We’ve all heard the excuses. I’m a small business, a website is too expensive, and I don’t think I’ll get business from a website; all my clients are in the city.

The truth is that all small business and everybody (in business or not) needs a website. It doesn’t need to be large or cost a fortune to create and maintain.

A small, simple and professional 5 page website is all that is needed to get your name out there and provide information to potentially millions of people.

It is the most important tool you can purchase for yourself and your business. An online presence is the most affordable means of reaching new, old and prospective clients.

Expand your market

Business has move from place to space and with over 30 million Nigerians using the internet daily, every business has a potential to achieve results beyond forecast.

Save money

A simple website will cost a fraction of what it will take to create a brick and mortar business. A premium quality website design can cost as low as N10, 000 for the first year and half the price in the years to follow. This makes it the most cost effective way to reach out to your customers and fans.

Your website (personal or business) can save you money on printing brochures.

Increase profit. Your website has the potential of being visited by millions of people at the same time and buys your products and services thereby increasing your profit exponential.

Reach the world. You can be a tiny business in your garage and be like an international business on the internet having millions of peoples from all over the world visit your website.

While you sleep. A website works 24 hours a day across time zones. A normal offline business is limited to the traditional work hours. With a website, customers can view your products and services all day all night.

Easy to manage. Localised power failure won’t affect your business as people will visit your website from anywhere in the world. Every cybercafé and every computer becomes your storefront.

Personalised e-mail. Has anyone ever asked you for your business e-mail address? You may be using a free e-mail service provider like yahoo or Google but can raise the level of prestige and branding for your business with an e-mail address that includes your company name or personal name. E.g. support@magnoliaprojects.net or support@formulaforsuccess.info

Sell your products and services online. You have probably heard about Amazon, eBay, shop-for-less, whogobuy. If you have products that can be shipped by a courier company then you must have an online store. This allows you to take orders on your website, accept payment and inform customers when to expect shipment of their purchase.

Share information

Your website can provide online support, e-mail response forms and a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ page. This will help reduce the time spent on the phone answering the same question over and over again.

In the light of everything mentioned in this article and the fact that the number of internet users and online purchases will rise in the coming years, ask yourself… can you and your business really afford not to have a website?