E-business, whether conducted through email only or a complex website with payment facilities, will use and generate information. Out of that information comes knowledge about such things as the needs and preferences of customers and suppliers, what marketing strategies work and how to create efficiencies and cut costs.

Knowledge is an asset to a business. It often evolves from years of experience that can be used to improve the business and its profitability. A farmer who gathers information on trends in wool prices over a number of years and analyses that information has knowledge that can be used to anticipate rises and falls to his advantage.

What to do

An e-business plan should address what information and knowledge will be used and generated by the use of Internet technologies and how those technologies can be used to capture information and utilise knowledge.

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