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New Zealand businesses making the step into cyberspace have a new tool at their fingertips.
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) has revamped its E-business guide, targeted at assisting small and medium sized businesses develop their online presence.
E-business guide manager Lee Blair said the free service will cater for everyone from the person who is in the first stages of turning their business dream into a reality through to those with an established online presence.
People register their interest on the E-business website and are then contacted by a NZTE business advisor.
The advisor talks through where the business is at in terms of technology and the internet, and decides what information will be of most value.
"Then if it's right for you, they determine and help you slot yourself into the right part of the roadmap.
"Maybe you don't have a computer yet, so the advisor will say 'I will send this information to you so you can look at the right hardware and software and the right ISP'," said Blair.
"Once placed in the roadmap you can go for gold."
The self-service guide features checklists, background information and good practice examples on a range of e-business subjects.
These cover the basics such as choosing the right computer, to more advanced features such as building websites that use the latest online technologies.
"We're trying to give them information that can translate into knowledge for them," she said.
"It just gives them a leg up. It helps them know what perhaps they didn't know before."
The online format of the E-business guide means the information is never static and can be updated to include new information impacting web-based businesses, for example the anti-spam legislation, said Blair.
She said for those needing further information, the site includes a communication page which allows users to send questions through to NZTE business advisors any time night or day.
"It's online, so people can do it in their own time, at their own speed and always have someone there to help them," said Blair.
