{"id":10275,"date":"2016-01-26T11:02:06","date_gmt":"2016-01-26T16:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/?p=10275"},"modified":"2019-06-07T11:29:18","modified_gmt":"2019-06-07T16:29:18","slug":"small-businesses-missed-250-billion-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/small-businesses-missed-250-billion-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Half Of All Small Businesses Missed Out On Over $250 Billion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Small<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n


\nThere are over 28 million small businesses in America, accounting for 54% of all sales within the country. Yet more than half of them<\/a> are missing out on billions of dollars, combined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have a small business, you know that every penny counts. Wouldn\u2019t you do anything within reason to get yourself a leg up on your competition? If at least half of small businesses aren\u2019t doing this one simple thing, then you have a solid chance of bringing in more sales than your competitor down the street, simply by doing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This one thing brought in over $250 Billion<\/a>. If you don\u2019t have it, then you\u2019re clearly missing out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is that one thing?
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having a website. <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simple, right? Well yes and no. That dollar amount quoted above was just for ecommerce sales within the United States. So if your business isn\u2019t online in some manner, then yes – you missed out on your slice of that pie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think about how much time you spend online (you\u2019re reading this article online, for example). You\u2019re likely on some form of social media for hours each day; maybe even doing some of your own shopping online. Point being that you\u2019re online already, so why not spend a small portion of that time getting your business online?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a website, you\u2019d likely be able to grab a share of all that money spent online last year. And while you could sell your stuff through eBay, Etsy, or the like, it doesn\u2019t provide you the chance to really create your own brand on the web. You may not become the next Amazon, but if you could just bring in a few more sales, then why wouldn\u2019t you at least try it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, you may be saying that you\u2019ve thought about having your own website before, but it\u2019s just too hard or too expensive. And that may have been true – in the 90s. But with today\u2019s technologies, you could actually have a website online within the hour and for only a few bucks. It\u2019s true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conversely, you may think that a Facebook page alone may suffice, or Yelp, Twitter, or whatever other free online service of choice. While that may be a great start for your online presence, it shouldn\u2019t be the pillar of it. What if the platform were to vanish tomorrow? Or your page gets removed for breaking some random clause in the terms of service?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having your own website allows you to actually own your piece of the web. If you\u2019re bringing people to your Facebook page, you\u2019re essentially building Facebook more for them. You can\u2019t really do much with that audience outside of that platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, if you attract that traffic to your own website, you have their attention on something you own<\/i>. Plus, if you\u2019re interested in any online marketing, it looks a lot better to send them to your own site versus a Yelp page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At HostGator<\/a>, you could get started for just $5.56* per month. With that, you receive everything you need to claim your spot of the Internet. Without boring you too much, here are some of the features you\u2019d get when signing up with HostGator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n