Question

State the problems that SMEs have faced during covid-19, and why must need to develop a website to help SME company to start online marketplace (Essay)

Answer 1

There’s no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has added to small business challenges around the world, regardless of size, location, or funding.

Facebook’s new report on the State of Small Business surveyed 86,000 owners, managers, and workers in companies across the US with fewer than 500 employees. It paints a clear picture of the many challenges that small businesses are facing as a result of COVID-19.

Small Business Challenges #1: Small Businesses are Closing Their Doors & Facing an Uncertain Future

There’s no doubt that small businesses are feeling the impact of COVID-19.

According to Facebook’s survey, 31% of small and medium-sized businesses have shut down in the last 3 months.

But the situation is particularly bad for personal business (52% of which report shutting down), hotels, cafes, and restaurants (43%) and services like wellness, grooming, fitness, or other professional services (41%).

Small Business Challenges #2: Access to Capital

Some of the biggest challenges among open businesses are accessing the capital they need to stay afloat, keeping their supply lines open, making sure their employees can work remotely, and balancing increased family demands.

According to Facebook’s survey, while two-thirds of closed businesses expect to re-open in the future, (including a slightly higher percentage of women than men), among the one-third who did not, 34% said it will be because they can’t pay their bills or their rent.

Small Business Challenges #3: To Adapt to the Ongoing Crisis, SMBs Are Turning to Internet Tools

One of the biggest trends to emerge during the COVID-19 pandemic is small businesses going online.

Mark Zuckerberg said as much during a recent Facebook Live address where he unveiled Facebook Shops, a new e-commerce feature will allow small businesses to build online stores on both Facebook and Instagram.

“We’re seeing a lot of businesses that never had online presences get online for the first time, and we’re seeing small businesses that had an online presence now make them their primary way of doing business,” he said.

Small Business Challenges #4: Balancing Running a Business & Caring For Their Households

One of the biggest challenges for small business owners has been balancing work with home life.

According to Facebook’s data, 10% of owners and managers of open businesses reported taking care of household members (children, elderly, dependent adults, and so on) as their chief concern. Nearly half (47%) of those reported feeling burned out trying to take care of business and household at the same time. And 29% were concerned about bringing COVID-19 home.

Small Business Challenges #5: Employees are Facing Difficult Economic Circumstances

Even when businesses remain open, employees are experiencing financial cuts from lost employment or fewer hours worked.

According to Facebook’s report, while 3% of businesses reported that their employee headcount actually increased, 44% said they had to reduce the number of employees or workers at their business because of the pandemic. Of businesses that reduced headcounts, 22% let go of more than 10 people.

Benefits of websites for SME company-

1. Show Up in Local Search Results

People rely on search to find local businesses, so to compete with large chains, you need to show up in local search results.

If your business isn’t online and relies on word of mouth or traditional advertising to attract new customers, you’re likely missing out on potential customers.

You can optimize a simple website to show up for near me searches in Google in 9 steps.

Let’s say you own a bakery in Washington, DC. If you don’t have a website, you won’t show up when a tourist, wandering through the National Mall, searches for “bakeries near me.”

2. Create the Foundation for Your Digital Marketing Strategy

A website is the foundation of your digital marketing strategy.

It’s where customers go to find information about your business, products/services, and employees. It’s what journalists or bloggers link back to. It’s part of your marketing campaign.

Why can’t a social media profile replace a business website?

While creating a Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or Instagram page for your business is a great idea, social media alone is not enough.

If you only rely on third-party platforms to build your online presence, it becomes harder to control your brand’s visibility online.

Take Facebook’s recent algorithm change as an example. Now, all posts from brands will be deemphasized unless they elicit a meaningful interaction. This means your business has to change its strategy for engaging customers on Facebook.

Instead, create social media profiles and link to them from your website in the footer.

3. Showcase Your Products and Services

With more consumers preferring to find and buy products online, having a website that showcases your products and services is important.

It creates two opportunities:

• Customers will find your products online and purchase them instantly
• Customers will find your products online and then visit your store to make a purchase

For example, Handmade Habit, a soy candle company, is a small e-commerce business run by Amina Ahmad. Without a brick-and-mortar storefront, Ahmad relies on her website to attract visitors and convert them into paying customers.

She pays special attention to her candles’ product descriptions.

4. Improve Your Business’s Credibility

Having a website proves your credibility. It reassures users that your business is legitimate and explains why your business is valuable.

For example, from the first content on its homepage, coffee discovery service Craft Coffee tells website visitors why its products are valuable: They “brew better coffee” at “grocery store prices.”

5. Collect Customer Information

A business website is a platform for learning about your audience (and potential audience.

It opens an opportunity to collect information about your customers and then tailor your interactions to their preferences.

For example, collect email addresses of site visitors to learn who about who visits your website.

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