Now, before you go running off to the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary or checking out Google, digital entrepreneurship is NOT exactly self-employment or self-help using the internet. Just as an entrepreneur leverages on their problem-solving capability to create a business, the digital entrepreneur is not as different as such a person leverages on new technologies (such as the Internet) to create commercial opportunities or disseminates information would lead to job creation. If you noticed, it’s about jobs, jobs, and more jobs.
To put this into perspective, a digital entrepreneur creates digital jobs and employs digital (off site) staff to do things like write articles for an online magazine or news website, manage their social media presence, do graphic or web design for clients, amongst other things.
Digital entrepreneurship gives rise to an organization without a physical office space, a team to be constituted without any physical meeting while contributing to this virtual company using any suitable digital device.
This results in overall lower starting cost, an accessible, scalable network of people and really easy modus operandi. There is a one-time initial cost of development like cost of building the web platform or app which can easily be duplicated at little or no cost. This business allows for the entrepreneur to sell directly to the customer and reach a wider global market through the Internet.
Digital business models include but are not limited to:
- Advertising; e.g. blogging, online magazine, or news portal.
- Online store or e-Commerce
- Licensing of software, utility application or even patent for a device/machine
- Marketplace for B2B or B2C transactions (aka brokerage or linkage)
The founders of Konga, Jumia, Hotels.ng, Cokodeal, Ikore, Bella Naija, Tech Cabal, Okadabooks, and many others are digital entrepreneurs. There’s still room for more if you’ve got what it takes.
Till next time!
Author: ChuQDennis
Image source:blog.ediindia.ac.in