Aug 21, 2009 - Two in three entrepreneurs see high costs as a [...]

Entrepreneurs are being deterred from entering online markets because of misinformed attitudes towards the cost of owning a website, according to research conducted by UK web hosting company, Heart Internet ( heartinternet.co.uk ). The results of a study of 1,200 internet users discovered that as many as two in three (65 per cent) are reluctant to start their own business as they perceive high costs are involved.

The survey, commissioned to provide an insight into the opportunities and barriers surrounding ecommerce, found that the majority of internet users are misinformed about what's involved in creating their own website. Meanwhile, the average price of creating a business website is thought to be as high as 720 (the equivalent of 60 per month).

Jonathan Brealey, managing director of Heart Internet, says: "Web hosting prices start as low as 2.49 per month but, despite the low entry costs involved in setting up a business website and the multitude of tools available to help create it, there still exists the common misconception that websites are expensive. As an industry, we need to simplify our payment plans and communicate them better to customers."

A further one in four (25 per cent) of respondents had considered developing their own websites to promote themselves or generate income but felt that their technical knowledge was a barrier to this process. However, despite reservations about trading online, the growing importance of the contribution of ecommerce to the British economy was also highlighted with one in three (35 per cent) respondents agreeing that 'online' was the best medium for testing a business idea.

Brealey adds: "Mindful of the affordable cost of web hosting and the multitude of free website building tools that are a vailable, at Heart Internet we are trying to break down barriers and encourage more people to take advantage of the opportunities ecommerce provides and to become more entrepreneurial online."

As one of the UKs leading web hosts, Heart Internet provides individuals and businesses with a comprehensive range of hosting services including domain names, shared webhosting, dedicated servers and reseller hosting.

For more information, visit www.heartinternet.co.uk