Many small businesses don't have Web sites
When Northfield-based Small Business Research Board surveyed about 550 small businesses, including some in the Chicago suburbs, the group was surprised to learn that about 43 percent of them didn't have Web sites.
At a time when the Internet has permeated our society, some businesses just didn't have a presence there, not even for e-commerce.
Is it because they have no money to do a Web site?
"It's not always a financial concern," said Raymond Minkus, the research group's manager.
"They may not feel inclined to do one, don't see the value, don't have doctors of technology on board or may have had one and then dropped it."
Still, it's surprising news, Minkus said, considering about 29.2 percent who responded to the survey said they expected their e-commerce sales to increase in the next year or two.
The survey is the first in a series looking at small businesses and their relationship with the Internet. It's co-sponsored by the quarterly Business Today magazine, based in Buffalo Grove.
Respondents included retail, food, distributors, construction and contracting businesses, among others.
Minkus said they gathered a "voluminous" amount of data.
"It's an incredible national sampling," he said.
Other findings include:
About 67.5 percent believe their Internet sales will remain the same, while 3.3 percent said it is expected to decrease.
Of those business that did have Web sites, 47 percent said they had just one, while 7 percent said they had two to five Web sites.
Among the businesses with Web sites, 44 percent did not sell products or services online.
Surfing: Oak Brook-based RC2 Corp.'s Johnny Lightning (www.johnnylightning.com) and Miniclip (www.miniclip.com), an online games Web site with 36 million game players, have launched the online game called Battle Wheels, an interactive game where kids can experience realistic combat online.
Gamers can construct their own warrior to have individual super powers and outlandish armors, while using special codes obtained from the in-store toy packaging to increase their warrior's fighting power and skills.
The remote controlled Battle Wheels toys (www.thebattlewheels.com) are high-speed radio controlled combat warriors that will be available in retailers nationwide this fall.
• American InterContinental University Online, which has a campus in Hoffman Estates, has launched a new feature to its Web site that highlights "outcomes" of a college education received here. It includes statistics about student satisfaction rates, employer satisfaction rates and other data.
To learn more about the data, visit www.aiuoutcomes.com. For information on AIU Online, visit www.aiuonline.edu, and for more information about AIU's campuses, visit www.aiuniv.edu.