Computers and recent technological advances continue to affect not only the way millions of people live and work, but the types of new businesses being started and the methods being used to manage and market them. That's why it's so important for you to plan any new business with an eye to what's happening where technology and the Internet are concerned.

Although you will ultimately need a computer to efficiently manage your growing business, this does not mean you have to offer a computer-related service or product to make money at home. In spite of all the computers, robots, lasers and digital technology in our lives, there will always be a demand for business and creative skills only human beings can perform. In fact, John Naisbitt, author of Megatrends, believes that the more high tech our lives become, the more we will need to balance this situation with what he calls a "high touch" counterpart. This suggests a continuing demand for personal services of all kinds in areas that call for increased human contact. I also interpret this to mean there will be a continuing demand for
high-quality handcrafts and other finely-made goods that will satisfy people's nostalgic longings for "the good old days."

Creative people may well have an edge in our high-tech future, according to Ric Tombari, a professor of management at California State University. In an article for Entrepreneur, he said creative individuals would make up the majority of future entrepreneurs, adding: "Because creative people are less structured and better able to consider and accept new ideas, they will have an easier time charting a course through the constantly changing business world."

"Constantly changing" is the key phrase here. At this very moment, things are changing in the economy that could affect the marketability of your present business or budding idea. A new technological advance could just as easily render it obsolete as increase its potential a hundred-fold. And, just as some businesses are made extinct by technology, the social and economic changes now occurring will prompt a need for many new kinds of businesses.

Implant these thoughts in your mind as you launch a new enterprise or become more deeply involved in your present venture: Nothing stays the same. Remain flexible. Go with the flow.

*************************************