Looking out for the little guys: large corporations partner up on online tool to boost technology, bottom line for small businesses.Prospective guests of The DC GuestHouse guest·house n. 1. A small house or cottage adjacent to a main house, used for lodging guests. 2. A bed-and-breakfast. bed and breakfast in Washington Washington, town, England Washington, town (1991 pop. 48,856), Sunderland metropolitan district, NE England. Washington was designated one of the new towns in 1964 to alleviate overpopulation in the Tyneside-Wearside area. , D.C., can now make reservations online thanks to the innovative technology of Biz Tech-Connect. The B&B's co-owner Tom Bell says that two months after incorporating the service, revenues increase by 30%, or about $12,000 per month. Biz Tech-Connect (www.biztechconnect.com) is a Web portal See portal. that provides free online and social networking See social networking site. social networking - social network , as well as four modules designed to help small businesses with their marketing and advertising, communications and mobility, financial management, and customer relationship management. Besides offering suggestions on inventory control, lessons are available on writing a business plan, developing a Website and creating a newsletter. The portal averages about 120 users per month and about 300 companies have registered since its launch this May. Biz Tech-Connect was developed to help women- and minority-owned businesses access resources and leverage technology to increase revenues. It was launched through the Technology Partnership for Small Business Task Force, which includes Microsoft Corp., AT&T, the Women's Business Enterprise National Council, and the Information Technology Association of America See ITAA. , and was convened under the guidance of the Minority Business Development Agency as a result of an Urban Institute study commissioned by Microsoft. That study concluded that many female and minority business owners were underutilizing technology and missing out on billions of potential revenues. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Bell believes Biz Tech-Connect makes it easier to gather resources than all-inclusive search engines such as Google (Google, Mountain View, CA, www.google.com) The largest search engine on the Web, founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two Stanford University students. In 1996, they developed their "BackRub" search engine, named after its unique page ranking method (explained below). or Yahoo. But others contend the Website is not one-size-fits-all. "My first impression was it seems to be a good Website, but I don't think it pertains to me," says Vickie Clark, co-owner of Kids R Travelin, a Stone Mountain, Georgia-based transportation service for children. And, she added, the site is not user-friendly. "It would take too long to find the information and figure out what I had to do." "It is research," admits Bell. "You have to sit there and read when you have a little down time." Ronald Langston, national director of the MBDA MBDA Minority Business Development Agency (US Department of Commerce) MBDA Michigan Broadband Development Authority MBDA Minnesota Band Directors Association MBDA Matra BAE Dynamics Alenia MBDA Magnolia Ballroom Dancers' Association , hopes entrepreneurs will begin using technology as a business tool to enhance performance, productivity, and competitiveness. "E-business tools are not just business assets," he says. "They're also business services." PROS * Guided site lessons and presentations * Business networking This article needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. opportunities * Templates with integrative solutions and expert advice CONS * Time, consuming lessons and reviews * Registration required to access info * Lacks explanation of site's background/purpose |
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