Ask yourself this...does your business need a sign out front?
Your likely answer..."Of course. How else will people know we're here". Well, driving by is quickly being replaced with clicking by. And a website can offer more compelling reasons to use your service above that of your competitors in a much more compelling way than your sign ever could. A good website can reflect the quality of what you do more than where you rent or own space. This makes a website most important for businesses in their humble beginnings. It can deliver your message in a clear concise manner and encourage people to come back and review that message at their convenience. Small businesses frequently live on the merits of their reputation, but a reputation is a difficult thing to market on a sign and expensive to market in print. The internet provides the lowest cost means of acquiring new clients in just about any industry. Allow me to dispel some myths about internet use....
People shop for EVERYTHING on the internet including local services and the businesses who take the best advantage of the web as a tool will reap the rewards.
As for older people not using the internet... Ask yourself this, "What will I do when I am older, live on a fixed budget and have issues with mobility?". A lot of older folks have already done this and spend as much time as teenagers on the internet. These older web users numbers are growing fast and will continue to do so.
If you can check your email and reply to it then having a website isn't too complicated for you. If you refuse to use email then I must admit I encourage you not to get a website. I also encourage you not to run a business. You can easily contract out the construction and any maintenance of a website to a service like myself at a reasonable cost. The only reason you would hire full time staff to work on your website is if your website was such a source of revenue for you that you felt compelled to update and improve it on an ongoing basis. I don't think you would be complaining under the circumstances. The more you work the web, the more you get out of it. This isn't to say that I encourage you to spend a huge percentage of your initial operating budget on your website unless that is the central focus of your business, but keeping your site current and slowly growing your site as your company grows will help you sustain traffic and get business leads.
When you’re starting out, spend cautiously, but be sure to budget for a website. It’s the most cost effective form of advertising you can do and the cheapest form overall.
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