By the time Minehead-based Stephen Shortland completed 25 years as a market trader, he was ready for a change. And, although he had never had anything to do with computers before, he decided to turn to the Internet as a more ‘up-to-date’ way of selling the handmade decorative crystal objects that are now available on his website, www.crystalgifts.co.uk.

Today, he is a happy man. The Internet business is going well, he has a wholesale operation too – and he still has time to spend two days a week running his old market stall in Minehead.

But he’s the first to admit that the early days online were not encouraging. “At first, I decided to have a single page and invite people to make purchases by post, using cheques,” he says. “Quite simply, it didn’t work at all.”

Everything changed in the summer of 2005 when he heard about the grants available through Connecting Somerset to people who were serious about creating or upgrading websites.

He made a successful application, and used the money to pay for a major upgrade and expansion of his site, carried out by the PC Webshop in Minehead. The results were dramatic. As he says, “As soon as people could buy using their credit and debit cards it really took off,” he says.

But even that was just the beginning, and the site has just now received another revamp that will enable Stephen to change its contents whenever he wishes. “From now on I’ll be able to be fully up-to-date at all times on fast-changing factors like prices and stock levels,” he says.

He’s been extremely impressed by David Silvera of PC Webshop, who he describes as “a very clever man. That’s what the grant helped me buy – David’s intelligence,” he says. “Without it, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

His ever-improving and growing site has also led to some less expected side benefits. “Christmas is a major sales time for me, and in the past I’ve often asked large shopping centres about running stalls there during the lead-up,” he says. “Before the website, people didn’t want to know. But now that I can refer them to the site, showing that we’re a serious, professional business, the response has been very positive. That alone is giving a real boost to the whole year’s trading.”

According to Connecting Somerset’s Neil Saunders, who helps West-Somerset businesses with their broadband and website needs, Stephen’s achievements have been extremely impressive. “To go from market trader to Internet entrepreneur so quickly is a great achievement,” he says. “It’s been fantastic to be involved in such a success story.”

For his part, Stephen feels that the Internet has made a major difference to his life. “I simply knew nothing about it before,” he says. “I got some training and now have a fair bit of experience, but friends are just amazed that I of all people am making a successful go at an Internet business.”

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Note to Editor
Connecting Somerset is funded by Somerset County Council, the South West of England Regional Development Agency (SWRDA), Mendip, Sedgemoor, Taunton Deane and West Somerset District Councils, South Somerset Together, the European Social Fund and Business Link Somerset.

For further information, please contact :
David Wilford tel 01373 303004 mob 07790 774284
or Ron Dyson tel 01308 485707