In a dream economy you can believe anything can happen. Just as you can begin to believe 10 million people are going to buy the product in the first year, when the dream turns bad you can start to believe you will make no sales. This is not the way the real economy works and the current negative feeling is almost as irrational as previously hyped expectations. In the end Internet is an extension, a layer of technology sitting within a range of technologies, all within business structures that underpin the real economy. There have been other technologies that have had arguably far greater impact on the world we live in from the telephone, to the engine, to the pill, that we simply now take for granted.
Reality can be far more rewarding than a dream.
All is not lost. By focusing on the core value of a companies products and services, customers who pay for these will be tied in to a value relationship that will last. The discipline that comes from concentrating on building traditional profitable business, once adopted by new technology start-ups will also stand the test of time. Local business at a national and regional level will be able to benefit from Internet based business in a way that has, until now, seemed less viable. Expectations in a real economy will be lower, however the resulting experience of customers and investors alike will be, relatively speaking, higher.