Continuation from yesterday…….STEP #6: Be Wary of the High Tech Ideas
In relative terms very few people build their fortunes from the high technology field. Most of the time it’s the true and tried methods of starting any kind of a business and growing it from nothing into something. As you very well known, that takes a lot of hard work, perseverance, patience and even luck.
Unfortunately, all we hear about is Google, Apple and hundreds of other high technology companies that have made it big. Don’t pay any attention to that. The technology space at the highest level is very unpredictable. You have just about as much of a chance of starting the next Microsoft or the next Instagram as winning a lottery. Instead, you will have a much better chance in concentrating on using new technologies in existing and proven business models.
For most of us, it makes perfect sense not to be a fore runner. The risk of failure is just too high when you are trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t. What will be accepted by the marketplace and what will fail. While the draw of making millions from the high tech field is always there, never forget, most fortunes are made the old fashioned way….Hard Work.
One of my previous business ventures, ExpertZoo.com is a perfect illustration of that. We first started to develop the concept in 2007. We thought that we had a great idea. A social business network that would facilitate transactions and interactions between businesses/experts/service providers and consumers. In essence, a mix between LinkedIn, Yelp, Yellow Pages and Amazon. While it was a great idea and it did generate traction in the early days, we could never make it work.
In retrospect, the concept failed due to a number of things. First, we made the overall website and our product offering way too complicated. We have tried to be everything to everyone and that tends not to work very often. Second, we hired a large sales force and spent way too much money on marketing before ever proving the validity of our concept. Finally, we incorrectly assumed that people will both understand and fall in love with our service. While such short comings are easy to see now, we were not able to figure it out while we were attempting to grow the company.
Point being, if your field is a high tech one and that is what you would love to do, it would only make sense for you to do so. The warning above is geared more towards those who do not have a technology background, yet would love to make millions or billions from the field. Chances are…..it will never work.
To Be Continued Tomorrow…….(Why Am I Seeing This On A Financial Website?)
Why You Should Avoid “High Tech” In Your Next Business Venture Google