NETPRENEURS - NEW BRAND OF ENTREPRENEURS?
One of the cardinal principles of business, location, location, location, is understandably taking a beating in an increasingly border-less market space. The digital terrain is re-defining many of the basic business rules that have stood the test of time. Today, the web and the economy that the web has created around it, enable businesses to go global with exceptional ease and low costs. The web has unleashed opportunities and threats hitherto unknown to entrepreneurs.
But traditional business is still not without doubts about the power of the web and the debate is often prefaced with inquiries like Is anybody making money. And how about profits ? But how many have realised the seriousness of the challenges posed by the web ? Many are unfortunately oblivious of the silent assault on their businesses. The sad thing is that all this is happening under their very nose.. The web economy is not something to be dismissed as frivolous.
Others, in the fear of losing the existing business or in their anxiety not to miss the opportunities that the web is offering, have simply jumped into the bandwagon without grasping the dynamics and challenges of this new phenomenon. While some have ventured into uncharted waters others have followed the herd..
The colorful world of web propelled by a constellation of resources and the interactive stimulation it offers to the net user has demanding propositions .Its resplendence has serious ramifications. With a click of the mouse, customers decide the fate of businesses when they traverse the endless cyber space. What is new here ? How is this any different from doing business outside the web ? After all the web is another window to the customers and how should it matter if the business strategy is sound ? Or is there a web strategy ?
Taking any business idea to the web is not about creating a web site with all the gizmos. Or is it about just contents alone. Nor its about creating sites with by-lanes and alleys where the user gets lost. It is also not about transporting your existing business to the web. Many have failed and regretted simply because they did business on the web the same way they did or would have done business before they ventured into the web. The net-entrepreneur or netpreneur has serious challenges. No wonder the conventional entrepreneurial skills are put to rigorous tests on the digital terrain.
Though the entry barriers to this digital economy are not stringent, but the barriers to making profit are huge. The battle in the market place is severe what with an abundance of choice for the customer. To succeed, just bright ideas alone will not work. One has to be more than be simply innovative. The netpreneur does not have the luxury of time. There is a complete shift in paradigm. It is about shifting emphasis from product centric cultures to customer centric. It is about unlearning and not recycling knowledge. It is about being proactively responsive to constantly changing new ways of fulfilling customer wants, new ways of building customer loyalties and offering exponentially better customer value propositions. It is about strategies to harness new technology with a brilliant market focus and financial prudence. Agility has never been put to more severe test than it is on the web now..
So can a entrepreneur who has made his mark in the old economy be as brilliant a performer on the net ? Are the traditional attributes of entrepreneurs undergoing refinements or radical changes ? The demands on the Netpreneur are certainly phenomenal. Well established traits like building the team, hard work, discipline, talent, innovation, determination, understanding the terrain, leadership, commitment to society are still required in the right propositions for making a successful recipe on the net too. But in addition to all these capabilities, entrepreneurs who are agile and blessed with financial acumen, and who have the inspiration for a digital vision fortified with the right amount of passion and an appetite to create happy customers can surpass the insurmountable demands of the web. Success will belong to such netpreneurs who have defied the conventional wisdom and notions.
But traditional business is still not without doubts about the power of the web and the debate is often prefaced with inquiries like Is anybody making money. And how about profits ? But how many have realised the seriousness of the challenges posed by the web ? Many are unfortunately oblivious of the silent assault on their businesses. The sad thing is that all this is happening under their very nose.. The web economy is not something to be dismissed as frivolous.
Others, in the fear of losing the existing business or in their anxiety not to miss the opportunities that the web is offering, have simply jumped into the bandwagon without grasping the dynamics and challenges of this new phenomenon. While some have ventured into uncharted waters others have followed the herd..
The colorful world of web propelled by a constellation of resources and the interactive stimulation it offers to the net user has demanding propositions .Its resplendence has serious ramifications. With a click of the mouse, customers decide the fate of businesses when they traverse the endless cyber space. What is new here ? How is this any different from doing business outside the web ? After all the web is another window to the customers and how should it matter if the business strategy is sound ? Or is there a web strategy ?
Taking any business idea to the web is not about creating a web site with all the gizmos. Or is it about just contents alone. Nor its about creating sites with by-lanes and alleys where the user gets lost. It is also not about transporting your existing business to the web. Many have failed and regretted simply because they did business on the web the same way they did or would have done business before they ventured into the web. The net-entrepreneur or netpreneur has serious challenges. No wonder the conventional entrepreneurial skills are put to rigorous tests on the digital terrain.
Though the entry barriers to this digital economy are not stringent, but the barriers to making profit are huge. The battle in the market place is severe what with an abundance of choice for the customer. To succeed, just bright ideas alone will not work. One has to be more than be simply innovative. The netpreneur does not have the luxury of time. There is a complete shift in paradigm. It is about shifting emphasis from product centric cultures to customer centric. It is about unlearning and not recycling knowledge. It is about being proactively responsive to constantly changing new ways of fulfilling customer wants, new ways of building customer loyalties and offering exponentially better customer value propositions. It is about strategies to harness new technology with a brilliant market focus and financial prudence. Agility has never been put to more severe test than it is on the web now..
So can a entrepreneur who has made his mark in the old economy be as brilliant a performer on the net ? Are the traditional attributes of entrepreneurs undergoing refinements or radical changes ? The demands on the Netpreneur are certainly phenomenal. Well established traits like building the team, hard work, discipline, talent, innovation, determination, understanding the terrain, leadership, commitment to society are still required in the right propositions for making a successful recipe on the net too. But in addition to all these capabilities, entrepreneurs who are agile and blessed with financial acumen, and who have the inspiration for a digital vision fortified with the right amount of passion and an appetite to create happy customers can surpass the insurmountable demands of the web. Success will belong to such netpreneurs who have defied the conventional wisdom and notions.