Remember the dotcom failures of the '90s? Everybody does! A great business
idea can fail miserably when the time and timing are not right, people aren't
ready, or the fundamental rules of business are overlooked.
Instant payment, like instant success, can be a costly business illusion!
The dotcoms and millions of their investors, learned that lesson the
hard way. Many of the dotcom business failures were the result of incorrect assumptions.
Peopledon't trust any business
automatically! Trust, like respect, must be earned. To
expect every new customer to "blindly" give you their personal and financial
information, trust you to protect that information, provide the product or
service you offer and
ignore the fundamental risks involved in every business transaction, is completely
delusional! Most dotcoms failed, because the people behind them didn't understand
people!
Identifying who your customer is, what they want and need, how you can
be the best source to provide it (and overcome their objections or fears) is
a fundamental rule of business. You do it everyday in your real world
business. The same rules apply to an online business. Real money
and
financial transactions are not simply information, they are
a fundamental part of a REAL WORLD BUSINESS and not part of
the cyber-world at all.
The liability risks and additional expenses are simply too great to warrant a
"shopping cart" system for your small business website. Your business
credibility is on the line whenever you promote your website as an
"Ebusiness or Ecommerce website."
NEVER ask your customers to provide personal or
financial information over a
"unsecured" online (
http ) connection. You are legally responsible for
securely protecting that information. Providing your customers with a
"secure connection"
(
see https) does not
guarantee complete security and privacy protection either. The additional
(minimum) requirements for your online business (ebusiness) website include:
A secure sockets layer connection from your website's server.
A security certificate authentication provider.
A strictly enforced "security policy"
for handling and storing all customer data.
ANY INFORMATION that is accessible via the internet, is not completely secure. We
don't even leave email messages on our mail server! Our email is downloaded several
times each day. The mail server is usually "empty." Once received,
these messages are immediately transferred to a (manually switched) computer
that is NOT otherwise
connected to our office network. The only time our email data is vulnerable, is
during the transfer (a few seconds of the connection) or if we retrieve it!
Firewalls
and password protected files are no match for determined cyber-criminals! Identity theft
and online scams are a growth industry. If the major Banks have been
hacked, federal government
databases and even the FBI and CIA computer networks have been hacked, how
secure do you think your local office network is? Unless you really need
a direct online payment system, avoid the risks, costs and customer suspicion.
Use a third party payment service.
The goal for any business transaction,
is to ensure that both parties get exactly what they expect. Your customer needs to know
that they will receive your product or service. You need to know you will be paid.
There is a safe and simple way to make this happen. A "Third Party"
payment service. Several well known payment service providers are available for
use on any small business website. They include:
These providers use the same security and connection systems that financial
institutions employ. Anyone with access to email can use them. They deal directly
with the customer, securely accept and store their personal and financial
information, the payment details and "who" is to be paid. Once they
have taken control of the funds, they send a simple email advising you that they are
holding funds and how you can collect them. Following their instructions, you
can have the money securely transferred directly into your bank account. You
never have access to, or the responsibility for protecting,
your customer's financial information. The small fee (usually less than $5) is well worth the safety features.
Extremely low tech payment solutions can also be the most secure. Cheques and
money orders may be slow, but they provide a secure payment and a paper trail
to follow if either party fails to perform. We prefer to accept them and you
can too.
If you wish to have us build an ebusiness website, please know that we will
insist that you do it right. Both our credibility and your financial future are
at stake.
A common misunderstanding about the World Wide Web, is that it's about
business. It's not. It was invented, designed and developed to be
about Free business Information. E-commerce is simply an extension
of that free information. Handle with care, it can be dangerous.
Please note: Google does not permit direct searches from non-exclusive business
websites and so they are not included. Please search Google directly at www.google.com
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