As a site developer, I have experienced an odd phenomenon with some of the businesses I have worked with over the years. A website is something that should give a comprehensive overview of an organization, and should provide a detailed image of the company, as opposed to the caricature that is provided by other media. When small business owners sit down to discuss the structure of a site, and what will be included, they often realize the holes in their own business model.

In particular, family-owned businesses that have been successful for years sometimes never slow down enough to really chart out specific policies. It had always been enough for the owner to make a call on the fly when it came to return policies, or bulk pricing, or other grey areas. When they sit down to create the content of their websites, they are faced with the fact that whatever they publish to the internet will be taken as across-the-board policy, and they, in a sense, must give up that freedom to make decisions based on a gut feeling. This may be disheartening for some, but I believe it is a very positive thing for most businesses.

I usually describe the pre-internet state of these companies as having a 'subjective business model'. The turn toward a transparent, totally objective way to conduct business may be a bit painful to some, but in the end it will give customers a much stronger sense of trust and confidence in your business. Where I live, on the coast of Maine, there is a very strong sense that a personal touch is needed when conducting business. I agree with this completely, but I don't agree that 'personal touch' has to mean 'subjective business model'. The owner of a company that makes contact in a personal way with his customers, yet is so organized that there is regularity and equanimity in his company's policies, has a huge advantage over not only less developed local businesses, but also against the less personal corporate giants. The fact is, large corporations got to be large corporations because people bought what they sold. What they sold was an advancement in their product, and also the ability to operate efficiently through a sound, well-organized business model. I know plenty of high-quality product producers whose only barrier to immense success is the complete disorganization of their company structure. The country is littered with fine products that fail because they are brought to market incorrectly.

So back to web design-

When the process begins, I have always tried to take a slow tour through a client's business, to get a feel for what the owner is doing, and particularly, what aspects of the operation bring the strongest feeling of pride to the owner. This has to be the core of the marketing piece. Through this process, I also can generally get the idea of what the challenges to the company are, and how those challenges may translate into bumps in the road on the way to getting a solid internet presence to happen.

When we sit down to talk structure, what must be included, how certain aspects of the business are to be portrayed, I see this look in the business owner's eyes that says - ' Oh crap, I never thought of that', or, 'Hmmm, what IS our policy on that?'. What follows is a trial-and-error process of defining every aspect of the organization in painful but consistent detail, full of re-writes and tweaks and crumpled papers. But once we trudge through the anatomy of their business, I feel strongly that the company is better off than before the process started.

This is yet another unplanned benefit to bringing a business into the internet commerce world, and as time goes on, the state of the business world in general will be stronger and more effective because of it.