Getting on the right side of the trend
I saw first hand during the 90’s how the internet is the great equalizer and can and will drive all inefficient enterprises out of business. Remember when calling long distance was “special”. If I had really been paying attention I would have identified the telecom equipment market decline in 2003 and done something else whether than taking one last job in a very quickly declining industry. I was definitely on the wrong side of that trend.
Fast forward to today and look at what is happening to the newspaper and traditional advertising business. They are experiencing the exact same decline as the telecom market 10 years earlier. People will fight the inevitable and look for new ways to reinvent a dying market. Instead of fighting the inevitable, I would argue that it is much better to get on the opposite side of a negative trend. In this case it is the geotargeted ad display market. BIA/Kelsey forecasts that this market will grow 66% from 2008 to 2013. I would argue there are few businesses in the world that plan on anything close to that much growth in this day and age. This is the trend I am trying to catch with iSS and northcarolina.me.
There is a morale to this post beyond the inevitable shill for my website. Successful startups are equal parts vision, passion, execution, and a little luck (with money being a big help). Some people are just born with vision. If this is not you, look at the trends and stay a head of them with your business plan. Being at the right place at the right time is half the battle.