Dave’s Top 10 Reasons Companies Should NOT Sell Online

By Dave Boos

If your company is still deciding whether or not to offer its products or services online, it’s time to think fast.  While you’re still contemplating, your competitors are continuing to establish their 24/7 global online presence and put their products and services in the hands of your potential clients.  But you might not want to be part of the “online world” at all.  From actual excuses given by real companies, here are the Top 10 Reasons why you might NOT want to sell your products or services online:

# 10  You don’t want your computers hooked up to the Internet.
Believe it or not, there are still many individuals and companies who are either not connected to 21st century technology or fearful of it.  Even though, according to Internet World Stats, over 1.8 billion people use the Internet daily, there are many people who don’t want to get connected.  These folks also still have a black “Bell System” rotary dial phone, rabbit ears on their black and white TV and actually write letters by hand and put real stamps on them!

# 9  You might get a virus that would wipe out all your data.
Due to the fact that stories abound of these hordes of devious Ninja computer virus programmers scheming 24 hours a day in attempts to release disastrous programs that would cripple the world, many people are still deathly afraid of getting a “virus.”  Now these people are also unaware that there are buildings all across the world full of individuals who have caught a REAL virus from someone coughing at a party or sneezing at a ball game.  They also don’t know about the computer software available to protect Internet users from these scheming viruses, just as there are medicines for a cold at Walgreens.

# 8  Someone might hack your site and steal information.
Can you imagine that someone might actually hack into your business website or your personal computer and steal something?  Imagine that.  No one would ever think of actually breaking into a home or business, rummaging through the paperwork and stealing personal data!  And besides, everyone knows that breaking through highly sophisticated firewalls, hardware and software filtering systems and sorting through hundreds of millions of files to find your personal data is so easy that anyone can do it!

# 7  Your competition might find out about you.
If your business is attempting to invent something so unique it will change the world as we know it, then you might want to keep it a secret.  However, it is probably safe to assume that if your competition doesn’t know about your company, your potential customers might not be aware of you either.  Competition in today’s marketplace is fierce and in order for businesses to stay afloat, they have to have CUSTOMERS.  So if your competition can be found online, but your business can’t, don’t worry, your competition probably needs the customers worse than you do.

# 6  Someone in Afghanistan might place an order.
There really are business people who are petrified of getting an order from the Internet that they don’t want to fill.  However, America is a country where people from every ethnic background, national heritage, color, race and religion shop for goods and services every day.  So what if one of ‘those’ people wanted to do business with your company?  If you can select every client that you wish to conduct business with and those customers keep your company strong and profitable, by all means stick to your system.  Otherwise, you might meet a prospect who is outside your comfort zone that could turn into the best business relationship you ever had.

# 5  You tried that in 1995 and it didn’t work out well.
A lot has changed since Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com and launched the site as Cadabra.com in 1995.  If your organization has tried Internet sales in the past and it didn’t work, then there probably isn’t a need to look at this avenue again.  Just because the Nielsen Company now reports that “over 85% of the world’s online population has used the Internet to make a purchase, up 40% from two years ago, and more than half of Internet users are regular online shoppers, making online purchases at least once a month,” that doesn’t mean it will work for you. 

# 4  You don’t know how to “Google.”
In this case, what you don’t know just might hurt you!  According to Wikipedia, Google runs over one million servers in data centers around the world and processes over one billion search requests and twenty petabytes of user-generated data every day.  That’s a lot of people who DO know how to “Google!”  But for now, don’t be concerned about the report “How We Shop in 2010” by Econsultancy which states nearly two-thirds of consumers (61%) use search engines to help them in their product research before making a purchase decision.  This “Google” thing is probably just a passing fad.

# 3  You are trying to keep your products and services a secret.
A local sign company used to have on its marquee: “A business with no sign is a sign of no business.”  If your business needs to be kept a secret then, by all means, do not get a website or offer products or services online.  There must be a lot of companies that don’t want anyone to know they exist and who do not need customers, vendors, employees or any type of attention.  So for those businesses, it would be a good idea NOT to sell online. 

# 2  You would embarrass your family if they knew what you did.
It appears there are individuals and companies who not only want to keep their business a secret from the outside world, but who want to keep it a secret from their families as well.  For some, there is a sense of pride and accomplishment upon starting and growing a company.  But if people found out that a Florida “Gator” started a business that hired, catered to and provided services for a Florida “Seminole,” how embarrassing would that be!  If you are afraid to tell your mother what you do for a living, then you do NOT want to be doing business online.

# 1  You have ALL the business you can handle.
The #1 Reason why an individual or company would NOT want to conduct business online is … “Congratulations!! You have ALL the business you need!”  If your company is fortunate enough to always have more business than it can handle and never needs any new sales or customers, then of course you don’t need to be selling online!  However, if you want to grow your business and expand your clientele, e-commerce is an amazing way to do just that!  The most effective way to remain a competitive business in the 2010 marketplace is to have a solid e-Commerce platform and utilize the Internet to expand your clientele and grow your company. 

Yet, when it is all said and done, if you still think that you are better off not joining the millions of companies who sell online… maybe you know something the rest of us don’t!

About theAuthor
David M. Boos, CEO of Cornerstone Consulting has almost 40 years of experience in the computer industry. Dave began in 1983 servicing the PC based accounting software market. Cornerstone has since grown from a one-man operation to current operations in Tampa, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia and Los Angeles, California. And has added divisions of accounting and E-commerce software sales, custom programming, website design and Internet hosting. Dave is Novell and Microsoft Certified and is an Authorized Dealer for a wide variety of products including Microsoft, Sage and SAP Software. You can reach Dave at www.cornerstone1.com.