Ideate’s top 10 predictions – another perspective
Photo courtesy of mtlp on flickr
Ideate recently published “Ideate’s top 10 predictions for Small Business in 2009″. It’s a well thought-through list touching on some of the hot topics du jour, but also includes some worthy of debate.
Frankly I don’t think I could have done a better job so I won’t claim to be able to. However, there are some items that I would like to look at specifically. Here are the points:
1. Return to un-remarkable
I can see why they say this. As much as I believe its probably necessary as a survival tactic, I also think that it could be detrimental to business in South Africa, [particularly in the long-term] and might just result in mediocrity in abundance. This is the last thing we need, as South Africa is already struggling to change perceptions that it is not innovative or remarkable.
“You don’t get unboring for free. Remarkable costs time and money and effort, but most of all, remarkable costs a willingness to be wrong.” – Seth Godin
Businesses will need to change their tactics to survive, but I would urge that we shouldn’t lose sight of the long-term value generated by pursuing remarkability. [Here's a great quote that Andy Hadfield picked up which says it well]
4. Small business goes viral
The ‘noise’ online is increasing at a dramatic rate, requiring new ways to be heard and reach the online market. Viral will definitely make a difference to smaller businesses.
Just as important though, they will need to focus on community. In a global online village where loyalty is at a premium, a business that can successfully create a caring, supportive local community through its online presence will naturally extract substantial value from ‘viral’.
6. Cape Town will officially become South Africa’s Silicon Valley
I disagree. While CT has tons of talent and quite a number of up-and-coming businesses, they don’t have one vital piece – Stanford [birthing place of Google and Yahoo, amongst others] – or something like it.
Without an educational institution as incubator for innovative minds and government to drive innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as the seed capital investment that comes with it, it will always be an uphill battle.
Bottom line is that government needs to come to the party here, but with other major national matters such as poverty and crime at hand, its unlikely that the case for this will be strong enough anytime soon. Real pity, hopefully we will see it in the not too distant future.
7. South African startups go global
I fully agree with this and would love to see it come to fruition!
Following on from point 4 above, company’s that successfully find a way to build on community will then be able to replicate this on a global stage. Local relevance; global excellence!
This must surely be one of our best opportunities!
9. SA brain gain
We’ve already seen and heard of South Africans coming back due to retrenchments and dwindling prospects in ‘first world’ markets. This is not a bad thing since we need skills and experience here badly.
However, we don’t need qualified individuals from overseas coming back here to replace qualified individuals here, as this won’t solve much at all.
What we really need is for these highly skilled and experienced people to come back and start businesses themselves. This would add desperately needed skills, create employment, assist in the transfer of knowledge and experience gained overseas and contribute quite strongly to the overall economy here. Wouldn’t it?
Points to add?
As I said, it’s a very good list so the major points are covered. The only one I would add is an increased interest or involvement in politics due to the changing landscape. It might not be obvious immediately, but with the addition of COPE and some other smaller changes in various regions, we will hopefully see a shift towards the parties focusing on their stance on issues rather than their representation of population demographics.
Is there anything you would add or change here or on their original list?
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