Virtual Business Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved

 A virtual business is a business that primarily conducts business electronically as opposed to operating from a physical location  Very little, if any, face-to-face contact with customers, unless the business is blended with brick-and-mortar  Synonymous with: e-commerce online business digital business 2 Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved

 An innovative business owner who conducts business online  See the vision of a “storefront” although the “walls” are not visible  Understand how to get information about customers  Responds rapidly to changes in laws and trends  Know when or if to innovate 3 Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved

 SBA – sba.gov  online-business  Small Business Development Center – sba.gov/sbdc  SCORE –  Women’s Business Center – 4 Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved

ARPANET Advanced Research Projects Agency Network created by the U. S. Department of Defense in 1969 Original purpose was for electronic communication in case of nuclear war or natural disasters 1982 The term “Internet” is born 1991 Internet became available for commercial use 5 Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved

 Redefines buyer/seller relationships  Is open 24/7  Minimizes distribution channels  Increases productivity & revenue  Unlimited customer reach  Affordable  Flexible schedule 6 Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved

 Can start quickly  Telecommuting  Global business 7 Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved

B2B Business to Business Customers are primarily other businesses B2C Business to Consumer Customers are the general public C2C Consumers selling to other consumers Typically auction web sites 8 Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved

 Business Communications Internal (employees) ○ External (current and potential customers) ○ Videoconferencing ○ Company web sites  Information Gathering Research to assist in decision-making Information on current and prospective customers ○ Be added to mailing lists ○ Product registration ○ FAQs 9 Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved

Competitor information ○ Product comparisons ○ Customer reviews  Improving Business Operations Inventory Shipping information Financial statements 10 Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved

 Web Designers – Creating web sites  Web Developers – May need to know HTML  Web Technologists – Entry level position  Customer Service Support – Entry level  Technical Writer – Strong communication and organizational skills 11 Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved

 Internet Timeline – List 10 events that occurred regarding the history of the Internet and how they have impacted business. At least two companies must also be included in the timeline.  Career Research Newsletter – Students are to create a one-page, two- column newsletter, using either word processing or desktop publishing software, that displays that different career opportunities related to the Internet, such as Webmaster or Web Site Designer. They will conduct Internet research on several of the job-search web sites to locate three job openings. These openings should include the job title, job description, and education, training, or certification requirements.  Report on the Future of E-Commerce – Students will write (or type with word processing software) a properly formatted one-page report on the future of virtual business, based upon population projections listed in the following web site: The report should contain an explanation of what the projections are and how e- commerce could be affected; for example, whether there will be more users of certain types of web sites, if web sites will be used for different reasons in the future, how different age groups may use the Internet, or if there will be more of certain types of e-businesses in the future Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved