I've noticed something very interesting recently.
There are a growing number of small businesses for who the Internet has
had a significant impact on the scale and operation of their business.
I'm not talking about businesses which are Net-focused but a raft of
businesses that were trading long before the Net became the fashion craze
of the late 20th century.
In most cases the products or services provided by these businesses have
little or nothing to do with computers or the Internet.
A case in point are a couple who live not so far from me. They are avid
plant breeders, specialising in a range of relatively unusual species and
variants.
Until they discovered the Internet, the vast majority of their sales were
generated by a small printed catalog or people visiting their gardens
in person. Obviously a Ma and Pa operation like this had little budget
for marketing and so the size and reach of the business was decidedly limited.
About a year ago however, they had a simple website built for them and registered
with the major search engines.
Since then they have found the composition of their customer-base has changed
significantly and that a large (and growing) percentage of orders are now coming
from outside New Zealand.
The bottom line is increased turnover, increased profit and a growing business
that now generates far more in the way of export earnings.
This is the real value of the Net -- to bring prosperity to NZ and its multitude
of innovative businesses trying to crack wider markets. One of the great things
about this kind of Net-created growth is that it's not reliant on having
a large tech-skilled workforce of the kind we presently find ourselves lacking.
The new jobs created are often low-tech and relatively unskilled -- just the kind
we need to help many of those currently on the dole into full-time employment.
I am presently trying to build a list of these cottage industries which have
undergone a significant change of fortune in the wake of "getting online" so
if you know of any, please let me know.
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