Introduction
Entrepreneurs need to monitor the historical and current events recorded in their region in order to know how to establish their businesses successfully. They can apply their competencies to design superior strategies that can make their ventures profitable. However, the established cultural norms and practices in a given community might have significant implications for new businesses. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and study the historical aspects defining the Georgetown community in Washington, DC and describe how the district can sustain a new company operating in the software and mobile phone application (app) sector. The discussion also offers additional recommendations that Georgetown’s leaders can pursue to support the smartphone app industry.
Summary of Present Day and Historical Factors
Strengths and Opportunities
The history of Georgetown reveals that there are specific historical factors that make it a good destination for a new business in the app development industry. First, the town has been the hub for entertainment and dining opportunities. This fact indicates that there are professionals and business experts who have been visiting this district for decades. Such individuals have presented additional concepts for improving organizational performance. The region is known for its organization transportation business and commerce. Its strategic location on the Potomac River attracted many businesses from the 1850s to the 1950s (Cooper, 2019).
Additionally, the effective leadership that has been recorded in Georgetown and the entire region for two decades has encouraged many investors to identify the community as a reliable business destination. The current trend of tourism attracts many people to visit Georgetown and explore the historic Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (O&C), the Old Stone House of 1765, the Tudor Place Historic House and Garden, and Dumbarton House (Cooper, 2019). Georgetown waterfront is also a wonderful feature that attracts many people from different states across the country.
Georgetown is associated with some of the best learning institutions and facilities in the region. For instance, Georgetown University has its main campus in this town. Many people have benefited significantly from this institution by acquiring new skills and expertise that can support their goals in different fields. Those who are planning to become entrepreneurs will continue to learn appropriate concepts and ideas from such educational facilities (Lesko et al., 2016). The increasing number of shopping centers and malls in Georgetown can be a new opportunity for companies that want to become more competitive. These strengths and opportunities reveal that any business firm planning to invest in this district will have higher chances of emerging successful.
The mission of the Georgetown Business Improvement District (GBID) is to attract investors from different parts of the country and encourage them to invest in the community. GBID markets the opportunities and facilities that companies can capitalize on to launch their ideas (Lesko et al., 2016). It stages a number of annual activities and events that showcase the features, existing policies, and support systems that can make it possible for more businesses to thrive in this region. The Taste of Georgetown is one of such annual occasions that have resulted in increased investments in common sectors. The proposed business can consider the role of GBID to streamline its operations and record positive gains in this untapped district.
Weaknesses and Threats
The history of Georgetown has specific aspects or factors that can make it impossible for new companies to thrive and realize their business aims. First, this town has been identified as the best market for restaurants, nightclubs, and entertainment centers. Within the past two decades, Georgetown has been associated with tourism and nightlife. This is a major weakness since the community lacks a background in computer-related businesses. Second, celebrities and citizens from different parts around Washington have for years met in this village to celebrate and enjoy life. This historical aspect can be described as another weakness because new ventures in the selected field might not get the required support. Third, Georgetown grew to be a center for transportation and commerce throughout the 19th century (Cooper, 2019).
However, the main focus during that time included retailing and dining. This remains a significant weakness since such a trend has continued to dictate or influence most of the emerging business ideas.
Currently, there are specific threats that make Georgetown ill-prepared for a new business venture in the software sector. At night, the community attracts outsiders who find its hotels, restaurants, and taverns attractive and capable of meeting their needs. Corey (2016) believes that such a region will continue to support the industry since it is synonymous with entertainment. These attributes reveal that a new business focusing on the technology sector will encounter numerous challenges before becoming established. The majority of the graduates from the existing institutions have been pursuing careers in other fields, including management, health, and sociology. This means that the district has not been taking the issue of technology seriously.
Selected Area of the Community
The history of the Georgetown district reveals that any company trying to invest in a new industry that does not exist in the community will encounter various hurdles, such as the absence of established infrastructure and support systems. The region has been on the frontline to support businesses in these key sectors: entertainment, dining, and tourism. Fortunately, the position and objectives of GBID can create new opportunities and guide the intended business to invest effectively and eventually achieve its goals much faster (“About Georgetown BID,” n.d.). Over the years, this organization has been supporting and staging annual events that make it possible to educate more people about the available resources, support systems, activities, and areas that can support the performance of emerging firms.
GBID collaborates with existing businesses in an attempt to discover the unique challenges that they might have faced within the past six decades. The organization has also been keen to collaborate with established learning institutions in order to identify potential barriers to effective investment (“About Georgetown BID,” n.d.). The acquired insights become a new opportunity to inform different participants about the best ways to succeed in this community. The agency has taken the initiative to demystify the existing assumptions that Georgetown is a tourist destination for celebrities and famous people in Washington, DC and across the country. This area is, therefore, capable of supporting the development of a new business that plans to emerge successful in the software development industry.
Solution and Recommendations
American society views Silicon Valley as the center for technological companies and innovations. This idea has forced innovators to focus on the region and connect with it in order to ensure that their products receive the attention of the greatest number of followers. Although Georgetown might be a small community, the agreeable fact is that it has the potential to attract or encourage its residents to focus on the software development sector. The best solution that can support this mission is for the GBID to go a step further and establish a department that examines the region’s past and links it with the future technological needs of different customers (Lesko et al., 2016).
This strategy will make it possible for this agency to learn more about app development and introduce additional support systems. Some of the common ones will include the creation of an innovation center whereby entrepreneurs and programming experts can pursue their goals.
The agency will provide adequate resources, including computer systems, Internet connections, and app-building platforms. Innovators whose products are capable of solving customers’ needs should receive additional support. This approach will create the best environment for more individuals to consider investing in this community (Corey, 2016). Such an initiative will prepare Georgetown for additional gains and become the origin of great concepts. These developments will eventually make this community more competitive and support the needs of many entrepreneurs in the selected sector.
Conclusion
The above discussion has identified Georgetown as a developed district that has specific strengths and threats that can affect the performance of a new business in the app development industry. The leaders in this community can change the current status by supporting the mission of the GBID and presenting additional resources to support upcoming innovators. The presence of such enabling conditions will make it easier for a new venture in this sector to record increased profits and deliver high-quality apps to more customers in different parts of the world.
References
About Georgetown BID. (n.d.). Web.
Cooper, R. (2019). ‘Top 10 things to do in Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown’. Tripsavvy. Web.
Corey, S. F. (2016). Georgetown County’s historic cemeteries. Arcadia Publishing.
Lesko, K. M., Bab, V. M., & Gibbs, C. R. (2016). Black Georgetown remembered: A history of its black community from the founding of “the town of George” in 1951 to the present day. Georgetown University Press.