The entrepreneurial landscape looks vastly different today than it has in decades past. Financing isn’t as easily obtained as it once was, but with respect to technology and innovation, the beat goes on. We are in the midst of a period of change, and those that are able to embrace the change will reach higher levels of success during these unstable times.
A gap is developing, and it’s not a generational or intellectual gap; it is a gap in perception. In the past, work ethic was somewhat measurable based on how many hours someone spent at their desk, and by how often they picked up a telephone or went on a business lunch. It was a world where “nose to the grindstone” prevailed, and that generally meant in-person work production and a fairly linear workflow. That perception of work ethic has become somewhat archaic to today’s entrepreneur.
Today, there are new tools at the entrepreneur’s disposal. Those tools allow entrepreneurs to be mobile, to work from wherever they are, and whenever they want. Today’s entrepreneur not only writes e-mails from a cell phone, but they have the opportunity to open a laptop or iPad on a train and consume or create media while they travel. The Internet has become interactive, and consequently so has the entrepreneur’s landscape. The gatekeeper has been removed, and today’s entrepreneur can connect with the marketplace in a manner that was only dreamt of in the past.
The current economic climate requires flexibility, energy, and vision. Advances in technology continue to influence the way we work and live, and innovation continues to affect the way people interact with the world around them. Ideas are still being conceived and developed, but the conversations are different than they once were. Today’s successful entrepreneur knows that it is extremely important to be aware of, and implement a strategy tailored to, the environment that currently exists.
