Recognizing Opportunities & Generating Ideas Chapter 2

Learning Objectives 1. Difference between ‘opportunity’ & ‘idea’ 2. Understanding Window of Opportunity 3. How Entrepreneurs identify opportunities 4. Personal Characteristics of Entrepreneur 5. Idea generation through ‘Brainstorming’ & “Focus groups’

Ideas & Opportunities Entrepreneurial firms are stimulated either externally or internally 1. Idea: A notion or an impression that creates excitement in the mind of a would be entrepreneur, which seems like a business opportunity, but often people confuse ideas with real opportunities. 2. Opportunity: A favorable set of circumstances that create the need for a new product or service. However, opportunities mostly offer a limited “Window”, which can close quickly.

How to turn business ideas into opportunity?

Window of Opportunity Capitalize on the window of opportunity (time period for market entrance), which is limited and may close or narrow

How Opportunities are recognized ? 1. Observing Trends (not to be confused with passing fads): (a) Economic Forces (economy, disposable income, consumer spending pattern), (b) Social forces (social & cultural trends, demographic changes, what people think is ‘in’, (c) Technological Advances (new technologies, emerging technologies, new use of old technologies), (d) Political & Regulatory Changes (new political or legal changes) 2. Businesses for solving existing problems : 3. Finding market gaps: e.g. Security Webcams in Dhaka Apartment Buildings, Lunch delivery services to offices, etc.

First Approach: Observing Trends 2 of 2 Environmental Trends Suggesting Business or Product Opportunity Gaps

Personal Characteristics for Opportunity Recognition “Difference between Opportunity & opportunity recognition” 1. Prior experience in the industry (the corridor principal) 2. Cognitive Factors (entrepreneurial alertness) 3. Social Networks (Solo entrepreneurs vs network entrepreneurs) 4. Creative Flair (Process of generating novel or useful idea)

Five Steps to Generating Creative Ideas Creativity 2 of 2 Five Steps to Generating Creative Ideas

Full View of the Opportunity Recognition Process Depicts the connection between an awareness of emerging trends and the personal characteristics of the entrepreneur

Techniques for Generating Ideas Brainstorming Focus Groups Library and Internet Research

Brainstorming Brainstorming Is a technique used to generate a large number of ideas and solutions to problems quickly. A brainstorming “session” typically involves a group of people, and should be targeted to a specific topic. Rules for a brainstorming session: No criticism. Freewheeling is encouraged. The session should move quickly. Leap-frogging is encouraged.

Focus Groups Focus Group A focus group is a gathering of five to ten people, who have been selected based on their common characteristics relative to the issues being discussed. These groups are led by a trained moderator, who uses the internal dynamics of the group environment to gain insight into why people feel the way they do about a particular issue. Although focus groups are used for a variety of purposes, they can be used to help generate new business ideas.