Internet for Business

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Internet for Business

• Making Money on the Web
• A specialized workshop for
• Executives and Entrepreneurs

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Presented by
Jacques Rostenne President PERWIT
International Ottawa, Canada Produced by Jacques
Rostenne, Jeffrey Fine and Judith Stern
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From humble beginnings
320 billion
700 million users
E-commerce
The Internet
1969
2002
1996
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What kind of businesses run on the net?
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E-retail

• Worldwide E-retail was about US 8 billion in
  1998. Expected to be US 320 billion by 2002
• Amazon.com
• Dell
• Apple
• Keys to E-retail Exposure , credibility, on-line
  transaction and next day delivery

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E-retail- Buying books
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E-procurement

• One of the fastest areas of e-business.
  Companies, governments and NGOs post their
  requirements on the net and suppliers provide
  quotes by e-mail
• Big companies such as Ford, GM and others are
  finding this a real cost saver.
• Some attempts in Africa, no rousing success so
  far.

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Business to business
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E-banking

• Highly dependent on individual access to phone
  and Internet requires volume and significant
  average transactions.
• There may be an opportunity to service the
  Diaspora and the local expat markets
• Check your account balance
• Pay bills
• Transfer funds
• Get a loan
• Get a mortgage

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Getting a loan on-line
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E-travel

• Several hotels and safaris are already on-line,
  but the Net can do much more
• Check routing and schedules
• Make reservations
• Purchase a ticket (virtual or otherwise)
• Pay on line
• Check your frequent flier points
• Take advantage of last minute offers
• Buy tickets at virtual auctions

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E-zines and E-papers

• These started as the electronic version of
  regular magazines, some now only exist on the
  net.
• cheap to produce
• cost nothing to distribute
• can publish on a moments notice
• carry advertisements
• can target ads to specific on line reader
  (cookies)
• There are real opportunities here to create
  strong local Portal sites

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E-zines and E-papers - some links
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E-radios TVs

• Also started as regular radio and TV station
  relayed through the net
• time shift
• different audiences
• different content
• different advertisers
• More and more they are specific to the Net (even
  if they use material from the other)
• There are opportunities here to create local
  Portal sites
• Bandwidth may be a problem

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The new portals
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E-gambling

• Also known as E-fleecing. You deposit a sum of
  money (via credit card) into the account of a
  Caribbean based casino. Then you bet on casino
  type games such as black jack, roulette, etc.
  Since you cannot see the actual dealer or
  roulette (there is none), and since the computer
  can generate results separately for each sucker,
  ...

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There is one born every minute!
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E-auctions

• There are several types
• a product is offered to the highest bidder, or
• reverse auction you state how much you are
  willing to pay ( for example for an air ticket)
  and airlines make you offers.
• E-auctions are a combination of E-retail commerce
  and entertainment.

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What can we do, right now, right here in Africa!

• Where is the market?
• Where is the money ?
• Where is the willingness to purchase from the
  net?
• Who has the tools to purchase on-line?
• The local market is not attractive!
• Lets focus on export!
• There are four basic export markets, lets look at
  them

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1-The overseas (NA/EU) consumer market!

• Do you have the products? the services?
• Can you get them there?
• (Or bring the consumer here Tourism)
• Are you competitive?

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If you have an export product for the general
consumer market

• What can the Web do for you?
• It can create awareness (Banners, E-zines,
  E-publications, etc.)
• It can connect you with interested people (search
  engines, e-mail, etc.)
• It can provide a wealth of information to
  prospective buyers (websites)

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• It can help prospective clients compare your
  products with competitors (website links)
• Clients can order on-line
• Clients can pay on-line (by credit card)
• You still have to ship and deliver.

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If you have a service for the consumer market

• You can deliver it on the net
• You can do it all on the net!
• But, getting exposure and acceptance is not easy.
• You will need
• A lot of specific business knowledge
• A lot of web design and web management expertise
• A lot of connectivity and bandwidth , and
• Probably a fair amount of start up capital

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Is anybody doing it successfully ?

• Not too many
• Some coop ventures are trying.
• Some are doing it smartly
• Unless you have a very special product or service
  (such as tourism) and you already have a strong
  market overseas, we do not recommend it!

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Tourism is different

• We bring the consumer to the product
• What can the Web do for your tourism business?
• It can create awareness (Banners, E-zines,
  E-publications, etc.)
• It can connect you with interested people (search
  engines, etc.)
• It can provide information to prospective
  visitors (websites)
• It can show and promote your facilities (Webcam,
  video, sound)
• It can help prospective visitors make-up their
  minds
• Tourists can reserve on-line
• Visitors can pre-pay or leave a deposit, or a
  guarantee

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Any local success stories?

• Some basic sites
• No (known to us) examples of full use of
  capabilities

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2-The Diaspora market

• There are actually three ways to look at it
• Home to diaspora
• Diaspora to diaspora
• Diaspora to home
• What can you offer them (goods, services)?
• Can you get it there?
• Can they afford it?

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The diaspora, a receptive market

• Diaspora client are more tolerant
• Willing to pay a bit more,
• Willing to wait longer
• Willing to accept less than perfection
• They are overseas consumers, but better.

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Do you have something for the Diaspora?

• News Information (newspapers, radio, TV )
• Food, other specialty items
• Travel (deals on tickets, events )
• Banking ( fund transfers, savings, etc.)
• Real estate ( investments)
• Legal and professional services ( accounting)
  groups , e.g. overseas students overseas
  professionals, etc.

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• Traditional medicine
• Matchmaking
• Advertising for overseas businesses also focused
  on Diaspora markets
• London , Washington, etc.
• Specialized discussion groups , e.g. overseas
  students overseas professionals, etc.

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Anybody doing it successfully?

• In a very limited way
• We will be supporting two home to diaspora
  portals.
• Almost nothing in the diaspora to diaspora or
  diaspora to home country area (all of which can
  actually be run from home)

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3-The offline Teleservices market

• The overseas market for business to business
  offline Teleservices
• If you have the specific service expertise
• Africa has definite competitive advantages
• You can get it there
• They can pay
• They are willing to buy
• Can you deliver on time, on specs, all the time?

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What role does the Net play?

• In offline teleservices, the net is only used to
  communicate and send text back and forth.
• You need to be online only infrequently
• You need little bandwidth
• No expensive equipment, no fancy offices
• A lot of the staff can work at home
• Its business to business, payment is by
  traditional means

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Is anybody making money at it?

• Yes, but not from Sub Saharan Africa (or at least
  not yet!)
• We will be supporting a variety of Teleservices
• Digital mapping
• Accounting data entry
• Business Safaris services

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Some examples of African based Teleservices
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E-Transcription (manuscripts)

• Company A
• Receive (scanned) manuscripts over the net
• Split it into sections
• Parallel imputing (redundant entry)
• Full formatting
• Electronic document returned within 24 hours or
  less

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• Rates vary, US 1.00 to US 3.00 per page
• One experienced operator can do up to six pages
  per hour
• May require full redundant entry and quality
  control
• Must partner with an established local company
  which will interface with local clients
• Quality and consistency are paramount

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E-editing

• African group of legal professionals trained in
  the French (Napoleonic) legal system.
• Receive daily, via net (scanned ) judgements
  issued by the Quebec courts ( in French)
• Documents are summarized for publication
• Overnight service
• No details on rates (said to be excellent)
• Need a formal contract with a local provider of
  such services
• Need professional training and expertise

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E-architectural support services

• Company B receives electronic cad-cam files from
  Europe over the net
• The European architects do the design, the West
  Africans do the detail work
• Employs draftsmen and architects
• Need powerful computers and software
• Need training and experience
• Multiple shift work
• Well paid

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E-Transcription (audio/video files)

• Tests with African company
• Receive audio tapes over the net
• Split into sections
• Parallel inputing (redundant entry)
• Full formatting
• Electronic document returned within 24 hours or
  less

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• 1hour tape /- 5 to 6 typed pages
• US going rate is US 60 to 100 per hour!
• Must partner with an established local company
  which will interface with local clients
• Quality and consistency are paramount

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E-Translation

• African companies and Perwit itself
• Receive (scanned)documents over the net
• Split it into sections
• Quality control, revisions,
• Full formatting
• Depending on size of document, electronic
  document returned within 24 hours or less.

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• English to French per word rate is
  approximately US 10 to 15 cents.
• Experienced translator can do 300 to 400 words
  per hour (especially using new softwares such as
  Dragon Dictate or Via voice and specialized
  Termium)
• Must partner with an established local company
  which will interface with local clients
• Quality , speed and consistency are paramount

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E-Accounting

• New opportunity
• Accounting data entry and statement preparation
• Receive (scanned) documents over the net
• Post to ledger, prepare statements
• New market
• Requires experienced operators
• Speed, consistency, productivity, quality and
  price

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Lets take the accounting example

• The work to be done
• The people to do it
• The facilities and hardware
• The software
• The connectivity
• Performance criteria
• Volume of business
• Twinning
• Mentoring

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The work to be done

• Read, interpret (all entries pre-coded)
• Cheque stubs
• Deposit books
• Sales invoices (accounts receivables)
• Bank statements
• Supplier invoices (accounts payable)
• Payroll data sheets

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The people to do it

• Able to read and write English
• Introductory level Accounting training/experience
• Computer skills - data entry proficiency
• Basic personal skills - accuracy, organized,
  conscientious
• Basic mathematical skills
• Accounting software experience
• -e.g. Quickbooks Pro V 6.0

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The facilities and hardware

• Reasonably secure facilities (data
  confidentiality)
• Secure, surge protected power source
• A good Internet server
• A good back-up system
• A good local Ethernet LAN
• Pentium computers ( but not necessarily last
  model)
• Phone and fax connection
• Desk, chairs etc.

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The software

• Basic internet package (browser, FTP, e-mail,
  ICQ, Internet Telephony)
• Specialized Accounting software ( depending on
  client)
• MS Office or similar

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The connectivity

• Good, reliable, but
• No need for high bandwidth Internet connection
• No need to be online all the time.
• Preferably, some redundancy

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Performance criteria

• Accuracy
• Consistency
• Professionalism
• Confidentiality /security
• Good work organization
• Fast turn around
• Cost

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Volume of business

• Can start small
• Tremendous room for growth
• May lead to more upscale work

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4-Online Teleservices

• Basically VOIP call centres
• Brand new opportunity
• We will support two/three VOIP call centre pilot
  projects
• The technology is so new that African VOIP call
  centres are going to be among the first in the
  world

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Online Teleservices - the future

• Live, interactive, on-line services provided over
  the net
• Chat, e-mail, or more likely voice, video and
  assisted browsing
• E-interpretation (as opposed to translation)
• Telemedicine
• Net based interactive education
• VOIP business to business call centers
• VOIP business to consumer voice buttons

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What is a call center?

• People prefer to talk to people !
• Call centers are specialized facilities where
  phone operators use CIT to facilitate
  communications with the public
• Dublin is the call center capital of the World
  (/- 130,000 operators)

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• Call centers are generally located in low cost
  communities with good phone facilities
• e.g. Moncton, New Brunswick Pop, 100,000 0
  call centers, 7,000 operators
• There are two basic types of call centers
• Incoming call centers, and
• Outgoing call centers.

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Outgoing call centers

• They originate the calls
• Market research
• Opinion polling
• Telemarketing
• Donation solicitation (Red Cross, ...)
• etc.

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Incoming call centers

• The vast majority of all call centers receive
  incoming calls for
• Reservation services (hotels, airlines, ...)
• On line ordering (catalogue purchases, ...)
• Technical support services (software companies,
  ...)
• Customer services (insurance companies,
  governments, ...)
• Online transactions (banking, brokerage, ...)

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How do telephone based call centers work?

• Traditional call centers use WATTS line which may
  cover a single region, a country or a continent.
• Traditional call centers MUST be located in the
  geographical area they serve (or have a special
  dedicated set of lines)
• Traditional call centers use CIT (computer
  integrated telephony)

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VOIP call centers, What is the difference?

• Net based call centers do the same thing, but
  they use Internet telephony to do it
• Advantages
• Can be located anywhere in the world
• Can take advantage of lower labor costs (and
  availability)
• VOIP calls do not incur long distance costs
• Disadvantages
• Sound quality is still not as good

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VOIP voice buttons

• They are the next (explosive) growth VOIP service
• Click on the screen and TALK to (and see) a real
  person
• VOIP, VIDEOIP, Assisted browsing,..
• You can think of them as VOIP distributed call
  centers
• Ask questions
• Bargain
• Get assistance
• E-law
• E-medicine
• etc.

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Making a call using a voice button
http//www.nortel.com/voicebutton/action.htm
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Live online interaction
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VOIP call centres, the jackpot

• Could compete with current phone based call
  centres
• Uniquely positioned to serve the needs of
  Websites with voice buttons
• Phone based call centres currently employ
  hundreds of thousand individuals of all types and
  all levels of skills.

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What does it take?

• Enabling legislation
• Direct access to the backbone via VSAT or similar
• Significant investment in specialized equipment
• Technical expertise
• Training
• A lot of mentoring, twining , and especially
• NA or EU partnering

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How is Perwit involved with e-commerce in Africa?

• We are just starting an infoDev/IDRC sponsored
  program aimed at providing
• Mentoring
• Twining, and
• Partnering
• For 12 e-commerce private sector pilot ventures
  in Tanzania and Uganda

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E-commerce is a knowledge based business

• African entrepreneurs need to become much more
  familiar with the Internet as a business tool
• African ISPs and Internet professionals need to
  be able to support sophisticated e-business
  websites
• Governments need to understand how to create an
  e-commerce friendly environment
• Perwit provides training, mentoring and consulting

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Question period

• For more information about
• the infoDev/IDRC e-commerce support program
• Our e-commerce training and support services
• Our e-commerce competitiveness policy advice
• Check out our website www.perwit.com
• Contact me at rostenne_at_perwit.com

Our services are available in English, French and
Portuguese