Page 179 - (DK) The Business Book

WORKING WITH A VISION 177

Small businesses can receive market information just
as quickly as large companies thanks to the Internet,
but due to their size are often better placed to respond
quickly and adapt to changes in demand, supply niche
products, and deliver a more personalized approach.
The Web does not just
connect machines, it
connects people.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee
UK inventor of the World
Wide Web (1955–)

Online
market
Organizations recognize the power information
of feedback and often encourage
customers to post comments
online. Fashion retailers, furniture
manufacturers, and retail stores—
even dental and medical practices
—invite customers to comment on Large Small
business business
and share their experiences. Small
companies benefit from this trend,
since their personal service is more offerings. People wanting to buy a Although small businesses can
likely to generate positive reviews. spare part for an old car, or a rare thrive on the Internet through their
edition of a book, can search and own websites, many now use portal
A more personal service buy from anywhere in the world. websites as a “store window” to
The Internet has removed the Small companies can also thrive reach a wider audience. The British
“middle man” from many areas of through customization. Digital company Not on the High Street is
business. The travel industry is one methods of production and online one such portal. Started by two
example, since travelers can now retailing enable narrowly targeted working mothers as a marketplace
book direct with airlines. Another goods and services to be profitable. for personalized creative items, it
example is the book industry, where Customized production of a single launched in 2006 with 100 small
authors can self-publish via the item is possible—from personalized businesses (many of them women
Internet, taking their fiction straight books, mugs, and clothing to working at home). In 2013, the
to readers without the need for customized cars, furniture, and business had grown to include
literary agents or big publishing even houses, which can be 1,600 partners and had a turnover
houses. The runaway success Fifty designed and tailored online. of more than $23 million.
Shades of Grey by E.L. James began Customers can get exactly the Not on the High Street is
life as a free ebook on the Internet. item they want, delivered at the successful because it combines the
Previously, mass production and right time and at a price they are idea of personalized products with
limited space in brick-and-mortar willing to pay. Websites offering an awareness of the producer, giving
stores dictated the range of goods personalized printed items are buyers the chance to select a local
a business could stock. Now, small small businesses with software maker. Although it promotes global
businesses selling niche products that allows consumers to approve trade, the Internet can enable a very
or services can thrive because the the final design and send it straight personal form of communication
Internet connects them to to print, so employees are only between buyer and seller, regardless
consumers looking for exactly these needed for packing and shipping. of size or scale. ■