Welcome to the new economy, or as many call it, the connected economy. Before you begin reading this guide, it’s important to emphasize that we are currently in transition between the traditional economy (the old economy) and the connected economy (the new economy). Expect a gradual convergence of the two economies rather than a fast transition.
No one knows how long this transition may last—it could take one or two decades. So, the important thing to remember is that during this transitional period, you must plan for, and conduct your business in the two economies.
Regardless of your idea, product, or service, if it has anything to do with e-commerce or e-business, you must first develop an e-strategy for the connected economy.
Thepurpose of an e-strategy is to provide the audience with a top-level overview of your idea or concept. Moreover, an e-strategy should demonstrate the validity of a concept at its highest level before you begin developing a business plan.
The central concept of an e-strategy is to validate the proposed business, before any details enter the picture. The logic behind this approach is that if your e-strategy is invalid, no amount of details or planning will correct the basic flaws in the strategy. Consequently, such an undertaking has a very high probability of failure.
A valid e-strategy is not a guarantee for success. However, it does increase the chances of success by providing a solid and logical foundation on which to develop a strategic or business plan. On the other hand, starting an enterprise without a strategic plan is almost a guaranteed failure.
The purpose of this guide is to highlight the main points of an e-strategy. The recommended points are just examples, and are not necessarily mandatory to each strategic plan. Since ideas are different, it may be necessary to modify the content of the e-strategy slightly to fit your own model.
E-strategies can be developed for a range of ideas and settings—and used in the initial strategy for a new business, or a new initiative for an existing business.
There are two main points to remember when developing an e-strategy:
1. Provide a top-level description of your business concept and include enough details to allow validation.
2. Construct the strategy in a way that allows you to communicate your concept effectively to the audience.
Recently, we witnessed the fall of many e-commerce initiatives. Although the reasons for each dot-coms’ failure varies, it’s likely that many could have survived if their elementary and preliminary strategic planning processes had been properly done. We can all learn from these failures and minimize the probability of repeating them in our own ventures. Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге The ABC's of E-Strategy (Dan Geller)