5 Reasons Your Small Business Needs A Website
Does your nasi katok shop need a website? Maybe.
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Make your website a digital shop for your products.
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Create trust between you and your customers.
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Drive your sales with an online platform.
You need two things to start a business:
- have an idea about what people need, and
- create a product/service to sell them that satisfies that need.
We’ve seen it in nearly every kampong in Brunei. People typically want tasty and convenient fast food, so someone opens up a nasi katok stall from their home to sell to their neighbours!
The hard part is growing that business into something sustainable and profitable — the list of tasks seems never-ending! However, if there’s something we can learn from the pandemic, it’s that a business with a good online strategy and presence can help it succeed through tough times.
It could even help your business grow, and here are 5 reasons why your business should have a website:
1. It’s a great marketing tool
A simple, but complete website helps consumers to get a clear idea of your brand as well as the products and/or services you provide! In Brunei, Instagram has become a very common marketplace to engage with customers, but you can take a step further by encouraging them to go to a website that shows your entire brand in one place.
2. It builds trust and reputation
The Internet has become something that we turn to constantly when we need to find something — so if your business doesn’t have an online presence, you might lose out on the opportunity to build a relationship of trust with a bigger audience. Having a website also helps your brand to establish authority and helps you stand out more online from brands that don’t have one.
3. It makes your business accessible 24/7
Ever needed to make a last-minute purchase at a store, only to find it already closed? You probably felt annoyed, but for the store owner, that’s potential money lost which might be even more frustrating.
Having a website would fix that, because it’s a great place to allow people to engage with your products and services, without either of you having to meet at a physical store or constrained by closing hours. A customer can shop online while you’re asleep, so when morning comes, you have some queries waiting and potential sales to be made. Which brings us nicely to our last point…
4. Websites drive sales
Without sales, there is no business! As we’ve said in the second point, we go to the Internet to find what we need, such as information, but we also go there to buy things!
If you have a physical store, a website that shows all of your products and services gives people a good reason to go there if they’re interested. Having an e-commerce platform, or even a place to give your banking details and a delivery or pickup option can go a long way to encouraging consumers to buy your products on the spot.
5. Google and the power of indexing
Trying to find a specific post in a Facebook group can be difficult — and we’ve spent many hours trying to look for a post on an Instagram page if you’ve forgotten to bookmark it. But with a website, Google can work its powers and help bring your website to the results page with a simple search!