World Business
Online, is a new concept, initially created for
the developing world where access to basic web
services are normally beyond the reach of
companies, particularly in the small to medium
size enterprise sector. Originally WBO aimed to
provide access for these burgeoning businesses
to international markets by facilitating local
access to web development, hosting, mail and
advertising services at affordable prices.
The whole thing started in Kigali, the capital
of Rwanda, central East Africa. Sitting in the
office there one day contemplating the Internet
and the impact is was having (or NOT!) on the
small business of Rwanda I started to think that
there had to be a better means of connecting
these fledgling businesses with their potential
customers in ways that are both affordable and
sustainable. It was then that I went back to an
idea that my small consulting firm in China
developed in the 1990s.
My hope was not only to to find a way of
connecting Africa's small businesses to the
internet affordably but to also put in place the
capabilities for the business to operated
locally, creating jobs and helping to build
local capabilities in internet development skill
sets. Talking with many people that I know with
developing world experience it quickly became
apparent that the idea could well be spread much
further afield than just Rwanda.
WBO after a
long gestation period is now positioned for
growth in Africa and in Europe. RW-BO (in
Rwanda is now up and running). ET-BO
(Ethiopia) will launch late in 2008 as will
UK-BO in the UK.
Who are
we?
ight now, we are
few. We have a small team in Kigali that
has put together the initial model including the
platform and the methodologies that are WBO. In
Rwanda we are operating as Rwanda Business
online or RBO. One of our key objectives is to
build local ownership and a connection between
the local operator and his market. Each
WBO entity can be run by 2 people - 1 doing the
technical piece building and maintaining online
resources for clients and the other
handling administration.
So
what's Different?
We wanted to find
a way of producing low cost web services but at
the same time delivering the very highest
quality possible and to do it locally. The
franchise concept allows us to develop a basket
of product components centrally that can then be
used as development resources by the various xBO
entities that we now envisage. Templates for
the web sites, for example: develop a basket
centrally and distribute to the franchise base.
We also felt is appropriate to enhance quality
by creating a brand that would become
universally recognizable.
We operate a small team with members in the UK,
Switzerland, Sweden, Rwanda and hopefully, very
soon, a partner will join us in Latin America.
The WBO Components
The
client Package
For a flat fee (that varies by country) a
business gets a domain name (actually a
sub-domain of their local WBO entity), a
high quality web site customized to their
needs, an email address, web site hosting
for 1 year and inclusion in the local WBO
search engine and also in the global WBO
database. The package is normally
delivered and online within 24 hours
The WBO Search Engine A
part of the package offered to clients is a
listing in the local WBO and world wide WBO
databases. This is a fully searchable
database that WBO publicizes both locally
and internationally. The objective being to
create visibility for our clients by
bringing customers to the WBO search portal
sites.
UK-Biz-Online is a trading division of
Heridian Limited (Co. No. 6755539) - Registered in England and Wales.
The registered company head office is:
Heridian Limited. 153, Woodland Road,
Darlington, Co. Durham, England, DL3
9NQ.
