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AUGUST 4, 2000

TECHNOLOGY

B2B for Web Builders
eConstructors offers a marketplace for the programmers and developers who set up everyone's sites


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The butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker all can go online to sell their wares, joining specialized business-to-business (B2B) Web exchanges that link buyers to sellers. But what do Web-site developers do when they want to offer their services? Believe it or not, they've had to rely on the phone -- until now, that is. eConstructors.com, a startup based in Palo Alto, Calif., hopes to change that and bring Web-site development into the B2B Age.

Like many other B2Bs serving small business, eConstructors.com is not actually engaged in e-commerce. Instead, these small-business B2Bs deal mostly in information -- in contrast to the big B2Bs organized by major corporations or a handful of industry leaders, where everything from deals to scheduling to online payment can be handled.

At the eConstructors site, the range offered by programmers and designers runs from free design templates to $100,000 customized sites. Launched in October, 1999, more than 3,800 developers and designers are listed along with examples of their work.

RIGHT DIRECTION. The site offers intriguing features. Want to know who built that fancy Web site? Go to the "WhoBuiltIt?" section of eConstructors.com, enter the URL, and up pops the name of the designer. And when sites are built by numerous designers and programmers -- an increasingly common phenomenon as Web sites grow in complexity -- all the participants are given credit. Web designers who find work via the site pay eConstructors a commission that ranges from 3% to 12%.

Web developers have always been the proverbial shoemaker's children. Despite their technical ken, they have never had a sizable online venue to buy or sell their own services. eConstructors.com is a step in the right direction. "The eConstructors site provides an ability to at least find the names of developers in your area. That's a major challenge for many people," says Steffan Berelowitz, president of BiT Group Inc., a Boston Web-design firm listed on eConstructors.com. "Unfortunately with regard to technology services, you never really know what you're getting unless you do a thorough reference check." BiT Group has not received any sales leads from the site.

Because of the need for offline negotiations, e-commerce will never be a big part of eConstructors.com. But some changes are in the offing. They include forums where designers and developers can discuss business issues, such as how to bid on jobs. "This industry has no trade association," says Felix Kramer, CEO and founder of eConstructors.com. "These are the type of things they need to talk about."

On eConstructors.com they'll be able to do just that. But when it comes time to close the big deal, they'll still have to pick up the phone.


By Kevin Ferguson

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