TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2007

Have no fear

From the Chicago Dept. of E-commerce

Attention, Chicago entrepreneurs and small business owners:  We know you don't like technology.

 We know you don't have time to figure out this complex and constantly changing facet of your business.

We know you're busy developing products and services, hiring and managing employees, fending off competitors, finding new markets, dealing with rising health care costs, managing cash flow, minimizing expenses, paying taxes, and on and on and on.

Who, after all, has the time to become an expert on catalog and content management, personalization, quotation and order management, Web auctions, interactive selling and configuration, online billing, search engine optimization and a seemingly endless list of other confusing concepts?

But we don't care.

E-commerce, e-selling, e-marketing, or whatever other "e"-prefixed word you want to use, is here to stay. Big companies (and lots of small ones, too) have spent the last decade figuring out how to use the Internet to improve their operational efficiency, market their products and services, find new customers and, yes, make more money.

To survive and thrive, you're going to need to figure it out, too.

And that's where this week's Focus section comes in.

In classic "show, don't tell" fashion, we've scoured the Chicago area for the entrepreneurs and small business owners who have figured out e-commerce. These are people, just like you, who are using the Web to make their businesses better and more profitable.

Here's what you can learn from them.

First, reporter Dee Gill gives us the lay of the land: how other Chicago entrepreneurs are capitalizing on the Web, what you should do (and not do) and what it will cost you.

Then she further eases your worries by presenting the five biggest questions entrepreneurs ask about e-commerce, and then giving you the answers.

Looking to build your own online store? (The right answer is "yes.") Then you'll need to learn the secrets of doing it properly. She'll also show you how a tiny bakery on Elston Avenue has mastered Google.

Then read about one clever fellow who turned his fondness for home theater equipment into a bustling business — with no warehouse, no inventory and only seven employees.

Don't have a lot of money? Don't worry. There are plenty of ways to master e-commerce on the cheap, just like this successful home-based spice business.

And then it's on to a lesson in how to compete with the big boys. Read about a small Quincy company that has bested Amazon.com at its own game, and enjoyed an explosion in profits, too.

Feeling better now?  We thought so. 

 

©2007 by Crain Communications Inc.