E-venture

An e-venture is a founded and therefore young company ( start-up ) in e-business . The e-venture is thus the result of a company being founded in the net economy . These companies first received attention around 1993 with the popularization and commercialization of the Internet .

Building blocks of an e-venture

The success factors in setting up companies in e-business are based on the general characteristics of young companies. These properties include a. the short existence, a dynamic environment, the scarcity of resources, high investments in intangible assets as well as often negative cash flows or no profits and a strong reference to future positioning. Furthermore, with regard to the use of Internet technologies (e.g. use of electronic shopping), there is a high level of uncertainty about the scope and timing of acceptance on the customer side. Based on these framework conditions, various building blocks for a successful business start-up (success factors) can be derived, which take the start-up characteristics into account. These building blocks include the core aspects of management, product, finance, market access and processes, which can have different weightings in the different phases of the foundation. With regard to the relevance of the modules / success factors, however, two phases can be assumed, on the one hand the phase of conception and on the other hand the phase of the actual implementation of the business idea.

management

The focus here is on the founders, who through their personality and motivation strongly determine the activities of an e-venture. In this context, studies have confirmed, for example, the influence of technical, social and methodological skills of the founders on the successful implementation of activities within a company. The same applies to the motivation of the founder or the founding team. High load limits, pressure to succeed, self-confidence and risk awareness also shape the actions of a sustainable conception and later implementation phase. While creativity on the one hand and analytical-conceptual thinking on the other dominate in the first development phases of a new company, industry experience, knowledge of interrelationships in the net economy and real experience in operational management are increasingly important when setting up an e-venture . This combination in a founding team is rare. Founders must not shy away from involving experienced managers at an early stage. Communication skills and leadership skills also play a special role.

product

This module concerns the service or offer configuration of an e-venture. The electronic product or service offering must be specified and communicated with regard to customer benefits. The focus is then on the question of whether the customer even requests the electronic service of the e-venture based on information technology and whether there is also willingness to pay. The aim is also to achieve added value for the customer or a unique selling point compared to the competition on the market via the output performance with electronic value creation.

Processes

The main concern here is to leave the critical stage of informal and uncontrolled activities within a young company at an early stage. This applies above all to the work, financial and organizational processes as a solid operational foundation for every company. In essence, this means that the company's core processes should be firmly established and harmonized with the organizational structure. In this context, it is also important not to initiate too many activities at the same time, as otherwise there is a risk that some will only be inadequately processed. Meaningful project and process management is therefore necessary.

Market access

This component in the e-venture not only means ensuring market entry and establishing a product or brand, but above all reaching customers and satisfying their needs. The basis for this is initially the development of a price, product and communication policy in line with the market. This requires flexibility in the use of different variants of product and service design. The success of the distribution policy is then determined by the implementation of permanent customer access.

financing

It is important here to ensure that activities are carried out through the liquidity aspect. Two main aspects are important here: On the one hand, high investments in technology and company development are required, especially in the early days, which, however, must not have too much negative influence on the free cash flow. Financing and liquidity planning is often a major weak point for a large number of companies in the net economy. The continuously updated financial planning should enable both a realistic assessment of the company and show the actual financing requirements at all times.

literature

T. Kollmann: E-Entrepreneurship: Foundations of starting a company in the Net Economy . 2nd edition, Gabler, Wiesbaden 2006.