Transcript Why a Virtual Business?

Virtual Business
Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved
A virtual business is a business that
primarily conducts business electronically
as opposed to operating from a physical
location
 Very little, if any, face-to-face contact with
customers, unless the business is blended
with brick-and-mortar
 Synonymous with:

 e-commerce
 online business
 digital business
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An innovative business owner who
conducts business online
 See the vision of a “storefront” although
the “walls” are not visible
 Understand how to get information
about customers
 Responds rapidly to changes in laws
and trends
 Know when or if to innovate

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SBA – sba.gov
 http://www.sba.gov/content/startingonline-business
 Small Business Development Center –
sba.gov/sbdc
 SCORE – www.score.org
 Women’s Business Center –
www.onlinewbc.gov

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ARPANET
• Advanced Research Projects Agency
• Network created by the U. S. Department of Defense in
1969
• Original purpose was for electronic communication in case
of nuclear war or natural disasters
1982
• The term “Internet” is born
1991
• Internet became available for
commercial use
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Redefines buyer/seller relationships
 Is open 24/7
 Minimizes distribution channels
 Increases productivity & revenue
 Unlimited customer reach
 Affordable
 Flexible schedule

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Can start quickly
 Telecommuting
 Global business

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B2B
• Business to Business
• Customers are primarily other businesses
B2C
• Business to Consumer
• Customers are the general public
C2C
• Consumers selling to other consumers
• Typically auction web sites
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
Business Communications
 Internal (employees)
○ Email
 External (current and potential customers)
○ Videoconferencing
○ Company web sites

Information Gathering
 Research to assist in decision-making
 Information on current and prospective customers
○ Be added to mailing lists
○ Product registration
○ FAQs
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 Competitor information
○ Product comparisons
○ Customer reviews

Improving Business Operations
 Inventory
 Shipping information
 Financial statements
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Web Designers – Creating web sites
 Web Developers – May need to know
HTML
 Web Technologists – Entry level position
 Customer Service Support – Entry level
 Technical Writer – Strong
communication and organizational skills

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Internet Timeline – List 10 events that occurred regarding the history of the
Internet and how they have impacted business. At least two companies
must also be included in the timeline.
 Career Research Newsletter – Students are to create a one-page, twocolumn newsletter, using either word processing or desktop publishing
software, that displays that different career opportunities related to the
Internet, such as Webmaster or Web Site Designer. They will conduct
Internet research on several of the job-search web sites to locate three job
openings. These openings should include the job title, job description, and
education, training, or certification requirements.
 Report on the Future of E-Commerce – Students will write (or type with
word processing software) a properly formatted one-page report on the
future of virtual business, based upon population projections listed in the
following web site:
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/population.html The report
should contain an explanation of what the projections are and how ecommerce could be affected; for example, whether there will be more users
of certain types of web sites, if web sites will be used for different reasons in
the future, how different age groups may use the Internet, or if there will be
more of certain types of e-businesses in the future.

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