The Importance of an Earnest On-line Small Is Good World Marketplace
November 30th, 2005
John Berger said:
[snip] So, my recommendation is: while it is great to think about franchise and growth plans, the most important thing to do is to get the first NED shop up and running. The business plan should be 90% about the first store and only 10% about the future plans. Also, while it is great to hope that you have record setting margins and sales, you need to establish the business so that it will survive or even prosper if the results are far below your dreams.
Hello, John. Welcome to the NED thread. While your post was full of practical insights, we singled out (and added a bit of emphasis to) the above bit because we 200% concur with your recommendation.
As we move to the Flat World of collaborative networks of empowered individuals, the world of business will become less organization-centric. For NED to be a successful and sustainable 21st Century business venture, we believe it will be realized as an entrepreneurial community ecosystem. Its many piece-parts may reflect any number of organizing models as expressed in the various legal entity types available.
Each collaborative network/ecosystem partner will have a number of decisions to make about how they organize, fund their start up and initial participation, and behave within this collective enterprise. There will be no One Right Way to structure, fund, and manage/influence a network partner.
The franchise aspect of the current NED discussion is interesting from a “what NED might look like” standpoint. But this portion of the discussion is certainly not what has drawn us to, nor what sustains our interest, in the collective NED envisioning. It is very likely that the franchise model will be too constraining, particularly given the regulatory and financing constraints you mentioned.
The same “square peg, round hole” problem will limit the utility of the nonagricultural co-op model. Co-op regulatory requirements different from U.S. state to state, and nation to nation. In addition, co-ops are often constrained from retaining earnings and so are not suitable if a goal of NED is to provide a “sweat equity” means for network/ecosystem members from marginalized communities to participate in true shared wealth production.
We can’t help but think that NED, once realized, will be much more organic and dynamic than can be described by any existing single business organization model.
One thing we are sure of is that no matter what form the various piece-parts of the NED Network take on, an Internet software-based ‘nervous system’ and marketplace ‘construction set’ will be a vital component of the network’s success.
eBay’s breakthrough innovation was due, in no small way, to it being a very lightweight (in terms of human resources) business organization powered by some clever software that tapped the emerging potential of the Internet as market-making infrastructure. If NED can be imagined as the ‘next eBay‘, then most certainly a core of some clever and appropriate software will be vital to its success.
So, based on John’s insightful recommendation, when we think about the 90% focus for that first NED store, we believe that it should be an eCommerce store/marketplace rather than a bricks and mortar establishment. The primary goal of this initial on-line marketplace should be to provide a highly engaging proof of concept of the proposed marketplace and supply/value chain dynamics. In addition, this portal/store should serve as an effective extranet facilitating prospective network/ecosystem member participation.
–Sohodojo Jim and Timlynn–
Entry Filed under: Entrepreneurial Community Ecosystems, NED - Philanthropic Franchise
The Importance of an Earnest On-line Small Is Good World Marketplace
November 30th, 2005
John Berger said:
[snip] So, my recommendation is: while it is great to think about franchise and growth plans, the most important thing to do is to get the first NED shop up and running. The business plan should be 90% about the first store and only 10% about the future plans. Also, while it is great to hope that you have record setting margins and sales, you need to establish the business so that it will survive or even prosper if the results are far below your dreams.
Hello, John. Welcome to the NED thread. While your post was full of practical insights, we singled out (and added a bit of emphasis to) the above bit because we 200% concur with your recommendation.
As we move to the Flat World of collaborative networks of empowered individuals, the world of business will become less organization-centric. For NED to be a successful and sustainable 21st Century business venture, we believe it will be realized as an entrepreneurial community ecosystem. Its many piece-parts may reflect any number of organizing models as expressed in the various legal entity types available.
Each collaborative network/ecosystem partner will have a number of decisions to make about how they organize, fund their start up and initial participation, and behave within this collective enterprise. There will be no One Right Way to structure, fund, and manage/influence a network partner.
The franchise aspect of the current NED discussion is interesting from a “what NED might look like” standpoint. But this portion of the discussion is certainly not what has drawn us to, nor what sustains our interest, in the collective NED envisioning. It is very likely that the franchise model will be too constraining, particularly given the regulatory and financing constraints you mentioned.
The same “square peg, round hole” problem will limit the utility of the nonagricultural co-op model. Co-op regulatory requirements different from U.S. state to state, and nation to nation. In addition, co-ops are often constrained from retaining earnings and so are not suitable if a goal of NED is to provide a “sweat equity” means for network/ecosystem members from marginalized communities to participate in true shared wealth production.
We can’t help but think that NED, once realized, will be much more organic and dynamic than can be described by any existing single business organization model.
One thing we are sure of is that no matter what form the various piece-parts of the NED Network take on, an Internet software-based ‘nervous system’ and marketplace ‘construction set’ will be a vital component of the network’s success.
eBay’s breakthrough innovation was due, in no small way, to it being a very lightweight (in terms of human resources) business organization powered by some clever software that tapped the emerging potential of the Internet as market-making infrastructure. If NED can be imagined as the ‘next eBay‘, then most certainly a core of some clever and appropriate software will be vital to its success.
So, based on John’s insightful recommendation, when we think about the 90% focus for that first NED store, we believe that it should be an eCommerce store/marketplace rather than a bricks and mortar establishment. The primary goal of this initial on-line marketplace should be to provide a highly engaging proof of concept of the proposed marketplace and supply/value chain dynamics. In addition, this portal/store should serve as an effective extranet facilitating prospective network/ecosystem member participation.
–Sohodojo Jim and Timlynn–
Entry Filed under: Entrepreneurial Community Ecosystems, NED - Philanthropic Franchise
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