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The use of the internet could facilitate the business growth

“If at least half of the entrepreneurs from Jonava registered their domains, had high quality websites or e-shops, used efficient e-marketing tools and consistently developed their trademarks, I am sure we would have stronger business, better export, create more jobs and provide higher salaries”, – says Justas Dieninis, active resident of Jonava and employee of Kaunas University of Technology, to Jonavos garsas .

Justas Dieninis, DOMREG

Justas Dieninis, DOMREG

We provide a fragment of his interview related to the importance of digital economy, habits of the internet use and trends of .lt domain registration in Jonava.

– There is much talk about so-called digital economy and e-business. What missed opportunities do you see and what is your opinion on the winner of the competition “Created in Jonava” – electronic cemetery register www.jonavoskapines.lt ?

– Digital economy is the future of Lithuania. The sales in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector have reached 2 billion euros this year. I am particularly happy to note that export makes a big share of these sales. Some may say that success in this sector is mostly beneficial to the Lithuanian big cities and programmers receiving high salaries. It is true, however, there are quite a few successful ICT companies creating innovative products in the rural areas.

The project www.jonavoskapines.lt seemed strange and maybe even made people smile, but I looked more deeply into it and I have a positive approach. Electronic cemetery register is a very useful system helping distant relatives to find their family graves. It would be good, if similar ideas would be implemented not only by the company managed by Jonava municipality, but also by private businesses. It proves once more that potential for creation is here, people just need to be brave and do it.

– Do you think the entrepreneurs of Jonava sufficiently use the internet for marketing purposes?

– We have to understand that rapidly increasing use of the internet has changed our habits: we cannot imagine one day without our mobile phone, email, social networks or news portals. Likewise, the development of the internet changed a business-consumer relationship: earlier, we used a telephone to search for goods or services, while now we browse the internet to look for hairdresser, pizzeria, flower shop, car service, new toy for a child or gift. Quite often we write our opinion on the company’s website or social network account after the receipt of goods or services.

Therefore, we can say that business is very close to the consumers now thanks to the internet and e-commerce; potential market has expanded and became more global than ever with the help of the internet. E-commerce provides possibilities for any American, British or Australian person to buy the goods produced in Jonava. Being absent in the internet, functioning without a domain and website or e-shop, not announcing any news on social media is disastrous even for the smallest business.

Another common mistake of the beginners and small businesses – they only use “Facebook” social network for communication. However, the users of this social network cannot find the information in the growing flow of messages and forget the messages they have read. Therefore, in case of need the first choice is “Google” search.

If a business has no registered domain and website, “Google” search provides the information of their competitors. For example, if domain www.jonava.lt was not registered and had no website, the information on Jonava would only be available in “Facebook”; the district municipality would lose a big share of its audience that would be directed by “Google” search to Wikipedia providing some information about Jonava.

According to the data of the Internet Service Centre DOMREG at Kaunas University of Technology, the companies and residents of Jonava district have registered 772 .LT domains in total. 359 of them are owned by legal entities and 413 – by natural persons, i.e., residents of the district. Statistically, only 359 out of almost 2000 companies of Jonava have their domain and website, i.e., only every fifth company uses its website with Lithuanian domain to provide information or to sell their goods or services.

– Why so many companies of Jonava do not have their domain and website?

– If at least half of the entrepreneurs from Jonava registered their domains, had high quality websites or e-shots, used efficient e-marketing tools and consistently developed their trademarks, I am sure we would have a stronger business, better export, create more jobs and provide higher salaries.

Internet marketing is a hard nut to crack even for the advanced users, therefore, lack of competence, fear of risk and unwillingness to invest in innovative solutions obstruct the achievement of better results. I think these gaps could be filled with the help of the initiatives – training and consultations for entrepreneurs – organised in cooperation with “Versli Lietuva” and supported by Jonava District Municipality.

– Would you recommend holding a domain not only for business, but also for personal purposes?

– Whereas domain and website or e-shop is a necessity for companies, the residents use domains for a better quality and more secure email, for blogs or hobbies. There are even investors in domain names.

Until now, the residents of Jonava district have registered 413 .lt domains; they are more active than businesses. It is a great example how domains or websites are used for personal purposes. However, some of the domains registered by the name of natural persons can be used for business purposes. I am hopeful that business and residents of Jonava will become more active users of the Internet, because it provides many opportunities for growth.

– Thank you for the conversation.

Published 2019-02-04