Riding the wave

According to the Boston Consulting Group’s 2012 report, ‘The Connected World’, the Internet economy's contribution to the UK GDP is at 8.3 per cent, higher than any other G20 nations. The report forecasts that this share will surge to 12.4 per cent by 2016.

By then, almost a quarter of sales in the UK are expected to take place online - more than double the percentage of the projected closest competitor, Germany.  In early 2010 there were 200 technology companies based in east London, by January this year this had exploded to 1300.

High return global races

Great results for the UK and whilst they are reported as best in class this is not just a London or GB based phenomenon. The creation of technology based innovative digital businesses is a global race that corporations, governments, investors, incubators and entrepreneurs are all placing their bets on.  With projected annual growth rates of 8 per cent for the next five years, these are some serious numbers.

Picking the right wave

With all this happening it could be argued that there isn't a better time to be a start-up to ride the wave as if you need help it’s out there.  The challenge for the entrepreneur with this all this activity is picking the right set and most appropriate support to ride it from. This isn't easy as even the support networks are becoming global.

Getting the fundamentals right

The Internet economy is a global game with highly competitive rules, but it comes down to doing all the fundamentals brilliantly and getting the right support in the right place at the right time. The winners will be those that view the Internet as a compliment to, not a cannibal of traditional ways of competing.