1. T H E B A S E K I T S M A L L B U S I N E S S R E P O R T:
HOW UK SMALL BUSINESSES ARE GRAPPLING WITH NEW TECHNOLOGY
M AY 2 0 1 2

2. Content
1 Foreword
2 Small Businesses Failing To Impress Online
3 Facebook Now Top Source For New Business
4 Enterprises Crashing Out Rather Than Cashing In Online
5 Small Businesses Falling Behind On Mobile Custom
6 Methodology and Sources

3. Foreword
Here at BaseKit, we believe even the This report outlines the key findings
smallest business needs to be online from speaking to a cross section of
which is why we try and make it as easy businesses, which between them, form
as possible for every new start-up and the backbone of the UK economy. It
small enterprise to create an effective looks at how firms are embracing social
online presence. media to market themselves through
to the impact poor web hosting – and
Somewhat surprisingly however there subsequent website crashes - can have
are still 60% of UK small businesses on their bottom line.
that have yet to get online despite the
Internet being an all pervasive presence One trend that emerges strongly is a fear
in our lives. And, the businesses that amongst small businesses that, if they
do have an online presence sometimes don’t harness the web more effectively,
struggle to keep pace with, yet alone they are in danger of becoming “digital
embrace the possibilities that the web dinosaurs.”
can offer them.
We have used these insights and the
Perhaps it’s not so remarkable when findings to help us establish The BaseKit
you put yourself in the shoes of a small Learning Centre - an online academy
business for a moment. It’s not easy out for small businesses to find out all they
there. The pace at which technology need to know about running and growing
is changing is just extraordinary and their business online. We’ve created
consumer’s expectations of what they a series of online guides written by
want a website to do, or not do, has professionals to help firms get the most
changed with it – along with the devices from the internet from SEO optimisation
they use to access the internet. through to social media and online
marketing.
We spoke to just over 500 small
business owners, from one-man bands We hope you enjoy reading the report.
up to small partnerships, to find out
just how well they are faring with the Simon Best
technological advances and whether
they are harnessing them to their Simon Best
full advantage. Founder, Basekit
Digital Dinosaurs 1

4. Small Businesses
Failing To
Impress Online
They say you never get a second chance Small businesses are in danger of seriously
to make a first impression and it’s a phrase “Three quarter of the small lagging behind when it comes to their web
that rings true for hundreds of thousands businesses we spoke functionality:
of small businesses nationwide, according
to our research. to admit having a well-
Changes functionality %
designed and functioning
Despite being the equivalent to a “shop site is important for their
window”, just one in six small businesses Able to update their own sites 67%
reputation - as well as critical
(16%) believes they have a website they Online payments accepted 25%
can be very proud about. to drumming-up new leads.
Yet they are really struggling It can host a blog 22%
One in ten small business owners to know how to keep up with It can host video 22%
(11%) say their websites use out of date
technology and a further 11% describe
the latest developments and Integration with social media 19%
their company’s online presence as either are scared of becoming so- SEO optimised 18%
“poor” or “embarrassing,” according to our called Digital Dinosaurs.” Process online bookings 18%
figures. Simon Best Optimised for mobile devices 9%
A quarter of small businesses (25%) say No additional functionality 18%
they are envious of their competitor’s The ways that small businesses currently
websites as they struggle to keep pace describe their website:
with technology change and maintain a
site that is customer-friendly. “For many small enterprises,
their website is their window
Keeping up with changing technology
is a real issue for half of the small to the world, yet so many
businesses we polled as they admit to feel poorly served by
grappling with ecommerce functionality, what they’ve created for
mobile friendliness and search-engine themselves online.”
optimisation. Only a quarter of businesses
(25%) are able to process transactions Simon Best
online currently and only 9% have a site
that is compatible with mobile phones or
tablets. 64% It’s “adequate” The aspects business’s would change
23% It’s up to date about their website:
The changes that businesses would like to
11% It’s out of date
make include better design and cheaper
hosting as well as better analytics and the 11% It’s poor and embarrassing
opportunity to change and refresh content 5% It’s perfect
themselves.
32% Better design
17% Ability to change content oneself
16% Cheaper hosting
14% Better analytics
7% Better technical support
2 Digital Dinosaurs

5. Facebook Now Top
Source Of New Customers
For Small Businesses
Over one third of UK small businesses The research shows that while a lot of Channels that businesses use to market
say that they now use Facebook to drum small businesses are forward-thinking their business
up new customers – more than local when it comes to the web, there are a lot
directories such as Yellow Pages and of others that have yet to get on board.
Thomson and substantially more than
print or online advertising.
“Small businesses are
We found that 36% of small businesses shifting their marketing
in Britain use the social network to market
themselves, where just a quarter say they to lower-cost media like
rely on local directories (27%) as a source Facebook and Twitter and
of new customers. away from legacy media like
the directories. They tell us
Twitter has also become popular with
small businesses and their owners – over that one-to-one marketing is 36% Facebook
one-in-six (17%) use the site to scout their most efficient and most 27% Local business directories
for new customers and to market their successful way of generating 21% Print advertising
services and the micro-blogging site is fast
catching up with those who say they use
new business – the fact 20% Online advertising
print (21%) or online (20%) advertising for that Facebook has become 17% Twitter
their marketing. the number one source of 14% Trade publications
new business within just a
Our research also found that, while vast
numbers of the UK’s 1.1 million small
few years of its creation is
“The simple truth is that,
businesses are online and are using sites remarkable.”
for a small business with
such as Facebook successfully, there Simon Best
are still 660,000 that have yet to get customers who may be
themselves online at all. This is despite under 40, if you’re not on
the fact that three quarters (74%) of those the web then you are more-
that do have a site say it has become
critical to drumming-up new leads and to or-less invisible. We believe
their reputation as a company. that every small business
in the UK should be able to
take advantage of the power
of the internet as a tool to
grow – and should be able to
create a professional website
cost-effectively.”
Simon Best
Digital Dinosaurs 3

6. Small Businesses
Crashing Out Rather
Than Cashing In Online
A quarter of UK small enterprises – or Impact of website crashes on small
nearly 290,000 individual businesses - businesses: “Start-ups and enterprise
has seen their websites crash or become companies aren’t always
inaccessible to customers due to poor helping themselves to make
web hosting, our research shows.
the most of what the web has
One in ten small businesses impacted by to offer. We were surprised
web crashes believes the unscheduled by how little functionality
down-time has significantly impacted their some websites have –
trading.
meaning companies aren’t
Three quarters (74%) of small businesses cashing in on the growing
say being online is important to drumming ecommerce trend.”
up new leads and to their company
reputation. Yet website crashes are 10% Crash had an impact Simon Best
hampering business success, as is trying 7% Crash didn’t impact much
to keep pace with changes in technology 6% Crash didn’t impact at all
and customer behaviour says the BaseKit Importance of a website to business
65% Never experienced a crash
Small Business Report. reputation:
11% Can’t remember
“Small businesses invest a
lot of time and resource in
creating their websites so
it’s understandable they get
frustrated when poor web
hosting means that their
sites crash resulting in lost
customers and revenues.” 38% Extremely important
Simon Best 36% Slightly important
17% Neither important or unimportant
6% Not very important
3% Not important at all
4 Digital Dinosaurs

7. Small Businesses Falling
Behind As They Miss Out
On Mobile Custom
UK small businesses are missing out on Levels of concern about keeping pace
vital sales and a source of new customers “Access to the internet is the with technology change:
as just one-in-ten (9%) say their websites fastest-growing technology
can be used with mobile phones and
tablets in mind. trend. The number of
British consumers with
However, our research found that 45% smartphones has almost
of internet users use a mobile device to
access the web and that 6% of internet
doubled in the past couple
users have shopped online from their of years and is now nearing
mobile phone and that they are spending 50%.
up to £1.3 billion on “on the move”
purchases.
Simon Best
The risk is that small businesses will miss
out in the belief that creating a mobile- “Being online is good,
friendly site is too costly or too complicated.
And with reports predicting that purchases
but having a site that isn’t
made using smartphones could make up built with this generation of 11% Very concerned
12% of the value of all ecommerce, it’s an mobile internet users in mind 40% Slightly concerned
area that smaller companies can’t afford means small businesses 38% Neither concerned or unconcerned
to miss out on.
are missing out on a major 10% Very unconcerned
The “Digital Dinosaurs” research found source of new customers 2% Don’t know
that falling behind the pace of technology and sales.”
change was something that preoccupies Simon Best
small business – with half saying they are
“concerned” or “very concerned” that they
are being overtaken by changes including
the advance of mobile internet usage.
Digital Dinosaurs 5

8. Methodology
and sources
About the research
BaseKit.com commissioned Opinium Research LLP to
conduct a research poll amongst 510 small businesses
in April 2012.
All the business owners polled ran enterprises that employed
between 1 and 49 staff.
According to latest figures (2011) from the Department
for Business, Innovation and Skills, there are 1,141,950
private enterprises with between 1-49 employees in the UK,
responsible for 7 million people and turning over
£864 million a year.
The fieldwork took place between the 20-27 April 2012 and
was conducted online. According to BaseKit Insight Data, 60%
of SMEs are yet to get online.
For more information, contact the BaseKit press office on
020 7566 9747 or email basekit@hopeandglorypr.com.
About BaseKit
BaseKit.com was founded in 2009 and our success has made
us one of Europe’s most exciting tech start-ups. We now
sign up 40,000 new paying customers every single month.
BaseKit’s technology makes it easy for small businesses to
create an effective online presence and is localised in 10
languages globally.
BaseKit offers a range of sites – all designed to be compatible
with mobile access, as well as traditional PCs – with a full
ecommerce site costing just £100 a year and a service that
enables a business to get started with a site for free. Visit
www.basekit.com to find out more.
The BaseKit Learning Centre is an online academy for small
businesses to find out all they need to know about running
and growing their business online. We’ve created a series
of online guides written by professionals to help firms get the
most from the internet from SEO optimisation through to social
media and online marketing. Visit www.basekit.com/learning-
centre to find out more.
6 Digital Dinosaurs