Technology is making it easier than ever to start a business. From hobbyists making a few extra pounds via eBay, to middlemen exploiting online trading store alibaba.com, the microchip and telecommunications revolution is at the heart of a brave new entrepreneurial world.
It's the difference between an investment of £1 million today, compared with £3 million or £5 million the old way," says Darren Fell, serial web entrepreneur.
Breaking down the barriers
Among these throngs of micro-entrepreneurs, is a new breed of ambitious business people. They are launching ventures that take on long-established giants or are exploiting new markets that their rivals haven't spotted yet.
Darren Fell is one such example. He is a serial web entrepreneur, and founder of website freelanceadvisor.co.uk. Interest in his not-for-profit site, which helps people make the leap into self-employment, has grown steadily in recent years. "We've gone from about 2,000 readers in 2008 to 18,000 now," he says, "which shows how strong the interest is."
As technology costs plummet, software gets smarter and physical factors like location and hardware become less relevant. The barriers to entry into markets have fallen dramatically.
Up in the clouds
According to Darren, a big enabler of this process is cloud computing. This involves the migration of computing power from office servers - and from the brains of expensive programmers - to applications run remotely online. Cloud computing is enabling small start-up to work flexibly, with far fewer overheads and, more crucially, much lower up-front capital investment.
Darren's latest venture is a case in point. Developing his fully automated online accounting service, Crunch, cost a fraction of what it would have cost a decade ago.
"It's the difference between an investment of £1 million today, compared with £3 million or £5 million the old way," he says. "We would have had to spend thousands on software, servers and the air conditioning to cool them. Now that everything is in the cloud, the business is totally scalable. We are charged on a monthly, pay-per-seat basis, which means not having to pay money up front. It has really lowered the barriers to entry."
Many of the time-consuming chores involved in running a business have also been automated or greatly simplified. Start-up such as online service provider icomplete and collaborative working site Huddle are two such examples. Offering simple and highly automated tools, they take the legwork out of tax returns, networking, and project work.
The advent of cloud computing is also changing the way that the most innovative small firms work, according to icomplete's co-founder Myles Hantler. Businesses can run an ever-growing number of applications online, including software for customer relationship management, accounting, logistics, HR and warehousing. This can free them from the limitations of geography.
Myles says: "We're finding businesses working seamlessly on projects online, but working across different locations, or even just working from a number of homes without an office. It can save businesses a lot of time and energy."
Suits you
Mobile technology and cloud computing has enabled Warren Bennett and David Hathiramani to create a successful and highly innovative suit-making business - asuitthatfits.com - which crosses continents. The pair were finalists in HSBC's Start-Up Stars Awards 2009, which celebrate the achievements of the UK's new entrepreneurial talent.
Without a head office, the business is run through software applications that communicate between UK shop staff and Nepalese tailors. And without servers or other expensive IT kit, operations are kept running via smartphones. "The software to do this is now readily available and easy to adopt," says David Hathiramani. "A few years ago it would have been prohibitively expensive. In some cases, it's now free."
For more inspiration and ideas from successful, innovative businesses, large and small, visit www.100thoughts.hsbc.co.uk
