57% More Businesses 
Go Online
January 11, 2004 - Sunday Telegraph

CARPENTER Kevin Power couldn't find a door.

Nursery owner Glen Taylor didn't want to work weekends any more. So they went online, two more small businesses that have joined the growing trend in NSW to scrap the physical shop and move to e-commerce.

Last year the number of home-based businesses in NSW that went online – either wholly or in part – grew by 57 per cent.

There are now almost 87,400 businesses working from home, of which more than half are believed to use the Internet as a sales and distribution channel.

High-speed broadband Internet connections and more secure transactions are helping to fuel the growth.

An increased familiarity with the Internet and, more importantly, a familiarity with online commerce, is also helping to boost customer numbers.

"A lot of our long-term customers are in their 70s, but most of them have e-mail addresses," the owner of the Mowbray Garden Centre, Glen Taylor, said.

After operating out of his Lane Cove address for 25 years, Mr Taylor is shutting down the physical side of the business and moving into cyberspace.

"We're actually finishing our lease here and the landlord wasn't all that keen on us continuing, so it was the perfect opportunity to go online," he said.

"It's been something we've been thinking of doing for some time, so we'll just go mobile and have a delivery service.

"It's a lot of work to run a nursery – it really is a seven-day-a-week job. We'll be able to save on labour expenses, on keeping stock, throwing out stock. And more importantly I'll get a weekend, or part of one anyway."

The attraction for online businesses is doing away with the overheads of a traditional shop.

"We'll actually be able to offer more stock, about 20,000 products, at cheaper prices than we were retailing because we won't have the rent or the labour," Mr Taylor said.

"We won't lose too much passing trade – only about four per cent of our business is from people coming in off the street.

"We've got a very loyal customer base, and most of our regulars will continue to shop with us, only now they'll be doing it online."

For Caringbah carpenter Kevin Power, an online business gave him the opportunity to run a specialist retailing business without having to keep thousands of specialist items on stock.

"By going online we've been able to use a just-in-time inventory system," he said.

Mr Powers' business site, http://www.hardwarestore.com.au, specialises in doors, door handles and other door fittings.

"It was born out of frustration of going to hardware stores looking for doors that they didn't have," he said.

"Even the really big stores like Bunnings can only carry a certain number of lines.

"You've literally only got about one per cent of the total range of doors on display.

"We can offer all of those and also do custom doors."

"We're able to source from the big manufacturers as well as small joinery shops as far away as Tasmania."

The lure of being able to work with his wife Laura and see their 18-month-old son Callum on a more regular basis also appealed.

"I'm a carpenter by trade but I'd moved into sales and marketing," Mr Power said.

"But I'd always enjoyed being self-employed and when I came up with the idea, it was a perfect way to hang around the family."

NSW Small Business Minister David Campbell said the state was keen to encourage more growth in online businesses.

"It's something we want to encourage because with luck and hard work they don't stay small businesses for long and they end up creating more jobs."

He said potential small businesses should always contact a government business enterprise centre (BEC) to get help along the way.

"I can't say it often enough – for any small business, if you're starting up an Internet business at home or opening a takeaway shop, go to a BEC and get help writing a business plan," he said.

"You've got to work out where you want to go and have it in writing."

Mr Power used the Sutherland BEC to help him start up his business.

"They were able to help us get a firm idea of what was important to the business," he said.

The NSW Government website dedicated to helping small home businesses is www.smallbiz.nsw.gov.au/homebiz.