In August Sensis, a Telstra company, released their latest e-Business report "The Online Experience of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)", finding:

• 9 out of 10 SMEs are connected to the internet. Use includes email,  increasing sales, reducing costs and competing with big business".

• 47% (45% last year) of SMEs have a website. This is expected to increase by 14% to 61% in 2006.

• 62% (53% last year) felt a website improved their effectiveness. 

• 61% recovered their e-commerce investment in under a year. A further 21% are expected to do so in under two years.

• 13% (8% last year) of SMEs taking online orders say they account for more than half of their total orders.

• 15% (12% last year) of SMEs place more than half of their purchase orders on the web.

What the numbers mean in plain English:

• Most competitors have or are getting a website.

• Most businesses recover their website investment in under a year.

• Increasingly customers are demanding a website with online ordering.

The full report (Pdf format) is available here.