The Road Ahead: Rethinking The Future

The tumultuous changes in the technology landscape have presented many challenges for startup companies and a burnt investment community. Yet as the downturn and subsequent shakeout continue, this is a prime time for entrepreneurs to rethink a sense of business vision and purpose that will enable a sustaining strategy for the new marketplace.

"Entrepreneurs need to look at the very basics of why they started what they did, look inside themselves to identify their specific talents, and ask, 'how can we start from scratch,'" says Larta CEO Rohit Shukla, who will be presenting a special
seminar on November 6, Turn Your Business Vision to Reality.

For startup companies in the technology industry attempting growth, this has been one of the slowest investment periods for some time. According to a survey published by Ernst & Young and VentureOne, venture capital investments reached their lowest level in four years during the third quarter of 2002. The workshop will address the broader challenges facing the tech industry, for both emerging players and established corporations alike, emphasizing the importance of restructuring business strategies and re-tapping the direction of long term goals.

"If you've been an entrepreneur during the last five years, or even an entrepreneur that started last year, you've had no time to take another look at your business plan because you've been focused on that particular prize that you mentioned in your business plan," says Shukla. "Unfortunately, that could be your biggest mistake, because the market in which you made the old business plan has changed."

The course will also delve into the specific steps company leaders can take in rethinking business plans, including the formation of new partnerships and alliances, how to reposition a business advantageously during an investment and market downturn, and asset management.

"Companies now need to take a look at all the assets and inventory that had previously been taken for granted, and seeing if they can be junked, thrown-out, sold, gotten rid of, or even rolled up into a different kind of company," Shukla says. "That kind of marketplace issue has never existed before for smaller companies. That's how the market has changed."

by Wendy Hall, Larta Staff Writer