This week I gave a lecture to my students on e-commerce. When I was finishing its preparation I decided to include a few suggestions for them if they want to start an e-commerce site.
Suggestions turned out to be more about what to do with a business idea, and looking for good ideas for good businesses I decided to show a short video of Martha Lane Fox, co-founder of lastminute.com
Many people who know about what happened in the 1990s with the '.com' bubble burst would acknowledge that many e-commerce failures were not due to technology, but to lack of planning, lack of good relationships with suppliers and sellers of products, and more importantly, frenzyness.
Textbooks suggests that a proven business model is a key factor for an e-commerce site to succeed, but in the case of last minute, there was little in the way of a model that connected those who had products/services to sell, with those who were looking for them, doing a 'last minute search' on the internet.
Martha Lane Fox strikes me as a gentle but determined person, who presumably also had a good network of people to start with, and an curiosity to find out things and try out possibilities. She encourages people to think big, start small, and keep going. Wise words I think.
In another class students to whom I asked the question "What are we waiting for to start your own e-commerce business" complained 'almost immediately' that during recession times it is very difficult to start. So I told them what a wise person told me once: There is a difference between a job and an employment. The first one needs to be done regardless. The second one is a paid one.
I guess now there are many jobs to be done, connecting people, brokering information, listening carefully to what is really needed in our countries and societies. Many people (me included) find it difficult just to buy things (like the latest mobile phone!) or continue consuming what we used to consume. But I am sure if the right product comes along, I will think again.
Those people who might not feel it is a right time to start, could also think of their networks of people. I finished my lecture with another question: "Who are going to be your friends / contacts in a couple of years time?" Maybe it is time we all dig our well before we get thirsty, in case you want to have a look at the book with this title.
So what are we all waiting for?
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