Websites and money – two must-haves in business that small company owners are failing to take seriously enough.
Such is the verdict of two newly published surveys that collectively indicate those in neglect will eventually harm both their reputations and profits.
Commissioned by Fasthosts, a study of 615 owner-managers found more than 40 per cent spend less than an hour choosing an address for their company’s website.
Obtained by The Sunday Times, the study shows owners spend the same amount of time choosing a new coffee maker, as they would on such a vital business decision.
Once they have decided an address, two-thirds of owners wouldn’t seek a second opinion, and once it goes live – 5% admitted to not knowing its correct name or spelling.
Mark Jeffries, technology officer at Fasthosts, reportedly said every business must recognise “the lasting impact” a web address can have on sales as well as image.
But smaller businesses aren’t only getting sloppy with their websites: a study published last week shows over a third are clueless about how much money they owe or are owed.
When asked how they would work out how much was left on invoices or how much they owe others, owner-managers said the would need to sit down for an average of 2hours and 45 minutes to calculate the amount.
Compounding the financial mess, nearly half of respondents admitted they “don’t have any form of system to alert them to the fact that an invoice is overdue.”
The findings would have Duncan Bannatyne and Peter Jones “swivelling in their Dragons’ Den chairs,” said accounting software provider, Kashflow, which commissioned the survey.
Duane Jackson, its managing director, added: “I was really shocked that in the 21st Century, when advances in technology means that people can work out their finances at the click of the button, over a third of small business owners are saying that they don’t have clue how much money they owe or are owed.”
Nov 5, 2007
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