5 Advantages and Disadvantages of Internet for Business | Drawbacks & Benefits of Internet for Business

Internet has been used in businesses for many years due to their effectiveness and productivity. It is no doubt that internet has changed the perspective of business. In present, there are numerous businesses that solely depend online. Almost all of the business today find it difficult to operate without the internet.

Although internet facilitates business activities, still it is with some drawbacks. These pros and cons allows you to decide what type of companies will be benefited from the internet.

In this article, I will be describing about 5 Advantages and Disadvantages of Internet for Business | Drawbacks & Benefits of Internet for Business. Through this post, you will know the pros and cons of internet for business.

Let's get started,

Advantages of Internet for Business

1. Cost

Incorporating internet into a business reduces several expenses. Staffs will be able to work from home without physically making into office premises. Thus, the cost of renting office building is eliminated.

In addition to that, using social media platform marketing can be relatively at a cheaper cost. All of your products and services could be delivered to your target customers without much expense.


2. Reach

The internet is not restricted by geographical constraints. Therefore, it has the potential to make your business reach worldwide. Eventually this could cause more sales. This provides the opportunity for smaller businesses to expand globally targeting international customers.


3. Convenience

Not only businesses even customers feel convenient in using the internet. If it is an e-commerce, customers could read about the product, reviews and make a transaction instantly. They don't need to physically come to stores.

The products will be delivered near their door steps. And, if they have any queries related to the products, they can also mail about it. Whatever it is, the customers will definitely be satisfied about the service.


4. Communication

The means of communication has become easier for the businesses since the invention of internet. Before internet, businesses relied on traditional mail  or phone calls for communication all which can consume more time. 

 

At present, business depend on emails which is known to be much faster and cheaper option for communication.


5. Availability

Internet is a medium which is open 24/7. Unlike a physical store, businesses operating online is not restricted from opening and closing time. 

 

The business is open all the time unless there is no downtimes. This also beneficial for customers since they can process transactions anytime.

Disadvantages of Internet for Business

1. Competition

Many small companies choose to prefer online businesses due to the reduced expenses. When the unnecessary costs are avoided, the businesses will be able to offer products at a much cheaper rate.

Now similar to your business, there can be millions of other companies offering products and services. So it can be difficult for small businesses to establish a place in the internet market breaking this fierce competition.


2. Productivity

Internet is equipped with various entertainment options all which could distract a worker. Workers could waste their time in social media and online games that can result in productivity loss.

And also, workers who watch videos online could slow down their network performance since significantly amount of bandwidth is consumed. Thus, the others workers using the same network will be experiencing slow connections.


3. Malware Attack

Employees using internet are vulnerable to malware attacks. Unknowingly malwares could sneak into an office PC as the staffs surf the internet. 

 

Even if a single office computer gets infected with a malware, it has the potential to affect the entire network. However, there are some measurements that can be done in the network for preventing such infections.


4. Direct Interaction

Conducting businesses through the internet lacks direct interactions. A business that completely depends online never interacts with their customers face-to-face. 

 

Instead the transactions are carried out electronically. This is less efficient when it comes to customer experience since traditional companies provide more hands on experience.


5. Negative Reviews

Internet is a common platform for everyone. Hence, customers are free to express their opinions to others. If a customer encounters any bad experience from your business, he/she might share their feedback on forums and social media.

When a customer sees such negative reviews, they are less likely to do business transactions. As a result, negative reviews can significantly damage business reputation.