Small businesses are beginning to plug in to the benefits of online buying and selling, according to e-commerce company Mondus.

Mondus, set up by Oxford post-graduate students Mr Rouzbeh Pirouz and Mr Alex Straub, has its UK headquarters at the Oxford Innovation Centre in Mill Street.

It offers small and medium-sized businesses the benefits of the Web revolution with a website where companies can buying or sell anything you need to run an office everything from office furniture and computers to Web design and telecommunications.

Last May, Mondus signed up its 100,000th user. A total of 76,000 online buyers and 24,000 online suppliers had registered over the previous eight months.

In August, the Italian telephone directory publisher SEAT Pagine Gialle invested $150m and now owns 40.7 per cent of Mondus.

Mondus's UK country manager, Mr Michael Leavey, said a small business ordering £20 worth of office supplies might waste up to 80 in lost time of staff processing the order. He estimates that the average cost of raising an invoice is about £125 compared to an Internet cost of about £75.

Mr Leavey said: "The Internet is just another channel. It is not about changing the way people do business."

Companies wanting to buy can register free. Mondus makes its money by charging its 2,000 registered suppliers a commission fee, of between 0.5 per cent and 8 per cent of the transaction.

Mr Leavey said: "We have the money we need to fund the operation for a couple of years. At a local level, we should be in profit by early next year. The next stage will be to float on the stock market I think the market is becoming more interested."

Mr Leavey and commercial director Mr Steven Langley have just finished a nationwide tour with the British Chamber of Commerce, taking roadshows from Bristol and Leicester to Sunderland. Mr Langley said: "The chambers are very forward-looking but they have some very traditionally-minded members. We have found that they do well through online procurement. If we can convince them to buy online, then we have come a long way.

"We don't charge the buyers. The suppliers we charge when they do business. It's simple and they like it."