Small businesses active online

Riva Richmond highlights the renewed focus by Yahoo, MS and ALN on serving small businesses online. “An October study conducted for the U.S. Small Business Administration found that 57% of U.S. companies with 250 employees or less, which are estimated to number about 21.3 million, use the Internet. And 32% of those not online today expect to be within the next year. Some 60% of the companies with Internet access had a Web site, and 35% sold products and services online, overwhelmingly to consumers. According to the Yankee Group, 80% of companies with between two and 19 employees have Internet access and 28% have a Web site. Their top reasons for making these technology purchases are to reduce costs, generate more revenue and improve productivity, says analyst Helen Chan.” To reitterate, the smallest companies are the biggest users.