A company must be able to continually adapt its business model—sometimes several times a year—because of the changing dynamics of the modern Internet-based business world, according to Douglas Reed, managing director for Internet service provider DataPro. Reed contends, “The ability to recognize market needs and then combine these elements to generate profits, is the key success factor. This is called entrepreneurship and, without entrepreneurs it has been said that even the most endowed economy would not deliver desired results. Entrepreneurship is all about profit generation.”
Noting that many large corporations use their Web sites more as electronic brochures than as dynamic business tools, Reed cites Dell Computer as one of the few technology companies that has truly adapted its business model to meet the needs of the marketplace. It is this ability to change business processes—and to recognize the need for change—that would distinguish the winners from the losers in the modern economy. “It is not only the ability to pinpoint the business trends on time that will be of cardinal importance, but the actual ability of companies, large and small, to re-engineer their business processes, that will carve a dividing line between losers, mediocrity and winners,” he said.