If you want to attract customers, the answer’s a no-brainer.

Websites are perhaps the most overlooked vehicle of advertising for local, owner-operated businesses. Yes, every retailer needs one. Every dentist, lawyer, accountant and minister needs one. Every café, restaurant, coffee shop and nightclub needs one. Every wholesale supply company needs one.

I’m not suggesting that all these businesses need to actually transact business online. I’m only saying that everyone listed in yesterday’s Yellow Pages needs to also be available on the internet today–it’s where your customers expect to find you.

If you’re thinking you might not be able to afford putting up a website, think again. For a simple website, a budget of R5,000 to R15,000 for construction and R400 to R500 for monthly maintenance and updates should cover it. Robust sites with streaming video, opt-in subscriber functions and other, more complicated features can run between R20,000 and R100,000 for construction and R1000 to R2,000 for monthly maintenance and updates.

However if you rent the website with us, you could save huge costs and have an option and negotiate to buy the website at a particular point in time. Our website rental plans range from R199 to R350 monthly.

Akhona Ngwane from Web Rental Solutions, Relationship Manager – Renting a website is a great way to get everything you need while saving time and money. By renting, you remove the trouble, expense, and time of having design, build, and maintain your own site. With website rentals, forget about those extra costs, like hosting. When you rent a website, everything is included.

Owning a website has become an essential part of any business or commercial venture. A company that has no web presence is running the risk of losing on many opportunities, including the chance of reaching clients throughout the country, or even the world. But what about people who do not own a business? Are there any valid reasons to own a personal website? Experts say yes. Here are a few instances in which owning a personal website may be a great idea:

- If you are a freelancer, having a website is a great way to expose potential clients to your work. Whether you are a copywriter or a web designer, having a website allows you to create a portfolio, provide a bio, and showcase your work. In these cases, a website is like a business card and a resume all in one.
- If you want to share personal information and/or keep in touch with friends and family, a website is a great tool. Blogs are popular online diaries, but they are somewhat limited when it comes to design, type of material you can post, and bandwidth.
- If you deal with the public in any form, having a website allows you to share basic information about yourself, and to post answers to common questions so you do not have to deal with the same thing over and over.
- A website is a great way for you to become “visible.” It allows people to find you and get in touch with while keeping your anonymity (if you choose to); it also spreads your voice, and it allows you to have a conversation with a wide audience without any additional effort on your part. While you can certainly promote yourself locally through print ads or by sending out resumes, only a website will put your work in front of a potential client or acquaintance on the other side of the world.
- Finally, if you want to share your expertise on a particular hobby, sport, or personal interest, a website allows you to do that easily and effectively.

Akhona Ngwane from Web Rental Solutions, Relationship Manager – Renting a website is a great way to get everything you need while saving time and money. By renting, you remove the trouble, expense, and time of having design, build, and maintain your own site. With website rentals, forget about those extra costs, like hosting. When you rent a website, everything is included.

Okay, so you have a great idea for a business startup, but how far are you willing to go to make that idea for your new business into a money maker as opposed to a dream? Are you driven to create the new business that you have been thinking about or are you just bored with your job and think that a new business will be less work?

There are many questions that you have to ask yourself when you decide to start your own business. You have to be totally committed to the idea and willing to work through any problems. If you think that your startup small business is going to be easy, think again. It is difficult, but rewarding at the same time. You have to be prepared to meet any and all challenges that lie ahead or your business will not be a success.

When you have your own small business, expect to work hard and long hours to get your business going. You will be on your own, without anyone holding your hand along the way. The profit that you expect to make may very well be in the future as most businesses do not turn a profit in the first year. But, if you are strong willed and determined to succeed in your business, you will be successful.

Running your own business startup is not only financially rewarding, but personally gratifying. You are working for yourself, to make yourself rich instead of working to make someone else money. Those who are the most successful in the United States are those who have an entrepreneurial spirit. There is an old saying – “You never get rich working for someone else.” This is true. If you want to be truly successful, you have to have the gut to start up your own business, but be prepared to take on the challenges as well as reap the rewards.

Commitment is key to being successful in your own business. Before you start looking for business finance, be sure that you are totally committed to success. You need to be committed and passionate about your business idea and be willing to give it most of your time. You should start a business that you love, that you will want to continue to work on because you believe in the idea and the need for the business. Remember – if you are doing something that you like, you will never really work a day in your life. Those who succeed in their own business love the business that they are in and enjoy the work that it takes to build the business idea into reality.

Before you start your own business, ask yourself these questions:

- Can you put in the time it will take to make your business successful?
- Are you able to take on the challenges of a new business?
- Do you have people who will stand behind you with your new business, such as family and friends?
- Take this short quiz to see if you are the entrepreneurial type.
- Get a hold of potential clients or customers and talk about the business to determine their interest.
- Do a marketing study such as offering sample products or services on a trial basis to see the general interest in your business.

Research your competitor’s businesses so that you can better understand your own business prospects – learn their strengths and weaknesses and see how you can capitalize on strengths and eliminate the weaknesses in your own business.