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Technology fuels small-business success

May 8, 1998
Web posted at: 12:27 p.m. EDT (1627 GMT)

From Correspondent Rick Lockridge

DUNWOODY, Georgia (CNN) -- The women who run SMS Associates might not fit the rugged stereotype of people who sell gasoline and diesel fuel, but the suburban Atlanta firm does fit the pattern for small business owners who are comfortable with technology.

"We get teased a lot about being women," says SMS Marketing and Sales Director Annette Fields. 131K/12 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

Watch the full report VXtreme streaming video (2:30)

But the firm, launched in 1995, has been successful, with some help from the federal government's Small Business Administration. The agency provides a wide range of free advice, says the SBA's Billy Max Paul. 99K/9 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

Some of that help is available on the Internet, at the SBA Web site http://www.sba.gov/.

To be competitive, small business owners must be computer literate. For example, says the SBA's Luann Dean, bidding for many government contracts in the near future will only be carried out online.

SMS provides gasoline and diesel fuels to fleets

As for SMS, computer technology has helped the oil women level the playing field in a traditionally male and family-oriented business. Yvette McBride is proof of that. The SMS administrative assistant checks to see if contracts up for bidding via computer "are something we're going to be interested in."

SMS, which provides fuels for fleet vehicles ranging from schools and car rental companies to the U.S. military, even depends on computers to check on road conditions for its own delivery trucks.

Even budget-oriented firms "have to have a computer," but they shouldn't overspend on technology, says SMS President Chrysanthia Sermons.

Chrysanthia Sermons of SMS discusses computer technology needs for small businesses
	248K/25 sec./240x180 QuickTime slide show

As the fuel supply firm was getting started, "we were told we were not going to survive," says Chief Financial Officer Pam Stoneburner. But, she adds, the forecast hasn't come true. 880K/21 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

The women of SMS get most of the credit, of course, but the SBA has contributed, too. Each year it provides about $11 billion in financing to small businesses -- just the fuel many firms need to get off the ground.

Check out what's coming up on next week's Tomorrow/Today

CNNfn:

• Small business

Related stories:

• CNNfn: Should entrepreneurs join small-business groups? - May 1, 1998
• CNNfn: Guides give small biz help - April 23, 1998
• CNNfn: Small-biz PC use grows - April 13, 1998
• Small businesses spearhead county's economic recovery - March 23, 1996

Related sites:

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• Small Business Administration
• Small Business - Quicken.com
• smallbizNet - Information services for Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs
• Entrepreneurial Edge Online

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

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