UK Venture Capital - Barriers to Entry
Introduction
Everyone loves a monopoly and any industry which requires
massive investment, special licenses, difficult R&D, etc.
will be a preferred candidate for funding because these are
more stable markets (for a while!), as its impossible to be
suddenly buried by a new, rich competitor (think Americans).
Maybe this is impossible but there's plenty we've seen which
can help secure your position.
Why's Obvious but How?
First mover advantage they call it in the States. Though
not always true (think Barnes and Noble vs Amazon!), it is
always an advantage to get in first and build up a brand.
Anyone else is then fighting an uphill battle.
An easy way to see if this is true is to ask yourself - "how
hard is everything I'm doing". The more sweat, tears
and headaches that have gone into your plan the worse life
will be for a later entrant. This will in itself put many
people off.
Target a niche. The more specialised your site or plan the
less room there is for competiton. ISP's are now having to
tailor their offerings to specific markets. The average virtual
ISP was too generic and huge numbers of now near bankrupt
people with "ideas" got stung as everything opened
up. People with dial-up aimed at specific areas such as Doctors
or their existing client base fared much better.
One thing we have learnt is that local content makes life
difficult for an intruder. American firms know that they will
always have difficulty truly cracking the UK market for the
same reason that US papers don't sell well over here. They've
got a cultural barrier preventing their entry. Providing local
information and flavour as part of your marketing and site
plan can make a plan.
|
