A single strategy for making money may not be enough. As a Web entrepreneur,
which revenue-earning strategy will work for your business -- not just for a
month or two, but in the long run? Advertising? Licensing? Auctions? No one
knows. This uncertainty means you've got to consider multiple strategies,
rather than just one.
Your business plan should outline a number of revenue
sources-- subscription fees for premium services, advertising, corporate
sales. Unlike in traditional business, one model often doesn't cut it.
Established Web businesses toy with their strategies, and so should you,
especially when you're still determining the foundations of your venture.
Don't plan for just one single revenue stream like
advertising. All Venture Capitalists (VCs) are encouraging startups to think
up alternative avenues of bringing in money to become self-sustainable. When
Contests2Win.com
was set up, the VC ICICI (Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of
India) was not concerned that its promoter Alok Kejriwal didn't have any
inkling about revenues. However, the portal has worked out plans to generate
revenues of $ 1 million by the end of this year.
B2B portals have a greater chance of surviving, especially
those that generate revenue from day one.
Electricmela.com, the country's first B2B votal (vertical portal) for
the Rs45,000 crore electric industry aims to cut down a chain of contact --
from the customer to the manufacturer –- of 15 to 30 days to a few seconds and
earn about Rs 200 crore by doing so in the first two years.
Never presume that knowing the Net is more important than
knowing the business. A pure content site depending entirely on ad revenues is
not likely to last. To be able to operate successfully, you must follow the
ground rules of economic logic and discipline.
Even
icleo.com, the popular content based woman's portal
being currently run on sponsorships is migrating to e-commerce soon.
Are you planning to get into the same business being
planned by a big bricks and mortar company? If yes, think again. The Net does
not change business itself, but the way it is done.After all which VC will prefer to fund a startup over a
well-established player?
Services which people pay for in the real world will be the
easiest to migrate on the Web. Some of the best bets are distance learning and
head hunting. Perhaps this explains why there will always be many takers for
sites like jobsahead.com, which is trying to associate itself
with employment opportunities in the information technology industry.
It
recently organised a job fair along with
Broadcastindia.com, the Internet-based multimedia content provider which
launched India's first-ever video resume. The online resumes posted by job
seekers onto the jobsahead.com site are text based but the application
will allow the employee to introduce himself on video to his prospective
employers. Broadcastindia.com will be extending
this facility to those services requiring introduction and selection like
matrimonials, admissions… creating more revenue streams in the process.
