KUALA LUMPUR: Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) can create an online presence and boost profits without spending a sen.
Industry professionals said businesses could expand into e-commerce by using available free products such as those from Google and eBay.
Chiica Consultations education specialist Chris Chan said SMEs needed to change their perception and realise it was now the time to take their business online.
"We need to convince people to take the first step. There are too many people who say 'I can't do it'," she said.
Xtrain CEO Bikesh Lakhmichand said some are afraid of information and communication technology (ICT) either because they do not understand it, or because they think it is too expensive.
"There is readily available freeware which you can use. The big boys (companies) are already doing this (going online). We are trying to get the small boys to do it too.
"Work with Google and eBay product lines. They don't cost much, or in some cases, anything at all," he said.
Bikesh said the only thing which SMEs needed to invest in was time -- to learn about e-business and to maintain their online systems once they had set them up.
"You either hire someone who knows (e-business), or train existing staff (to do it)," he said.
Neowave business development director Adrian Oh concurred, saying the challenge faced by SMEs was to get someone to run the e-business aspects of their organisations.
"If they want to see results, they will need to learn or hire. They will need to be consistent, otherwise it will just die off," he said.
To learn more, the
MCA ICT Resource Centre (MIRC) is organising an
e-SMEs Week at Wisma MCA, Jalan Ampang, from May 13 to 15.
Among the highlights are the MIRC e-enablement workshops, IT training programmes, showcases and e-business talks.
Chan, Bikesh and Oh will be among the speakers at the event, which is free to the public.
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