Notebook · Jan 12, 2007 · Business Notebook
No business is too small for the web
From the 2007 NotebookJan 12, 2007Business Notebook
I often hear the statement “We are too small to have a website” or “A website would really not benefit us”. Oh really? I strongly beg to differ with both of those statements, and here is why-
There is no such thing as being too small for the web. If your family can have a website to display their family photos, which is quite popular, then your business can certainly have a website, and thrive from it as well. Having a website is no different from having a sign out in front of your business, it is just another way to attract potential customers. Even if that website is nothing more than a one page billboard, you can use it to attract customers and build brand awareness for your business.
Your website does not have to be a huge, 1,000 page mammoth that details everything in the world, it just has to be big enough to tell about you, what you do, and how customers can get what you are offering. It is really no different than an ad in the local phone book. The goal is the same no matter which type of advertising you do.
Your business can benefit greatly from having a website and here is a perfect example. Suppose a customer wants to find out if you sell product X. It is late at night and you are closed, obviously they won’t be able to call you. This is where your 24 hour a day website will do the work for you. Now, they can simply just check out your site and see that you do in fact sell product X. Your phone book ad did not tell them that, neither did your ad in that local magazine. Your website did and once again, the web has proved to be a vital tool to help you attract another customer.
So, do not ever think that you are too small for the web or that you would not benefit from having a website. Recent studies have shown that people tend to search the web for business info rather than the phone book or local trade publications. Also, do not think that a website is not an affordable option for you. You can have a website professionally built for less than you think and it will without a doubt produce as much or more traffic than those overpriced phone book ads.
Consider having a website built for your business and join in on the information age of advertising. You won’t regret it.
Reading it in 2026
The phone book is gone, and the argument won. Hardly anyone in 2026 needs convincing that a business should be findable online. What the post called a “one page billboard” still covers most of what a small business needs: who you are, what you do and how to get it.
The question has moved. The last part of that list, how customers get what you offer, is where most small business sites now do their real work, through booking, ordering or payment running behind the page. That question has its own page: what to put behind a small business site.