Most Canadian small business don’t have a web site, and won’t any time soon

It may seem like every business has a web site these days, but a recent survey shows most Canadian businesses don’t have a web site – and aren’t in a hurry to get one either.

A new survey of very small Canadian businesses (with five or fewer employees) sponsored by domain and web hosting company GoDaddy found that 59 per cent of small Canadian businesses don’t’ have a web site of any kind, and 41 per cent believed their business was to small to justify building one. While the Canadian tally for businesses without a digital shingle was in line with the global figure, 55 per cent worldwide said they planned to build one within the next two years, only 33 per cent of Canadian companies had a web site in their immediate future.

“While it might not seem alarming that Canadian very small businesses are generally less ambitious with their website plans than global firms, the research revealed that companies who have, or plan to build, a web site are more optimistic and ambitious than those who do not have one,” said Jill Schoolenberg, GoDaddy’s vice-president for Canada, in a statement. “Given that Canada is often referred to as a country of small businesses, this has potential implications for the national economy.”

Canadian companies with a web site on their two-year horizon certainly do seem more optimistic than their peers that did not. Some 83 per cent of small firms with web site plans were anticipating business growth of 10 per cent of better over the next three to five years, while 54 per cent of those with no web site plans were projecting neutral or even negative growth.

Key factors motivating companies to build a web site included increasing their local customer base at 45 per cent, helping to reach a national audience at 23 per cent, and growing internationally at 16 per cent. Newer businesses were the most likely to be going online, at 71 per cent of business three or fewer years old compared to 20 per cent of companies that have been around for four or more years.

Three-quarters of companies that already had a web site felt it gave them a competitive advantage over peers that weren’t online, and 54 per cent said they saw their business grow after launching their web sites.

“The results show that no business is too small to have a website. Building an online presence can lead to more ambitious business plans, higher growth and better customer outreach,” said Schoolenberg. “Given the potential benefits, it’s well worth the investment.”

Would you recommend this article?

Share

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you think of this article!
We'd love to hear your opinion about this or any other story you read in our publication.


Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

Featured Download

Jeff Jedras
Jeff Jedras
Jeff Jedras is a technology journalist with IT World Canada and a member of the IT Business team. He began his career in technology journalism in the late 1990s, covering the Ottawa technology sector for Silicon Valley North and the Ottawa Business Journal. He later covered the technology scene in Vancouver before joining IT World Canada in Toronto in 2005, covering enterprise IT for ComputerWorld Canada and the channel for Computer Dealer News. His writing has also appeared in the Vancouver Sun & the Ottawa Citizen.

Featured Story

How the CTO can Maintain Cloud Momentum Across the Enterprise

Embracing cloud is easy for some individuals. But embedding widespread cloud adoption at the enterprise level is...

Related Tech News

Get ITBusiness Delivered

Our experienced team of journalists brings you engaging content targeted to IT professionals and line-of-business executives delivered directly to your inbox.

Featured Tech Jobs