Start Your Own Net Market
Everyone is getting into the e-commerce act. Former purchasing and supply management professionals are even establishing their own markets. So how do you do it? Some core steps will help you.
[From iSource Business, March 2001] Mother, please, I'd rather do it myself. Ever get that feeling when reading about Net markets? You understand your industry. You know what both sides of the transaction equation need. You're even somewhat conversant in the in's and out's of the various technologies. "Hey," you may think, "I could start one of these markets on my own."
There's just one catch: Since Net markets first burst onto the scene two years ago, many of the rules of the game have changed. Here's what you need to know now to build a successful private electronic market.
1. Hot Spots and Services
The first step hasn't changed much since the early days. It's pretty straight forward. "Figure out where the weak points are in your industry and then how an electronic marketplace can improve the life of buyers and sellers," says David Yockelson, a director of the META Group, a market research firm in Stamford, Conn. First make sure your industry is actually ripe for a marketplace. That's usually true in cases where the purchasing process is highly inefficient or the industry is highly fragmented; but not too fragmented, of course. Otherwise, you'll have a hard time signing on the few influential buyers and sellers that are likely to bring the rest of the pack on board with them.
What's different these days is the matter of quantity. Most big industries, and even many niches, are already teeming with competitors. The result: Your market needs to be appreciably different from what's out there already.
How do you stand out from the crowd? The answer lies in three little words: value-added services. Indeed "it's not enough anymore just to give someone the ability to locate and pay for goods or find something at a better price," says Ken Crafford, CTO of FutureNext Consulting, a McLean, Va.-based firm that advises Net markets. Instead, you have to offer lots of other features, anything from arranging credit to assisting with shipping. (That's also because companies are finding it harder to make money the old way
