Notes from a wireframe world

With banks going under, left right and center, people being layed off, the flow of venture capital has become just a trickle, everything has gone to the dogs. So how do you make any money in times like these?

Lucky it’s not as hard as it may appear, it just takes a change of perspective. Just as we have always known, the most successful web sites, are those that fulfil a need, and the easiest way to do this is to identify what you need.

So what is it that you need to do in the economic downturn? Most people’s initial reaction to the downturn has been to cut their costs, and watch their pennies more closely. In the physical world this means that discount / pound shops have become more popular than ever, they have seen their profits skyrocket as people stop shopping in the more expensive shops. In the on-line world companies like moneysupermarket.com, a price comparison web site, have seen their share price rise dramatically over the past year. Also because people are more concerned about their finances, sites such as mint.com, a personal finance tracking site, have been an instant hit. Hopefully my own web-app sahakara.co.uk, an on-line swap shop, will also succeed as it has a similar outlook.

But price comparison and money saving sites, are not the only way to make money, new innovative ideas will always succeed if they fill a need. With the election of Baraka Obama as president of the US and his focus on environmental issues, and a subsequent heightened importance of the environment in the eyes of US citizens, will of course encourage people to look for answers on-line.