Sole traders indifferent towards the web

The majority of very small businesses in the UK have no plans to get online because they can't see the financial gains and customer benefits.

Around 90 per cent of sole traders or one-man businesses said it is likely that they won't gain access to the internet within the next two years, research by NOP has revealed.

As part of NOP's research, 500 companies with up to 50 employees were interviewed about their use of, and attitudes towards, the internet. About a fifth were sole traders, and it is this group that remains largely indifferent towards the internet.

One unnamed respondent said: "I don't need the internet. We can't benefit from it. It's not relevant."

Nigel Marson, marketing communications controller at Yell.com, which sponsored the research, said: "There is still a long way to go in persuading many sole traders that the internet is relevant to building businesses and is easy to use."

Overall, however, small and medium businesses (SMEs) are more enthusiastic about the internet with half of all respondents now online, and 44 per cent believing it will help their business grow.

On average, each SME has at least 26 business suppliers to deal with, and buying over the internet presents an attractive option with 62 per cent planning to do so within the next two years to help manage supplier relationships. To date, however, only 37 per cent of respondents said their companies had ordered goods and services over the internet.

87 per cent of SMEs already using the web look forward to financial gains through marketing and research to find new suppliers, but because it is a recent investment, capitalisation has yet to be realised.