of heavy traffic trying to find my small business in smallville town, look through the hundreds of similar products in my store, stand in our long lines to cash out when purchasing these products with their screaming kids by their sides and get back in their cars to head back home in equally heavy traffic. What if I don’t have what they need? Oh well. Let them just get back in their cars and spend more time driving around looking for that product elsewhere in smallville town. I don’t care about their business.
7. I already have a brochure I developed 5 years ago.
I still have plenty of other brochures left on my shelf at A Small Company, and it is still fairly up to date. In order to save myself money on advertising and marketing costs, I will first use these brochures up on my existing customers whenever they come into my store. When I eventually run out of brochures, I can always just use my printer to print our weekly specials in black and white ink; my customers don’t care about the presentation of my marketing materials anyways. Why would they care about my Web site presentation either?
8. Web design and development is just another way companies try to grab your hard-earned dollars.
Web design and development firms don’t care about me, Mr. SmallBiz Owner or my small business in smallville town. They are just trying to sell me a Web site by pushing false information about my local competitors and my industry, and using scare tactics to get me to buy into the whole Web site design concept. They keep trying to tell me what my prospects and customers need and expect out of me and A Small Company. I just chuckle and laugh it all off. To think that they know more about my customers than I do is absolutely absurd!
9. I am very visible in my local target market.
Everybody with whom I want to do business knows about me and A Small Company located in smallville town USA. They can easily find me through any of the millions of local yellow pages I pay a monthly fee for, because everybody who is anybody solely looks for any products and services in their local yellow pages. It is the latest and greatest piece of marketing and advertising ever created. It has a very high level return on investment, it is very affordable and I can easily track who finds me through the yellow pages.
10. Lastly, Web sites are strictly for large corporations that provide services and products throughout the United States or worldwide.
I only own one small business store in smallville town America; therefore, a Web site has too broad of a reach. Besides, why would I care about reaching potential customers across the United States? The local customers I have now will definitely provide me with more than enough income to support my family for many years to come. Should I ever decide to market to potential customers across America, I can always pay for classified ads in newspapers in all 50 states. Because I never surf the Internet, I am very confident my customers don’t either. The Internet is only comprised of kids and teenagers, and they are not my target market for my small business.
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