If it wasn't for technology, Richard Pollock's company
might be out of business. Software for managing inventory and an
online connection to customer credit reports have turned
International Neon Products Inc., Pollock's Chicago sign-parts
distributorship, from a firm struggling with outstanding client
debts and poor customer service to one enjoying robust growth and
profits.
"Every employee here has a PC--the guys in the warehouse,
the receptionist, the salespeople--even I do," says Pollock.
"Now when somebody asks for credit, we dial in to the computer
system and give them an immediate answer. That's gotten rid of
the bad debt."
International Neon Products' inventory system allows anyone
in the company to see if any part is in stock at any time.
"Before, when a customer came in, somebody would have to run
to the back and see if we had it," says Pollock. "Now our
customer service is phenomenal."
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Pollock is far from being the only entrepreneur benefitting from
technology, according to the results of a recent study by Dun &
Bradstreet (D&B), an international business information
provider. In December, D&B surveyed 500 business owners
nationwide, posing technology questions in 20-minute phone
interviews. Businesses ranged in size from one to 500 employees,
and sales ranged from less than $100,000 to more than $10 million.
Most had one to five employees. Responses were categorized by each
firm's size and according to the owner's ethnic background
and gender.
The study found that, by and large, small businesses are
embracing technology, from fax machines and pagers to laptop
computers and Web sites--and with generally positive results.
Among the key findings was widespread, rapidly growing use of
the Internet. Nearly 69 percent of small-business owners polled
were connected to the Web. Survey respondents also reported nearly
universal use of late-model desktop computers; a full 95 percent
said they used Pentium-level PCs. They also indicated a generally
high level of comfort with technology. Nearly three-fourths rated
themselves as up-to-date with the latest technology.
The survey's highlight was the 69 percent Internet usage
figure, says Mike Azzi of Murray Hill, New Jersey-based D&B.
It's especially sizable considering that in a survey done six
months earlier, D&B found just 47 percent of respondents were
on the Net.
"Our basic impression from this survey is that small
business is making a decent amount of progress with
technology," says Azzi. "But the 22 percent jump in the
number of small businesses using the Internet--in a six-month
period--that's pretty significant."
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