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The idea that starting a business is hard has been common coinage throughout the modern era. But whether that’s still true is up for debate. Yes, starting a business is never going to be easy. But now entrepreneurs have access to tools that were simply unimaginable a couple of decades ago.
These tools have fundamentally changed the nature of the game. They mean that entrepreneurs have far greater capacity to succeed than ever before. And they mean that entrepreneurs can now compete with the biggest businesses. They can even overturn their business model. Here are some reasons why it’s easier to succeed with a startup than you might think.
Access Anything, Anywhere
Thirty years ago, you had to be in the know to have access to knowledge. You either had to be high up in government or academia or live near a library. Now everybody, even kids in third world countries, has access to smartphones. Knowledge is at their fingertips.
Startups are the beneficiaries of this change in how we access information. They’re now able to build on the ideas of those that came before far more easily, Just look at how quickly social media built on the web.
Easy Global Communication
Perhaps one of the most impressive changes we’ve seen in the modern world is the transformation of communication. Global instant communication was a dream in the 1960s. But less than 50 years later it’s become a reality. In the past, startups would have had to conduct their business in a particular town. Their employees would come from the local area, and they would sell to local people. But now all that stands between employee and employer is a free conference call or an email.
Accelerated Learning
The way that industries improve is through learning, just like people. Learning is one of the reasons why prices tend to go down over time, relative to income. In the past, learning was slow. But now startups have access to things like Quora and can learn a new trade fast. In other words, today’s entrepreneurs have the ability to catch up far more quickly to the industry leaders. All that stand between them and the industry’s best is knowledge. And gaining that knowledge is now possible at an accelerated pace.
Startups Costs Are Coming Down
Most people have a bias that says that starting up a business is expensive. But practically all the successful businesses of recent times have been started on a shoestring. Why? Because innovation isn’t taking place in the regular economy. It’s occurring at the digital edge – an edge that’s fast becoming the centre.
It’s Now Socially Acceptable
In the past, setting up your own business wasn’t celebrated. People were expected to just slot into the present economy. But now we’ve got something called “startup culture.” And this is changing how people think about startups. Whereas in the past entrepreneurs might have faced a lot of pushback, now they’re encouraged. In fact, there are now big drives by government to get more people interested in entrepreneurship. They know that for the economy to succeed, more people are going to have to take risks and start their own businesses.
