In this paper I am going to discuss an Online Expansion of JnB DME, which is an Indianapolis based Durable Medical Equipment Company. JnB
DME is a family owned and operated company that is still less than 5 years in the making. In that time the company has established a relationship with the local Veterans Hospitals as well as obtained a Federal Supply Schedule contract, and has been certified as a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small
Business (SDVOSB) which makes it top choice when the government is looking for products in the DME market. With that being said JnB is now looking to expand its customer base to the web.

A1. Viability of Product or Service

The viability of any business is the key to their long term survival in its market place. To be a viable business you must have sustainable profits over a period of time. This means that a company must profit year after year to keep that viability strong.

JnB DME has been an extremely viable and successful business since its inception just 4 years ago.

By continually bringing in a profit year after year, JnB DME is at the forefront of new small businesses in the Midwest region for profit and growth. The benefits to developing an online website is that JnB DME will be able to reach even more future customers through the online business expansion that is currently underway. By developing this online expansion we will also be able to put ourselves into people’s homes that we may not be able to reach otherwise. This expansion will give JnB DME the edge on the small business market in our area and help to expand our business to areas that we would have never imagined in the past. Being a small business and developing an online expansion we will be able to increase profits while continuing to give our local customers the best possible prices in the area.

Although there are many benefits to an online business expansion there are also pitfalls that are associated with it as well. The ones that come to our mind here at JnB DME are new customers, capital requirements, and being

spread too thin. When expanding and reaching new areas it is possible that we will tap into new customer markets, therefore bring in more business.
The key to this would be building a relationship with them that will last and develop a loyal customer base. Also the capital requirements when expanding are a possible pitfall when expanding. Here at JnB DME we hope to keep this relatively low by doing a majority of the expansion process in house. Another risk in expanding our business is spreading the company too thin. Having myself or any of my employees having to go beyond their own expertise may or may not be spreading them to thin and ultimately not make our business look well. By conducting assessments over the phone and visiting only the customers that need in home consultation we believe that we will be able to avoid this pitfall as well.

Having a website for people to access information about your company is almost a must in this very digital world that we now live in.

A2. Current Online Competitor Assessment

In a thorough search for competitors in the DME field I have come across the following three that are legitimate businesses as well as competitors that have an online presence.

Home Health Depot
Access Mobility

(www.hhdepot.com)

(www.accesstoday.com)

Bulldog Mobility (www.bulldogmobility.com)

These three companies offer the same products that JnB DME offer and maybe some more than JnB DME; I will be attaching a Spreadsheet that will break down each company with their strengths and weaknesses compared to
JnB DME for comparison.
Home Health Depot has one of the most detailed websites when it comes to the DME marketplace. There are many tabs and many things to look at and to choose from and also plenty to read. Although they are not the first company to come up in a Google search when looking for DME products, I