How the internet saved businesses and economies around the world

The internet has made the globe a village, revolutionized ways of doing business, dwarfed advertising costs, made it easier for citizens to access government services, and provided consumers with an unprecedented choice of products and services at rock-bottom prices. Per Statista, global e-commerce sales hit $4.28 trillion in 2020 and are projected to surpass $5.4 trillion in 2022. That's good for economies everywhere.

Where the internet shines brighter is how it's saved small businesses from the wrath of traditional owners of capital. It’s now easier than ever for merchants to obtain small business financing from online lenders.

6 Ways the Internet has saved businesses

Low-budget advertising

Gone are the days when blue chips owned the tools of advertisement. According to data provided by Adage, the average cost of a 30-second TV commercial can be as high as $115,000.

The Internet has democratized the advertisement scene with online marketing. Expert Market estimates that businesses can now spend as low as $750 -$1500 per month on SEO campaigns and an average of $5,500 per month on social media campaigns.

That's a boon for small business owners everywhere. They can now meet their marketing costs with loans for small business financing.

Effective marketing

Internet marketing tools have helped businesses remove the guesswork out of their marketing efforts. Using Conversion rate optimization (CRO) tools like Google Analytics, HubSpot, and Unbounce, businesses can measure the effectiveness of their digital marketing strategies.

You can see how many people landed on your product pages from an email, Facebook, or Google ad and how many ended up buying your product or services. Thus, you can measure conversions and determine your ROI on the go.

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Again, online tools enable businesses to obtain valuable information about their customer's interests and run targeted ads that appeal to specific demographic groups that are already interested in their products or services.

Expand with fewer overheads

With the internet came eCommerce, which has made it easier for businesses to scale to new markets and grow their businesses with little overheads. Today, small business owners can sell their products online in different cities, states, and countries from a single location.

It takes money to build a business website, but the cost is minuscule compared to the ongoing overheads of renting space and hiring new workers in different places. You can easily obtain small business financing from an online lender to fund the upfront costs of taking your business operations to the cloud.

Easier Entry

The Internet has removed all barriers to entry into the business world. Today, anyone with a laptop and internet connection can start a business from the comfort of their house - even without inventory! Yes, if you're tech-savvy and can build your own website and do a bit of digital marketing, starting a business with little to no capital and $0 overheads is now possible in the internet age.

That's what dropshipping is all about. Simply create an online store and liaise with reliable third-party fulfillment partners to list their products on your site as if they are yours. Once you make a sale, your partner packages and ships the product directly to the customer. How good is that!

Access to talent

Businesses of all sizes can now access an on-demand workforce online from any part of the world without the need to hire expensive in-house professionals. That's what platforms like Upwork and Fivver are all about. From talented programmers, SEO experts, and animation professionals to content creators and graphic designers, there is no shortage of talented freelancers that businesses can get online at a fraction of the cost of building a whole department in-house.

Access to financing for small businesses

Lastly, the internet has played a big role in closing traditional lending gaps. Obtaining small business financing from traditional lenders has been a bane for small business owners for many years. With the rise of online lenders, crowdfunding, and peer-to-peer lending platforms, the funding gap is now closing quickly.

For instance, online lenders like caminofinancial.com are now the cream of the crop when it comes to obtaining financing for small businesses. They have a simple application process, provide loans with bad credit, and have short approval periods of 1-10 days.

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