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August 12, 1998, 8:30 AM EST
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Government Witness
By John Moore, Sm@rt Reseller
Small businesses have gotten the Y2K
wake-up call. But what are they doing about it?
The Small Business Market -- The reigning
darling of technology marketeers these days -- is
perhaps the sector most clueless when it comes to the looming
Year 2000 problem.
A Gallup poll sponsored by Wells Fargo Bank last month
revealed that 75 percent of the small businesses aware of the
Y2K problem had yet to assess their millennium vulnerability, and
half had no immediate plans to do so.
The Small Business Administration has responded to this
lethargy with an awareness campaign, dubbed "Are You Y2K
OK?"
One could argue that SBA's nudge is more than a little late,
given that the big day is, alas, less than 16 months away. The
agency, however, is seeking a push from industry to help get the
word out. Last week, SBA met with groups such as the
Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) to
discuss its small business wake-up call.
Will SBA's awareness effort drive customers to your door?
Who knows? The agency certainly has the tools. SBA has
visibility and influence. And don't forget, it has a monster
database of small businesses.
"They are in a position to have a great deal of effect," says
Thomas Soeder, chairman of RMM Inc., a Columbia, Md.-based
firm that markets Y2K tools to small businesses. But he adds that
SBA will have more to overcome than indifference. He says small
businesses are "fighting for profit" and are reluctant to take a
Y2K hit on the balance sheet.
SBA, meanwhile, is working to get resources in place to help
the small businesses that heed its Y2K warnings. SBA is running
a Y2K Web site with a link to a database of contractors. Small
businesses can use SBA's PRO-Net system to search for Y2K
contractors by location, capability and other factors.
SBA's PRO-Net could prove a handy marketing tool for
resellers that are themselves small businesses. Companies that
meet SBA's size requirements are eligible to have their profiles
included in the PRO-Net database. The SBA's threshold is $18
million for most computer services businesses. To make sure
your company qualifies, the SBA's online registration site
includes a link to size-standard information. Be sure to check it
out.
Getting listed in a free database is easy. The heavy lifting will
be getting your complacent and/or cash-strapped small business
customers to move off the mark.
Heard on the Hill
Is "fast track" back from the dead? A bill to give President
Clinton fast-track authority to negotiate global trade deals died in
Congress late last year. But the Senate recently tacked a
fast-track measure onto a bill that also would authorize a new
trade policy with sub-Saharan Africa. Fast-track authority would
help eliminate trade barriers, assisting resellers and distributors
to expand worldwide. But while Clinton pushed for fast track last
year, he would just as soon see it go away this time around. The
bill apparently is dividing Democratic lawmakers.
Additional Government Witness Columns:
Lawmakers Weigh In On Y2K Lawsuits
Inflexible Labor Rates
New Congress Bill - Foreign Workers
The Government & Internet Commerce
Intellectual Property Laws
Government Is Taking A Closer Look At Your Industry |
