An analysis of an entrepreneurial revolution that just might be ready to hit the world and change the contents of your workday for good, in a very positive way.

Introduction

The long tail of the global markets creates a place for every product of value. And that includes the things that you love to create or do most.

It’s even better; this long tail will allow an entrepreneurial renaissance to take shape, the likes of which we have not seen before.

We believe this will be, such a strong trend, even things like the current credit crisis will not hinder it, let alone stop it. The opportunities will be there for the people who are ready to take them.

So what is this ‘Long Tail’ again?

The long tail is a concept published by Chris Anderson.

The theory of the Long Tail is that our culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of “hits” (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge number of niches in the tail. As the costs of production and distribution fall, especially online, there is now less need to lump products and consumers into one-size-fits-all containers. In an era without the constraints of physical shelf space and other bottlenecks of distribution, narrowly-target goods and services can be as economically attractive as mainstream fare.

This excerpt doesn’t mention it explicitly, but the entire volume in the tail is bigger than the volume of ‘the hits’. (Something the music industry is learning the hard way at the moment).

Derived from the virtual bookstore example, which can store an unlimited number of titles, this theory can also be transposed to the entirety of global markets.

The Realization

So let’s leave the bookstore for now and think of the entire world economy as a whole.

You have a variety of huge volume products (eg. commodities, like oil, grain, energy etc.) and then there’s an enormous tail of smaller volume markets for other products and services.

The same principle that allows authors to sell books in the long tail, allows entrepreneurs and companies to sell to niche markets in the long tail of the global economy. And it’s this tail that’s getting longer and longer.

In other words, it no longer matter what your product is, if it holds value, you can sell it and make a living from it. That is, if you know what you’re doing and know what hurdles to take.

Enter your Passion

That’s a powerful fact!

It actually says: there’s a market for anything of value (and even for some things of no value at all). And that means there’s a market for your passion too!

So with the normal market drivers at work, this will obviously lead to an enormous renaissance of (small) entrepreneurship. People who can make money by doing what they love, will do it and they will spread this to others who will do the same.

Many entrepreneurs are already taking these steps right now and new markets are invented every day.

What still stands in your way and what can you do about it?

There are a number of factors still making it tricky to benefit from this opportunity. The good news is, they are quickly dissolving and giving way to entrepreneurs who have found ways around them!

Market Size & Reach When you sell niche products, the quickest way to grow is to increase the size of the market you work in. So instead of selling to the US only, you start selling to the entire world.

What helps you do this?

• Powerful but cheap website content management systems and e-commerce tools
• Global payment systems, like PayPal

Findability When your clients are very specialized it’s hard to find them. That’s why you should allow them to find you.

What helps you do this?

• Google and other search engines
• Targeted advertising
• Publishing about your niche (blogging etc)
• Purple Cow marketing

Language This is still a big hurdle. If you can’t communicate easily, it’s hard to do business. Fortunately help is on the way!

What helps you do this?

• Exvo ‘Speak the World’ (Translations technology & services – Launch 2008) Yes this is us.
• Computer Translations (not completely there yet, but often good enough)

Scale Not having the right scale to compete with the big players in a a market can also hinder people to make the jump to entrepreneurship. Advantages of scale are the issue here.

What helps deal with this?

• Exvo Open Company. Yes, here we are again, but that is no surprise since it’s our goal to spread entrepreneurship. Open Company is designed to counter these advantages of scale by simply adding structuring to many independent entrepreneurs.
• Social & Business Networks. Groups are like the new unions. Smaller and a always changing configuration.

Machines/Complex Production Complex machinery and production procedures can drag new ideas for niches down. Fortunately technology is quickly filling in the last requirements to democratize this area too.

What helps deal with this?

• 3D Printers. Have you seen 3d printers yet? These developments will blow your mind. Checkout this 3D home printer, which is just the beginning.

When all is said and done

So what does this mean for you?

It means that you should get of your behind and start thinking about what your passion is, how it can offer value to other people and then do it. There never was a better time.

For all of these goes: Exvo is here to help with everything entrepreneurial.