Secrets to Success as an Entrepreneur in Tech
From personal experience, as an entrepreneur and a contractor with Internet Express, Voxaura Technologies, and Sunfire Ventures, one thing I have noticed is things change so quickly in the 21st century. One needs to continuously educate oneself in order to keep up with the skills and knowledge customers demand. Those that graduated high school after the Internet revolution began are fully aware of this, as this increase in pace of technological and social change is all they have known, but those that graduated before this time are used to a much slower pace of change.
Our world revolves around computer technology- it has been that way since the web first became popular in the mid to late 90’s. When computers started to become interconnected through the Internet, and people started relying on that technology for commerce and their social interactions, the pace of technological change in the computer industry sped up considerably. Today, the average cycle for product change, especially with mobile computing is roughly 6 months to a year.
With product evolution comes social change- what was trendy nine months ago is now outdated. How we do things and interact changes. New companies sprout up to lead us down new paths. If a business can’t keep pace with this change, it gets left behind and goes bankrupt- especially small companies with small bank accounts. Knowing this, companies are always looking for fresh talent that keep current with what society demands- use the latest gadgets, surf the trendy sites, and have the latest software skills.
It has gotten to the point now that if you are wanting to be a contractor in the business world, you need to differentiate yourself in the sea of immense competition that have very similar skills and you need a technical degree for value added capability and credibility as most businesses out there are technology focused or wired and streamlined in order to compete. Certain skills that used to be specialty skills are now general skills like technical knowledge of Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Illustrator and Microsoft Sharepoint- try to find a high school grad that has not built a web site. Not only that, but because technology changes so quickly, you need to continuously update your computer and technical skills in order to remain competitive in the marketplace. If you stop educating yourself, you become less desirable to employers and less credible to customers.
You can’t rest on your laurels because you always have fresh grads with fresh skills to replace you. Experience does count quite a bit in business but if you can’t talk the talk, you will be walking out the front door of your now former employer with a box of all your business belongings.
As an entrepreneur, if you want to come up with the latest, greatest idea, or be able to identify a good idea, you need to keep current with technological change in the field that you are focused on. Regularly reading technology focused publications helps. Using the latest social technology and gadgets, and surfing the latest sites will be to your benefit in order to spark the ideas that will lead to successful business.
In the tech and business world- staying current and trendy means staying relevant!