Why do so many people not take online business seriously?

If you ask the majority of the population here in the UK, and probably in most countries, they do not consider those who make money online to be running a business. It is seen as shady and not proper. What is it that gives this impression? Does online business need to tidy up its act and become more transparent? Those of us who work online know that a business in the virtual world is not virtual at all. It is as real as any other business.

One example that could be contributing to public lack of belief in online business is identity theft. Identity theft has had a lot of press recently and is commonly associated with electronic use/storage of personal data and is at an all time high. It doesn’t help that the Government are constantly losing our personal data, but even without that so many people are still getting caught out by phishing attempts. We all get emails from a random bank we have never dealt with requesting we change or confirm our details – luckily most of us know better. The same goes for opening strange attachments which appear to do nothing but actually leak our keystrokes to unsavoury characters.

I think the biggest problem people have online is the low barriers to entry. Anyone can make a basic website and put the Paypal shopping cart onto it and sell something. Anyone can make a website and slap Adsense on it. This is true. A very basic website is something that you should be skeptical about, but no more so than a particularly flashy website. In these days scammers are capable of all sorts of things, and building a decent website is definitely not out of their reach. We as consumers need to be smart about these things.

How can we make our online business more transparent therefore putting our potential customers at ease? The best way is to provide adequate contact details and welcome questions. If someone has a query, and it is answered promptly and suitable information is provided it will go a long way towards giving the potential customer peace of mind.

Use a well known and reputable payment gateway. Companies like Paypal make big profits but that is fine because we prefer to pay via a system we know and trust. These payment gateways take your customers details and process the payments. The benefit for the customer is that they have the peace of mind that their card details are safe (hopefully) with a big company as opposed to being held by a smaller business, that might not have the same levels of protection in place.

Prompt delivery of orders is something customers remember and is one of the major points they will make when referring you. A good customer experience is remembered. On the flip side, a bad customer experience is remembered for a lot longer! Make sure the correct order is delivered on time and make sure you have suitable systems in place to achieve this and to deal with any other issues that might arise.

What does your business do to give customers peace of mind? Do you believe online business needs to become more transparent? Please share your opinions.