Organisations
There
are a number of (non government) organisations that can support, provide
information or advise small businesses that want to go online.
British
Chambers of Commerce - this website links to local chambers throughout
the UK. Useful for small businesses to meet and help each other. Will
have advisors or contacts that can provide information on local web
developers, export administration and general business services
First
Tuesday - an international organisation with many local branches,
that seeks to put "new economy" entrepreneurs in touch with
partners or investors. A good place to meet and exchange ideas with
internet based businesses, and make contact with potential web developers
and specialist contractors.
Internet
Society - for the more technically minded, this is the leading association
of the industry practioners. They have branches worldwide including
England and Scotland.
Web
Consortium - this is the organisation that supervises the technical
development of the web, maintains design standards and conventions.
It seeks to influence the evolution of the web for mutual and community
benefit. Not applicable directly to small businesses, but it is a useful
impartial source of knowledge on web design, strategic technical matters
and future trends. Good web designers will take account of the standards
proposed by the Web Consortium.
You
can also join specialist (by interest, location, industry etc) news
groups at Google Groups
or Yahoo Groups.
