What is your Business’ Barrier to Entry?
If you’ve run or worked at a brick-and-mortar business, you’ve probably come across procedures or regulations involving accessibility. These usually relate to things like doorways being wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs, or making sure bathroom sinks can be reached by folks with physical challenges.
Some small business owners I’ve heard of become frustrated with these rules and regulations. They complain that they can’t afford the expenses involved, that they don’t have the time to do the necessary updates or that they just don’t like being told what to do.
Politics aside, there’s something here these business owners often miss: these kinds of accessibility accommodations are good for business. If someone in a wheelchair can’t get through your front door, she can’t buy your products. Regulation or no, it’s just good business sense. You want people to get through the doors. You want to remove what experts call “barriers to entry.”
Now, on the Internet, most businesses don’t have to worry about being compliant with handicap regulations. However, there are things we can do with our small business Internet presence to reduce those barriers to entry:
1. Keep your buying process simple. Whether it’s affiliate links or an actual product, the fewer clicks the better. There’s a reason Amazon went to the “1-click” checkout system. Streamline yours for maximum access.
2. Keep your products organized. Have a written site hierarchy. Know what belongs where, and keep it there. The same goes for information. Put everything at your reader’s fingertips.
3. Keep your site’s appearance efficient. Use readable fonts and plenty of white space. Grey on white print is hard to read. So are tiny fonts. Make your site readable. Leave some white space, too, so it’s not cluttered.
4. Only require essential information from your customers. Sure, you want a customer database, so you want them to create accounts. But, give them an option to not create an account and just buy, too. It will reduce your database but increase your sales.
5. Keep your customers interested. Don’t use filler content. Make sure every word on your site is purposeful. If it doesn’t contribute to your overall goals, dump it.
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I feel that my greatest barrier when it comes to running my business is patience. I also want everything toe to happen quickly, but I have to realize that things take time to develop and I got to look at it from a longterm perspective.
Great tips John.
Thanks a lot for sharing.
In my opinion the most important is the first
one because i believe too that the more simple
is the buying process the more sales you make.
Mario
I think a lot of people miss this part.
Make you business as accessible as possible, every customer counts.
When you do have them in your store (or blog) then make sure that you fulfill their needs.
I would like to add this to nr 3. Put big price tags on your products, no one likes to look all over the place to find the price tag, that makes it suspicious. You want the customers to know that you are totally honest at all times.
Thanks for a good blog Jason.
Regards
Rick
This is the KISS principle
Keep It Simple, Stupid!
Beautiful post, insightful analogy!
You just know how to hit the nail on the head!
Great Insight and an excellent post. Whether offline/Online, Customer accommodation is what keeps us in business. I encourage my clients to put themselves in the purchasing process to see how the customer experiences the process on their site. They’re always amazed at how simple, thoughtful changes increases not only customer purchases but loyalty as well. The paradigm is shifting in business and the consumer understands who has the power and they wield it through Conscious Spending. Let your customers know from their whole experience with you that they are important & you’ll see the results in your bottom line.
[...] John Cow recently made a blog post about internet businesses and the barriers needed to have a sucessful website. The most important part of his post is where he talks about the size and color of the font. If no one can read your website, they aren’t going to buy anything from you either. [...]
I like the tips, particularly the last one. Most readers get bored easily, and if you believe that your content is making the reader go “yeah, yeah… get on with it”… its definitely time to move on and remove the stuff thats causing them do that.
I totally agree with number five. New visitors and potential buyers want to find what they are looking for. And as you know, they don’t want to waste time. All in all, every new business owner should consider these five tips.