Government initiatives are continuously being designed to create stable and supportive environments for developing new industries, enhancing the global competitiveness of companies, promoting innovation, and fostering fair competition. Because of its significant potential, electronic business is now the focus of efforts in many countries, and governments are beginning to play a critical role in nurturing the e-readiness of various industry sectors. This paper presents a conceptual model for creating and sustaining an appropriate e-readiness climate that facilitates the national adoption of e-business. It focuses specifically on the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and suggests six categories (of e-readiness metrics/measures) to be used for assessing how a country is performing in terms of providing a positive e-readiness climate for businesses/citizens.