Go Local!
Competing online for worldwide customers is fine, but don't forget about those who still see you as the shop around the corner.
Although most entrepreneurs think of their Web sites as vehicles
for getting new customers-from far corners of the world, no
less-many end up neglecting a market with even greater potential:
the one right around the corner. After all, local customers live
and shop near your business. Why not reach out to them, too?
At least the trend is starting to catch on. According to the
"Local Commerce Monitor," a survey of businesses in
Princeton, New Jersey, conducted by Constat Inc. and The Kelsey
Group, entrepreneurs who said the Internet would help their
businesses compete on a larger geographic scale dropped
considerably between 1999 and 2000.
65%
of Web shoppers in the Middle East/Africa will
buy from foreign sites, compared to just 39 percent in Eastern
Europe.
SOURCE: Accenture
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"Businesses are realizing they don't want to compete
globally," explains Neal Polachek, a consultant and senior
vice president of research for The Kelsey Group. "They want to
be more effective and more efficient competing where they've
always competed, which is locally." In fact, the survey also
points out that 80 percent of small businesses do at least 75
percent of their business locally (within 50 miles of their
businesses)-whether it's selling directly to customers or
buying products and services their companies need.
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