Lecturer, STIE YPUP Makassar
Keywords: Digitalpreneurship, Ethics, Sustainability, Trust.
WIN Media, Opinion – The phenomenon of young people flocking to adopt the “digitalpreneur” label is now undeniable. From thrift shop resellers and beauty product dropshippers to content creators who package every activity as a commodity, all are thriving on social media timelines. This phenomenon is like a double-edged sword: on one hand, it reflects a high entrepreneurial spirit; on the other, it reveals an excessive euphoria that overlooks the true foundations of business.
Behind this euphoria, digitalpreneurship is often positioned as an instant solution to overcome unemployment and poverty—a narrative that continues to be echoed without adequate critique. What is concerning is the fundamental question that is rarely asked: are these digitalpreneurs truly prepared in terms of ethics and do they have a vision for sustainability, or are they merely following the crowd for fear of missing out?
Digitalpreneurship, in essence, is not just about “quick profits” that go viral in an instant. Rather, it faces three major interconnected challenges: the pressure of business sustainability amid changing algorithms and market preferences, ethical dilemmas in marketing practices and consumer data protection, and the collective responsibility to maintain a healthy digital ecosystem. Without a strong foundation in these three pillars, digitalpreneurship will merely become a bubble—a phenomenon that is flashy on the surface but fragile and easily burst.
A study by Sussan and Acs (2017) early on reminded us that the digital entrepreneurship ecosystem cannot be separated from the institutional and social context that shapes it. Meanwhile, recent research by Anderson and Park (2024) found that the high failure rate of digital businesses in their first year is actually due to a lack of ethical and sustainability readiness, not merely technical factors.
Challenges of Digitalpreneurship: Between Hype and Reality
Many novice digitalpreneurs fall into the illusion of ease. They rely solely on instant platforms like TikTok Shop or Shopee without understanding the fundamentals of business—financial management, measurable marketing strategies, and business legality. Consequently, when algorithms change or trends shift, their businesses collapse within weeks. A dropshipper, for instance, may be able to sell thousands of products in a month but cannot calculate their net profit margin because they never systematically record operational costs.
What is worrying is the proliferation of the “price war” phenomenon in oversupplied product categories—frozen food, thrift items, skincare, for example—where business owners undercut prices to below fair value. This is a race to the bottom that never produces winners, only casualties. Digitalpreneurs are often driven to expand without careful calculation, seduced by high turnover but forgetting that healthy liquidity is far more critical for business continuity.
The “quick profit” culture popularized by instant motivational content on social media has fostered a dangerous mentality. Many digitalpreneurs neglect long-term strategies—building a brand, maintaining customer loyalty, or conducting in-depth product research. The high failure rate after the initial euphoria subsides is no coincidence; it is a logical consequence of foundations built on sand.
A recent study by Davidson and Wijaya (2025) shows that more than 60 percent of digital businesses established without literacy readiness and long-term orientation do not survive beyond the first 18 months.
These challenges reinforce the belief that becoming a digitalpreneur is not just about selling goods online. It demands structural readiness—a holistic understanding of business—and mature mental readiness to navigate uncertainty, not merely following the fleeting current of hype.
Ethical Dilemmas in Digitalpreneurship Practices
Concerning marketing practices have become an “open secret” among digitalpreneurs. Fake testimonials with photos downloaded from irresponsible sources, fictitious discounts that never actually apply, and exaggerated product claims—for example, skincare claimed to be “effective in three days”—are still easily found on various platforms.
The phenomenon of “shoddy affiliate” marketing that conceals commercial relationships worsens the situation, as consumers can no longer distinguish between honest content and content that is purely transactional. What is worrying is that these practices are often tolerated because they are considered “normal” in the world of digital marketing, even though they slowly erode the foundation of trust that is the lifeblood of the online business ecosystem.
Awareness of data privacy remains a blind spot for many small-scale digitalpreneurs. Many business owners manage customer data—names, addresses, phone numbers—in a very lax manner, even without the explicit consent of the data owners. The practice of buying and selling customer data between digitalpreneurs without permission also still occurs in this ecosystem, as if personal data is a commodity that can be traded at will. Even though the Personal Data Protection Law provides a clear legal framework, its implementation at the micro and small business level is still far from adequate.
Ethics in digitalpreneurship cannot stop at mere legality. Equally important is the social impact of what is being promoted. Content that continuously encourages excessive consumerist lifestyles—such as calls to “you must buy this” or “if you don’t have this, you’re behind the times”—has created a damaging culture, especially among young consumers who are still vulnerable. Furthermore, exploitative business practices toward partners or other small businesses, such as pricing that harms suppliers or late payments, seem to have become “normal” in the pursuit of profit.
If ethics continue to be neglected in this way, digitalpreneurship will turn into an unhealthy space, harming consumers who become victims of manipulative practices, and ultimately killing public trust in the digital ecosystem at large. Findings by Chen and Lestari (2024) in a cross-country study in Southeast Asia reinforce this concern: they found that the erosion of consumer trust due to digital marketing ethics violations is significantly correlated with an overall decline in online purchase intention—a collective loss borne by the entire ecosystem, not just the violating actors.
Sustainability: Building a Stronger Foundation
The digitalpreneurs who survive are not those who most aggressively promote thousands of products, but those who dare to shift from a volume orientation to value creation. Building a brand with an authentic story, nurturing customer loyalty through consistent service, and creating clear product differentiation—these are the long-term assets often sacrificed in pursuit of instant turnover. One fashion business owner, for example, chose to sell only ten models with quality materials and good after-sales service, rather than flooding the market with a hundred models that would quickly be forgotten. As a result, their customers stayed and their brand grew organically without relying on deep discounts.
Encouragingly, awareness is beginning to emerge that the digital ecosystem will not be healthy if filled with practices of tearing each other down. The importance of building a culture of collaboration—for instance, sharing knowledge about marketing ethics, referring consumers who do not fit one’s own segment to others, and forming joint learning communities—is becoming apparent. Digital business ethics education, in my view, must become an inseparable part of developing young entrepreneurs, not just an overlooked add-on. When digitalpreneurs see each other as ecosystem partners rather than threats, the digital space becomes fertile ground for shared growth.
Environmental issues often become the “stepchild” in digitalpreneurship discourse, even though their impact is real. The rise of the thrifting business favored by young people actually has the potential to contribute to textile waste problems if not managed with proper circularity principles. The same applies to plastic packaging waste from frozen food or cosmetic products shipped in large quantities every day. However, herein lies the opportunity: digitalpreneurs who prioritize environmentally friendly principles—minimal packaging, recycled products, or carbon footprint transparency—can make sustainability a selling point as well as a real contribution appreciated by environmentally conscious consumers.
Sustainability is not just a nice-sounding discourse. It is an urgent necessity so that digitalpreneurship does not merely give birth to instant entrepreneurs born of euphoria who die from running out of oxygen, but also resilient entrepreneurs who bring long-term positive impact on themselves, the ecosystem, and the planet. Research by Hartono and Nguyen (2025) affirms that digital businesses that integrate sustainability principles—economic, social, and environmental—into their business models have a resilience rate 2.5 times higher than businesses that focus only on short-term profits, while also building a stronger reputation among young consumers.
Sustainability and Trust
Digitalpreneurship is a great opportunity that would be a shame to waste. However, without awareness of structural challenges, neglected ethics, and overlooked sustainability, it will be as fragile as a bubble ready to burst at any moment. Research by Wijaya and Kumar (2025) confirms that the failure of digitalpreneurs in Southeast Asia is not solely due to technical factors, but rather to unpreparedness in facing these three pillars simultaneously.
For practitioners, ethics and sustainability must be made the foundation, not merely a complement displayed only when sanctions or market demands arise. For the ecosystem—government, digital platforms, and communities alike—it is time to strengthen substantive literacy, consistent oversight, and create spaces for collaboration oriented toward the long term, not merely ceremonial events.
Healthy digitalpreneurship is that which can survive not because of hype that sparks momentary euphoria, but because it is trusted and provides tangible benefits to many parties. It is time for us to move beyond the misleading “get rich quick” narrative and toward a narrative of “impactful and sustainable” that truly builds a dignified digital business civilization.