How the Internet Has Changed Entrepreneurship

Technology can disrupt entrepreneurship for better or for worse. One of those technologies is the internet, and it appears the disruption has been mostly positive. Here are a few ways the internet has disrupted entrepreneurship.

Capital

In the pre-internet days, brick-and-mortar stores needed a lot of capital investment in order to set up shop. The internet brought with it digital storefronts and threw most of the capital concerns out the window. As long as the inventory is there, entrepreneurs can just set up a website and start selling.

Market access

There are billions of internet users across the globe. These are potential customers entrepreneurs can reach in order to sell their products and services. Entrepreneurs no longer have to stick to selling products and services to people in their local area.

Advertising

Entrepreneurs are usually small business owners with limited resources. This means they can’t really compete with big business when it comes to advertising. Big businesses have dedicated marketing budgets that are substantial enough to dominate all traditional marketing channels. With the internet, small business owners can level the playing field through search engine optimization and other digital marketing strategies.

Customer service

As mentioned earlier, the disruption the internet has caused is not always for the better. No area shows this more than customer service. Since digital storefronts are always open, people expect customer service to be 24/7. This can be a tall order for entrepreneurs since they can’t be online 24/7 to respond to customer queries.

Automation

With the internet allowing entrepreneurs to set up an online store, menial and repetitive tasks can easily be automated. For example, by implementing a shopping cart system, customers can easily make a purchase without needing any human assistance. Furthermore, once the sale is made, the same system can update inventory levels and log the transaction for accounting purposes.