Dr Jeff Cornwall

Anita Campbell writes about the impact e-Bay is having on small business at Small Business Trends. This same trend was featured in a three part series written by Gerry Blackwell. Part I looks at operating an e-Bay store. Part II examines how to do it right and not get scammed, which is a real but preventable problem. Part III explores how e-Bay can save money for small business serving as a source to find vendors for supplies, equipment and even inventory.
Belmont’s own student run business, reverb media, bought all of their equipment and furnishings and inventory through e-Bay, saving thousands of dollars.
This is really just the first wave of what is a transition in how goods and services will be bought and sold in the future. Who knows how far this technological shift will take us, especially as we have the much anticipated convergence of electronic devices. Soon, everything from your fridge to your bathroom mirror will be integrated through an information network that will include computing, web-connectivity, television, and other media.
I believe that in thirty years we (hopefully I’ll still be around to be part of this “we”) will look back on the e-Bay era like we now look back at the revolutionary impact that Ford Motor Company had on our economy and society. The information age has been at work for a long time, but innovations like e-Bay are what really will take its power to the masses.
In the short run, tools like e-Bay are part of the fuel for this entrepreneurial economic boom, facilitating quicker and cheaper start-up strategies for many small businesses. It is creating new opportunities that did not exist just a couple of years ago.