internet-presence vs. internet-business

When my first business website was launched 3 years ago, my business suddenly started to have an internet-presence. My existing and potential clients can now browse and go through my product lists and experiences and should they be interested to do business with us, they'd call or mail us direct.. and after a few more correspondences and interactions, we'd get customers without having to go looking for them in the first place. They'd found us first instead by browsing the internet looking for what we can provide them..

Jalex International, a distinguished Malaysian interior contractor, was our first confirmed-client over the internet. Jim Thompson Restaurant at Starhill Gallery was being completed then, and they were urgently looking for 1000pc of mini-bowls, of celadon-green glazed-finishes that come with holes in the middle of each bowl. 1000pc in two weeks, no later. Celadon-glazing was something new to us then, but we promised and committed ourself to delivering all within the stipulated tight time-frame. And we succeeded!! Our client was happy, yaayy!! We were thrilled too being of service to those distinguished names: Jalex, Jim Thompson, Starhill Gallery..

And barely six months later, Jalex came back again looking for 14,000pc of rustic-looking 4x4" handmade tiles of floral-motive for this 6-star resort hotel in Penang: Shangrilla Rasa Sayang Resorts & Spa!!! Wowww... this internet-presence has certainly benefitted us multiple times over, eh..??!

We wanted to combine internet-business at the same time by creating an e-shopping section with the listing of 40-items in that website, and was hoping that we could sell and deliver the products direct to the buyers upon receiving their payment online.. but for the past three years, our e-shopping section has been just a product/pricing list that comes with photos. No online shopping or money-transactions have been carried out because we never linked it up to any payment counters or procedures..

We had many jitters of both the IT and non-IT kinds then.. but the major stumbling block was our concern: if we used the most reliable courier-agents, their charges would be so exorbitant to the extent that the courier-charges would be 3x than the actual price of the product..?!! would buyers willing to pay for that...?? so in the end, we just left the 40-items as they are listed and stopped pursuing e-shopping or online-shopping.. ie. internet-business from our website..

I'm unsure whether my perceptions and usage of terms are correct, but these are what i understand about the differences between having an internet-presence and an internet business.. we already have an internet-presence and have benefitted greatly from it, but we still haven't got an internet-business..

mmm...???