MTN Business has launched a rescue plan for up to 50 000 small and medium enterprises that stand to lose their Web services due to the closure of Google's WozaOnline in South Africa.
MTN Business's new Build Your Business Online (BYBO) suite of solutions, which has been under development for the past two years, has been expanded and its release fast-tracked in time to save the tens of thousands of small Web site owners who are set to lose their online presence.
"An online presence is crucial for any size business today," says Greg Hatfield, General Manager: Marketing, Products & Solutions at MTN Business.
"WozaOnline, which offered free site builder and hosting services, eliminated the barrier to entry and got many small and micro businesses online. With the suspension of the service, these small businesses stand to either lose their market visibility, or could have been forced to embark on a costly and complex journey to develop alternative sites."
However, MTN Business has long been at work to develop a set of solutions designed to make online presence and e-commerce simple and affordable for small and micro business. BYBO offers site builder tools, secure hosting, e-commerce functionality and the potential to add on a range of MTN Business enterprise tools. BYBO subscribers will also enjoy support and workshops to help them maximise their online exposure through effective SEO and the use of tools such as Adwords, analytics and social media.
"This combination of marketing workshops, integrated marketing approach, built-in e-commerce functionality, logistics support, free one-on-one consulting for top-end packages and integration into SAP B1 software are industry firsts," notes Hatfield.
"The WozaOnline closure was a prime opportunity for us to fast-track the launch of BYBO. We also added two entry-level packages to the suite, to cater for those businesses that were about to lose their free Web hosting."
The lowest-end package, priced at only R60 a year, allows businesses to easily migrate their entire site - up to 100Mb - and continue business as usual. The first sites to migrate during the BYBO 'Rescue Me' launch campaign will enjoy their first year's subscription for free. However, MTN Business does not expect its new customers to stop at entry level once they have migrated. With various packages to suit the various needs of businesses as they grow, BYBO offers basic start-up packages for businesses starting out, through to more complex packages that will help larger businesses achieve all the benefits possible in the online environment.
BYBO lowers the barriers to entry for businesses to optimise their sites for mobile users, potentially integrate enterprise software, and - uniquely - enable an electronic payment gateway using MTN's super merchant account. "Build Your Business Online is not just a site builder," says Hatfield. "It's the first phase of an integrated suite of small business solutions and services designed to level the digital playing field for South African SMEs. MTN is building your Web site and helping you generate traffic to your Web site, thus increasing revenue.
"The fact that SMEs can migrate their sites, then almost immediately enter the realm of e-commerce, makes for a compelling case for MTN Business BYBO . In addition, businesses will have the assurance that the BYBO solutions are part of a long-term strategy by a trusted local service provider, therefore they are at no risk of losing their online presence again."
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