August 2006
“If you build it they will come” was a great line in the baseball movie Field of Dreams with Kevin Costner but utterly unrealistic for a website.
For most businesses, the web is a natural extension of their sales process and an integral part of any marketing campaign. But few actually use their websites this way.
Websites are a common business tool. If a potential customer, business partner or financier is interested in finding out a little more about you, the first place they look these days is the web. For many businesses, the web is also providing inexpensive access into new markets.
All sounds great but how exactly do you optimise the performance of a website?
What’s the point?
It’s interesting how many businesses with websites don’t think this one through. You need to understand what your website is there to do and don’t be unnecessarily influenced by theorists. Here are a few common reasons for a website:
- E-commerce – depending on how clever you want to get the website can generate and track leads and complete a sale from a potential world wide audience.
- Presence – a means of providing information to potential customers and stakeholders about your business. It really is ok to have a website that is not much more than a company brochure if that is all you need and you do not have the internal resources to manage a more sophisticated site.
- Efficiency – a vehicle for automating the distribution of information. If you get a lot of enquiry about the same issue or product, a website can dramatically reduce the number of phone calls coming into the office.
As with any other marketing tool, you also need to think about who your target market is and develop your site around their requirements and thinking. The way your site looks and functions flows from these two key elements.
Manage the investment
A website is just another vehicle for selling your product or service but too many businesses look at their website as information technology first and a business tool second. Like any other investment, the cost of your website needs to be balanced against the potential gains. If the cost is not in line with the investment you are prepared to make to achieve the purpose of the site, don’t invest in the ‘bells & whistles’.
Whose job is it?
You need to make sure that someone has responsibility for maintaining the website and managing any interaction between customers, your site and your business. If your site is designed to be constantly updated, you need to make sure you have the resources in place to manage it. Old and outdated information leaves a bad impression and can be frustrating for a potential customer. Remember that if you publish old pricing, you need to sell the product at that price.
Integrate
Every advertisement, promotional brochure, business card and letterhead should publish the web address and where possible, give people a reason for going to the site. Examples might include discounts for sales transacted online, or free downloads and value added information.
What to avoid
Trust is a major issue online so if you are looking to make a good impression, avoid:
- Domain names that are tacked onto the end of your providers web address. Registering a domain name is not expensive and makes the difference between you looking like a bit player and a business worth dealing with.
- Cheap looking websites. If there really is a point to having a website then it’s important that it reflects your business’s brand.
- Overcrowding. Theory says that you should reduce the number of clicks it takes a user to get to where they want to go on your site. While this is true, it’s equally true that when you’re faced with large volumes of information on a screen with several items competing for your attention it’s almost impossible to know where to look.
- Relying on technology to be the only contact point. People still want to speak to a human if they choose to. Publish your phone number and address. It also builds trust to know that support is available.
In six months, the Australian Tax Office received close to 23,000 tip offs from the general public about tax cheats. Tip offs are the number one way that the ATO catch individual tax cheats and generated and additional $26 million in tax and penalties.
The most reported industries are: Building and construction; Retail trade; Cafes and restaurants; Property and business services; and Manufacturing.
The most frequent source of tip off was the staff (or former staff) working within a business where there had been irregularities with the amount of PAYG withholding deducted from their salaries and other employment related payments. Ex-spouses are also common sources of information for the ATO revealing detailed information about how certain people are evading tax.
People change when the pain of not changing is greater than the pain of change.
Regardless of whether you’re a landlord, business operator or just trying to improve your financial position, the increase in interest rates by the Reserve Bank of Australia by 0.25 percent on 2 August is a pain. And, with another anticipated increase by Christmas, along with other increasing costs, it’s essential to get the cost of your cash under control. Here are a few strategies to assist:
Review and restructure
While a 0.25 percent change in interest rates does not sound like a lot and might not immediately motivate you to review your borrowings, it’s the impact of that change over time that is important. For example, a $500,000 residential finance loan over 25 years at a standard variable rate of 7.57 percent attracts $615,325 in interest over the life of the loan assuming that you make minimum monthly repayments. A rate increase of 0.25 percent increases the interest component by $24,569. If there is another increase in rates pushing the total increase to 0.5 percent, the interest component increases to $49,363 or a total of $664,688 over the life of the loan. The question is whose pocket would you prefer the money to be in, yours or the banks? For $49,363, it’s worth the time now to review the structure and nature of your borrowings to see if savings can be made.
Similarly, if you’re in business, every additional dollar you spend on borrowings reduces your profit margin. As many businesses borrow money for specific purposes over time they tend to pay more in interest as there is no consistent strategy managing borrowings.
If your business’s borrowings have evolved over time and you have not had a banking review completed recently, it’s highly likely that the cost of your cash is too high. In some situations, restructuring has the potential to save thousands of dollars in interest and often reduces monthly repayments, freeing up cash inside your business.
Negotiating with your bank
If you’re not getting a discount on the standard published interest rate from your bank and you have a strong credit record, you’re missing out. The lending market is highly competitive with all of the major banks looking to gain market share in both the residential and commercial lending sectors. However, the great majority of borrowers are on standard rates. Reassessing your borrowings and negotiating with the bank can offset the interest rate increase.
It’s not just about the interest rates
Assessing your borrowings however is not just about interest rates. Any review should take into account the nature of your borrowings, your current and future needs and ensure that you have the right funding mix in place. In some cases lending institutions have specialist areas such as franchise development, export/ import, and invoice finance that offer greater flexibility for your needs than traditional loans. The lending criteria for these specialty finance products are also often different to accommodate the needs of the industry in question.
Contact us today about organising a banking review and ensure that not only are you achieving the best rate possible but the structure of your finance is right for your needs now and in the future.
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