smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

Although the internet offers small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) vast opportunities, it also means a vastly increased pool of competitors, says a report.

Pipex, an internet service provider, commissioned the Cranfield School of Management to find out the attitudes towards the internet among business managers in Britain's 1.25 million SMEs.

Professor Andrew Burke, who organised the study, told an event hosted by Tiscali that the new technology had created 'a much tougher customer' with the ability to instantly compare prices, availability and specification.

There are a number of benefits to internet trading: 56 per cent of SMEs have used the internet to sell internationally, while others have been able to increase the range they offer.

But 48 per cent of those interviewed say staff waste time using the internet, almost 60 per cent say confidential information is difficult to protect and 46 per cent say the it has increased the complexity of running a business.

Carol Wells, national vice chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, says that SMEs often underestimate the amount of time they need to spend online to make sales and, because of a lack of technical understanding, they 'have difficulties using the internet to their best advantage'.

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