110 likes | 223 Views
2001 The Year of the SME. George Jewell General Manager toronto.com. Observations re the SME market today toronto.com experience to date What opportunities there may be for you here in the room. SME FACTS. Small <50 employees Medium < 499 employees 97 % Cdn businesses < 50 employees
E N D
2001 The Year of the SME George Jewell General Manager toronto.com
Observations re the SME market today • toronto.com experience to date • What opportunities there may be for you here in the room.
SME FACTS • Small <50 employees • Medium < 499 employees • 97 % Cdn businesses < 50 employees • 78 % Cdn businesses < 5 employees • Business < 50 employees account for over 36 % of employment in Canada 52 % of all off-line advertising is local 14 % of online advertising is local
Business Size (Employees) Source: Canadian Federation of Independent Business
toronto.com - background • Joint Venture between Torstar, Sympatico-Lycos & City Search • # 2 in CitySearch’s network of 65 + cities, trailing only New York City • 9,000,000 monthly pages views • 359,000 unique visitors • 1000 + website customers
toronto.com - Consumer usage • 80 % had looked for specific info re buying & selling a product • 61 % dealt with a they saw on toronto.com • 67 % of these people had never dealt with that business before
toronto.com- Customer Evolution • Year 1- Sept 97 • Experimentation • Little or no plan around site re objectives • Price based not a business based decision • Entering Year 4 • Media value> web development • 2,000,000 plus monthly page views at customers site
BARRIERS TO ENTRY OF SME • Time • Expertise • Integration into operations • Perceived Consumer Demand • Costs ROI
Key Drivers • Increasing Simplicity of Transaction • Application development targeted low end of market • Creation of marketplaces suited for SME success • Last mile provisioning • Empori • Who is next, Beckers?
Key Drivers • Market Pressure • Suppliers • Consumers • Competitors • Internal Growth