E-Business Model

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We discuss the various stages of development of an e-business model.

In phase one of building an e-business,

• Companies scrambled to get an e-commerce Web site up quickly.

• Little or no regard given to how scalable or reliable the site needed to be.

• It was just a matter of beating the competition no emphasis on contents.

Observations:

• These first-to-market consumer sites were rarely integrated with the manufacturing side of the business, which was establishing its own Internet-based relationships with suppliers.

• This lack of integration has proved to be a significant challenge for many organizations as the customer base has grown, real-time orders status requested and products returned.

• Having an e-commerce site is now a commodity, not a way to differentiate a business. Customer and supplier.

• Expectations are rising, forcing organizations to start thinking about back-end integration and real-time transaction processing.

• Businesses must actually maintain complete customer and supplier relationships using Internet-based technologies and tie those systems to the interpersonal aspects of the business transaction when required.

• Organizations that realize the promise of e-business are the ones that have begun to address the complete business cycle and are leveraging Internet technologies.

Observations:

• It is no secret that today's e-business has the potential to transform the business landscape.

• The key to success of companies on the net is capitalizing on a sustained business proposition and correctly applying technology.

• These start-ups are able to significantly reduce the barriers to entry while dramatically increasing their market reach.

The premise "first to market equals first to success" is often the case; however the foundation needs to be laid carefully. A disciplined approach to evaluating the business opportunity, correctly assessing how a competitive advantage may be gained using Internet technologies combined with leveraging the existing investment is key to a successful e-business.

The emerging e-business market affords companies of all sizes and types the opportunity to leverage their existing assets, employees, technology infrastructure and information to gain or maintain market share. With lower barriers to entry, new competitors are rapidly entering.

The challenge for an organization is to turn the vision and the market opportunity into a viable business. Developing the marketing strategy and plans, designing and deploying the business solution is key. *

One such site that we are going to study which follows the strategy of a successful business model is www.coolavenues.com. It has emerged one of the biggest MBA community site in India and probably the only site unaffected by dotcom melt down while most of the big time funded sites have been evaporated by it.

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* www.tanning.com Article: "Defining the E-Business Model" by Bipin Agarwal