Top Five Ways the Internet Has Changed Small Business

My Business, the magazine of the National Federal of Independent Businesses (NFIB) outlines the top five ways the Internet has changed small businesses:

1. Email: Because it changed the way small businesses communicate in business

2. Google: Because it changed the way small businesses advertise

3. eBay: Because it introduced online auction sites where small businesses can now buy and sell for their businesses

4. Amazon.com: Because it introduced small business to e-commerce

5. Online networking (such as LinkedIn.com): Because it enables business owners to share ideas and find business partners all over the country

This is a deceptively simple list. On the one hand, it could be dismissed as somebody's musings about popular websites.

But if you want to know "why are small businesses proliferating?" then part of the answer is on this list.

Stop and think of the implications.

All five tools on the list have certainly changed my working life and my business.

With email I'd go one step farther: email has totally transformed my business. Without email my business would move far slower, I would need more physical space (for all those filing cabinets for paperwork), I would need an administrative assistant, and I definitely would have more expense.