Software for Small Business

It's conceivable to build an IT infrastructure entirely of freeware. I have been thinking about the ramifications of FOSS for mom-and-pop stores in developed nations (where piracy is taken seriously). What's the typical scenario for a small business, say, some catering service? I speculate that its IT needs are simple.

Getting hardware is never an issue these days. One can either buy an off-the-shelf PC preloaded with some popular OS (for example, OS X or Windows) or build a PC and install Linux. I guess that most small business owners will go for a PC with Windows (almost universally bundled) because it's inexpensive (made in China after all) and usually comes with reasonable technical support (outsourced to India) for hardware.

However, getting the right software is tricky. Instead of doling out more money (in fact, a lot more because software purchases dwarf hardware costs nowadays) for business applications (immediately obsolete upon purchase), why not adopt freeware (in the strict sense of being costless)? For example, the OpenCD project aims to introduce Windows users to the benefits of free software. The only missing piece from the catalog is accounting/payroll software. But a mom-and-pop shop can probably survive on spreadsheets for that.

So why most small business continue to use Microsoft Office instead of OpenOffice? The problem lies in not technology but psychology. To overcome the adoption inertia, the FOSS approach needs a large army of mobile consultants/volunteers who can forge a personal relationship vis-à-vis with technophobic clients. The geeks can learn some lessons from Microsoft and Oracle if money is an object. Of course, their overall service charges must be lower than the cost of commerical software; otherwise, it's difficult to stay as a viable business. It should be a win-win situation for the hungry geeks (a new market for their talent) and the small business (huge savings on IT).