There are certain instances where an actual website may not be necessary eg you provide take-away food during the middle of the day – customers come to you via the street or word-of-mouth and perhaps a better form of advertising for you, if this is what you seek, would be in the local press or via a banner-ad on exisiting local community or info websites.
However, given the increasing trend to use ‘the net', instead of the more traditional directory hard-copies that you may find left on the doorstep, even local handy-men can benefit from an online presence (website) where skills, experience and possibly pricing can be clearly shown to prospective clients.
Websites should not wholly replace existing, or be relied upon as a company's only form of, marketing. It should be a complimentary part of a company's promotional and service tactics.
For a small business a website still offers a comparably cheap method of advertising with a possible audience far greater than that of local press or trade publication – and we all know how expensive these can be!
