The Canadian SMB population constitutes 60 per cent of total economic output, and yet this group has not taken full advantage of the benefits of e-business adoption. The Net Impact findings provide clear evidence that more widespread adoption of Internet Solutions in small and medium businesses nationwide can have a significant impact on our national productivity and overall economic strength. In a best case scenario, in a firm with $10M in revenues, 20 per cent gross margin and a 10 per cent net margin, e-Business adoption can lead to significant cost reduction and increased revenues of up to 150 per cent. As such, the findings point to a real need to drive awareness of the potential financial benefits of e-business solutions and to educate Canada's SME population on the tools to implement a successful internet-based strategy. Net Impact clearly demonstrates the power of the Internet to drive productivity in Canadian businesses, and provides data that should reduce the resistance to technology adoption.

• 50.2 % of Canadian SMEs are currently using or implementing IBS. A further 20.3% intend to adopt IBS within the next 3 years, while 28.4% have no intention of adopting IBS.
  
  
• Firms that adopted IBS have realized substantial financial benefits. On average, revenues increased by 7%, and costs decreased by 9.5 % in the case of cost of goods sold and 7.5 % for sales, general and administrative costs. Furthermore, satisfaction with IBS among adopters was high.



• As an illustration, a firm with $10M in revenues, with a 20 per cent gross margin and a 10 per cent net margin, can achieve increases in net profit of up to 154 per cent in a best case scenario.



• IBS relating to the acquisition and management of customers such as Customer Development and e-Marketing delivered the highest revenue increases and the biggest cost savings.



• Though all sectors showed gains in revenue, the impact of IBS adoption varied significantly by industry sector. For example, SMEs in the Financial Services sector realized an increase in revenue of 12.7% while firms in the Retailing/Wholesaling and Distribution industry showed a gain of 4.4%.



• Adoption of IBS varied significantly among industry sectors. For example, Manufacturing firms are slow to adopt IBS to improve sales and reduce costs in customer-focused operations. However, they were the largest adopters of e-procurement systems.
  

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