1. Business Use of Broadband

2. Why do Businesses Need Broadband?
Money
Efficiency
Edge
Loyalty

3. Money Reduce your costs Be more profitable New sources of income
Communicate more, for less
Make your money work harder
Communicate more, for less. Including VOIP.
Reduce your costs
Worried about the costs of broadband? The fixed costs of Broadband mean the more you use it, the better value it is. With faster, more efficient , you’ll spend less time and money on the phone, and save on postage costs. And if your business is in more than one location, the potential savings are higher still.
Be more profitable
Broadband makes you think differently about the way you do business. Whether you make fundamental changes to your processes, or just benefit from higher productivity and more effective marketing and communications, you’ll soon see a boost to your bottom line.
New sources of income
There is now real consumer demand for online transactions - and those businesses that can meet the demand are finding new ways to make money. For a business already selling merchandise successfully, online sales are the next logical step. And online booking is a growing area for hotels. What are the possibilities for your business?
Communicate more, for less
Once you realize you’re always connected, you start to see the many communication possibilities broadband offers you. More and more people are happy to hear from you by - so instead of sending out brochures, menus, newsletters or mail to customers, why not them instead? It’s instant, effective and costs you a whole lot less in print and postage. Businesses can save on telephone costs as well with broadband, using Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP).
Make your money work harder
When you have a fast, reliable internet connection, all sorts of financial possibilities emerge. For example, internet-based computing solutions (called ASP services) could save you money compared to the cost of buying software. You’ll also find many banks give better terms when you bank online. Try doing either without broadband!
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4. Efficiency Do more in your day Get up to speed Work where you want
Work smarter
Training made simple
Do more in your day
Once you have more efficient communications, there’s less need to be on the phone all the time, and that frees up staff to do more productive things. You’ll discover new ways of working - for instance, if you’re organizing an event and need to change arrangements, an is quicker and more efficient than calling around to find the right person.
Get up to speed
You’ll find broadband can dramatically change the way you work. Application Service Providers - ASPs - can offer outstanding efficiency and reliability. You don’t have to buy upgrades, which can offer cost savings - and because improvements are done online, your applications are always fully up-to-date. It’s like renting software rather than having to buy it.
Work where you want
Broadband gives you true flexibility. Not only can you work when you want, it also allows for remote access, so you or your staff can work efficiently from home, with a fast, reliable connection to the work environment - even if you need access to large files. And using services like online banking means that you can always stay close to your business.
Work smarter
Broadband lets you think about operational problems differently - for example, how you choose to contact staff or customers. Or if you have more than one business, you could centralize many of the shared functions, giving you cost savings as well as added efficiencies - and the beauty of this is that, from your customer’s point of view, it can be seamless.
Training made simple
If training staff is an issue, you could find broadband offers an innovative and flexible solution. Online learning means your staff learn on site, when they have spare time - rather than having to be away from work to attend college courses. Not only is this a more efficient way to learn, it can also be more involving and rewarding for the staff - so training is less of a chore.
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5. Edge Find new customers Get a worldwide audience Make new connections
Always open
Stay a step ahead
Find new customers
How do you go about getting new business? One easy way is through third parties, who can help send new customers your way. Broadband allows re-sellers to check your availability quickly and easily, making sure you can meet demand. Whatever your business, broadband offers a wealth of new opportunities.
Get a worldwide audience
Broadband means that all companies can now compete on a global stage - something that’s essential in today’s tourism industry. Every year, there are millions of overseas visitors - and increasingly, they will plan and book their journey online. It’s not just something for hotels and guesthouses to consider - visitors also want to book restaurants and attractions in advance.
Make new connections
As many businesses are discovering, broadband opens up many new possibilities. You can find better, more competitive suppliers, or create new working relationships and arrangements. It works both ways - you will undoubtedly have a lot to offer other companies. But if you’re not connected, who knows what you could be missing out on?
Always open
Increasingly, consumers are demanding that businesses meet their needs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And in the overseas market, time differences mean enquiries may come in at unusual times. With a broadband connection you could respond quicker, run a flexible, remote working reservations team, and make your resources bookable online. You’ll always be open for business.
Stay a step ahead
Having a competitive edge is all about knowledge. And a broadband internet connection means you have a limitless research tool at your fingertips. There are hundreds of free, reliable sources of information about consumers, for example - so you can anticipate demand, or see market trends. You can even keep an eye on your competition, quickly and easily.
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6. Loyalty Make everyone’s day Keep them coming back Stay in touch
More to offer
Meeting expectations
Make everyone’s day
When they’re not wasting their time waiting for a slow connection, it’s not surprising that broadband generally makes people happier in their work. And when you’ve already paid for the connection, is it better to have someone using their lunch hour to go shopping, or let them do it online? It’s the kind of benefit that will repay you in increased loyalty.
Keep them coming back
As everyone knows, it costs less to get business from existing customers than to find new ones. And a broadband connection offers you lots of scope for giving customers reasons to keep coming back to you. So if you find you have availability at short notice, sending out an is a fast, low-cost way to promote a short-term offer - and you’ll get an instant reaction.
Stay in touch
Broadband helps you keep your business right at the front of your customers' minds. An e-newsletter costs you very little in terms of money or resources - but is an excellent way to make sure customers don’t forget about you. Webcams are a good way to help customers keep you in mind. There are many more ingenious ways to increase your customers’ loyalty to your business.
More to offer
What could you do to make the most of the dramatic potential that broadband offers? For example, if you have a website, what could you add to make it more entertaining or more involving for a user? It’s also worth considering ways you could offer internet access to your customers. These are all factors that will have a positive impact on your customer service.
Meeting expectations
The number of consumers with broadband is growing rapidly. And if your customers have had their expectations raised by using broadband, they may be disappointed if your web presence, or response time doesn’t meet those expectations. As you’ve seen, many businesses are already meeting their needs. Can you afford not to?
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7. Beeswax Candle Co. www.beeswaxcandleco.com
The Beeswax Candle Company in Lynchburg, Va., started three years ago as an Internet business with a store located on the edge of downtown. Because of rising sales at beeswaxcandleco.com, the company moved into a larger space at the center of town.
"The Internet has taken a small family-owned candle business and allowed us to compete on a national level while contributing to the redevelopment of our downtown area in central Virginia," said Kathy Shaw, the founder.
Source: NY Times November 16, 2005 Small-Town Shops Bulk Up on the Web By KEITH SCHNEIDER
Phone interview with owner Kathy Shaw about broadband use on 1/30/06 by Rae Montgomery, UM Extension Service.
They use DSL. They started online with dial-up 3 years ago. “There is no way we could still be on dial-up. Yes, it’s expensive, but it’s worth every penny. We started the business in our kitchen and we understand the need to watch the bottom line. You need to be professional even on a shoe-string budget. Literally, when a customer calls with a question, you need to be able to be on the same page as your customer.”
They first advertised in the New Yorker and soon learned that pay per click way the way to go..

8. Blooming Britain www.BloomingBritain.com
from
Quote: “What a difference broadband has made to our business. We had to move up a gear as the orders from all over the world began to rise sharply. It would have been impossible to grow as we have done if we had stayed with dial-up and we would not have been able to get through peak times such as Valentine’s Day with out.” Alan Paterson, managing partner.
In Brief: Blooming Britain has grown from a one computer operation in the garage of founder into a well-established dotcom floral business which processes orders to 62 countries.
e-business strategy: The business initially relied on a dial-up service to access the internet. The owners wanted to switch to broadband but the business was still being run from a garage in a residential area with no means of broadband access. As the orders increased, it became critical for the business to operate with extra bandwidth to cope with encrypted files and to accelerate communication between all parties involved in the transactions. The company had also set out to differentiate itself from other online florists by offering to pay suppliers ‘up front’ by credit card and by moving away from the norm of fixed prices for purchases. Both of these policies required a fast internet connection to enable them to be implemented effectively. Blooming Britain moved into a Technology Park and arranged for broadband access.
e-business solution: The broadband link went live just before Valentine’s Day in At that stage, the number of requests from beyond the UK was rising significantly and an ‘always on’ connection which would assist in the speedy exchange of information across different time zones had become a priority. Alan Paterson said that without broadband, the company could not have handled the orders, which came in at the rate of around 200 an hour for that Valentine’s Day. Files were downloaded within minutes and the turnaround of s dealing with follow-up inquiries from customers as well as the original orders was many times quicker than the previous experience with a dial-up connection.
Results achieved and future expectations: “Originally we had just planned to deliver a service in the UK, but we found that because we are on the world wide web we were getting hits and inquiries from all over the world and people were discovering how competitive we are on pricing.

9. Border Archery www.borderbows.com
From
:Border Archery Limited  Location:BordersBusiness:Manufacture of bows and archery equipmentEstablished:1940Company Size:12 employeesContact:Sid BallTel: Fax:01573 Created:22 October 2003
Quote: We have not invested in broadband technology for today but for tomorrow because it is our belief that eventually the majority of people will be connected to the Internet using broadband and that those who are not are in danger of being left behind. The company is limited financially in what it can do to advertise in the international market place which makes an effective website and ability to communicate with customers both vitally important. Broadband is helping us with both.
In Brief: Border Archery manufactures bows and archery equipment.
e-business strategy: When at least 80% of your goods are being exported out of the country then it is vitally important that you can communicate on a global basis quickly and efficiently.
e-business solution: BT Openworld provide a broadband satellite system for Border Archery. The attraction to the company of this system stems from the lack of ground line resources. The satellite method of connection means that there is no need for landlines and was the only real way that the company could get connected due to their rural location. The company's local exchange is still analogue and Internet and connectivity especially for the transmission of large files is unreliable.

10. Ravenhill Guest House
“Moving to cable has been a very good experience. It helps us work more efficiently and speeds up what we do. Our guests can now access the Internet and make use of facilities – which actually encourages some customers to book.”
-Proprietor Olive Nicholson
From
Ravenhill Guest House The Task: Upgrade Internet connection to improve customer care. The guest house is a small business, using an Internet connection for , web access and online banking.  The company regularly updates its accommodation availability through an extensive distribution network allowing customers to make reservations online.  This gives the company the opportunity to promote itself and increase web bookings.

11. Mason Photography www.MasonPhotography.co.uk
From
Mason Photography offers individually tailored photography for Wedding, Lifestyle and Corporate clients. The website is a core part of their business, acting as a shop window showing examples of our work, as well as being a key element of our service with our client galleries. With the site being constantly updated with new images, dial up access proved a huge headache. Even optimized image files would take an age to upload to the site. With the advent of broadband in our area, we leapt at the chance to speed up interactions with our site, allowing us more time to concentrate on other elements of the business.

12. Cooks Corner Main street business Website brings in 1/3 of the revenue
Main street businesses that add the Internet as another sales channel.
Manitowoc, WI population 34,000. The kitchen supply retailer Cooks Corner occupies a 20,000-square-foot store that was once a Kresge's. The company, which is 11 years old, employs 35 people and stocks 15,000 gadgets and appliances; its Web site, cookscorner.com, accounts for a third of the company's revenue. Of the 1,000 customers who visit the site each day, roughly 200 place a digital order, said Peter Burback, the company's owner and founder with his wife, Cathy. The site has also elevated Cooks Corner to regional and national attention.
Source: NY Times November 16, 2005 Small-Town Shops Bulk Up on the Web By KEITH SCHNEIDER

13. The Fitness Store Main street business
Website accounts for 75% of sales
Another main street business in Manitowoc, WI population 34,000. the Fitness Store (thefitnessstore.com) sells an array of exercise and cardiovascular equipment. John Brunner, the 44-year-old owner, says that his 2005 sales reached $2.5 million, twice as much as the year before. "The Internet accounts for 75 percent of our sales now," he said. "I started the company in We launched a Web site in I didn't know the Internet was going to be such a catalyst for growth until 2000, when we developed an e-commerce site. We're making huge gains now."
Source: NY Times November 16, 2005 Small-Town Shops Bulk Up on the Web By KEITH SCHNEIDER

14. Getz’s Department Store
Main street business
Web generates ½ it’s sales
Web established the business as a tourist destination
One anchor of Marquette's MI revival is the Getz Department Store, a family-owned business that has been on Front Street since the late 19th century and now earns roughly half its sales revenue by selling Carhartt and North Face clothing on the Internet (getzs.com). The company's Web site has also helped to establish Getz's, as it is also known, as one of the city's tourist destinations, along with the county courthouse a few blocks west, where scenes from the 1959 Jimmy Stewart film "Anatomy of a Murder" were shot.
Source: NY Times November 16, 2005 Small-Town Shops Bulk Up on the Web By KEITH SCHNEIDER

15. Businesses are Ready
"We didn't even know we had some of these rural businesses until they came in and asked for high speed access.“
–Garden Valley Telephone Company, Fosston MN
From Author Rae Montgomery
Applications of high speed services:
Some providers seem to have a handle on how businesses are using high-speed services. ,
ordering and downloading large files were mentioned the most. There are some businesses that
depend on fast, ready access, such as an auto glass company needing to respond to insurance
company requests and eBay-type businesses. Provider comments include:
“Ordering, filing, . ”I need this to run my business faster and quicker." Businesses
want a business address (not Hotmail etc) so they need their own website and a
static IP address. They can't get a static IP address with dial-up.”
“Download big files. . Internet access. An auto glass company in Cloquet uses high
speed to access an insurance company requests for glass replacement. Some network
their business sites across locations - eg. Occupational Development Center.”
“Browsing, research, .”
“The first ones that jumped in were the tax people and insurance people. Others are
graphics people, medical (people that do medical data entry at home), radiologist,
pharmacists. Hardware store does their ordering. Those that want it REALLY want it.
Businesses are kind of forced into because dial-up is slow.”
“More reliable. On all the time. A couple of the businesses are eBay types. Ordering.
Business-to-business transactions.”
And one of the most intriguing comments:
"We didn't even know we had some of these rural businesses until they came in and
asked for high speed access.“ -–Garden Valley Telephone Company, Fosston MN

16. Connecting Rural Communities www.ConnectingCommunities.info
End slide.
Southern Rural Development Center