Week 3 – Looking for Opportunities Entrepreneurship Week 3 – Looking for Opportunities

New Business Opportunities Innovation can be driven by Places – Silicon Valley People – Stephen Jobs Company policy – 3M The times We will start by looking at “the times”

A Time for Innovation Some times foster more innovation than others. The key is change. Change produces needs and opportunities. Changes can be good, or they can be bad, but both produce needs and opportunities. (But good changes are better)

A Time for Innovation Change – the climate Needs – crops that need less water, barriers as ocean levels rise. Opportunities – companies that make water recyclers or new kinds of air conditioners should do very well.

A Time for Innovation Change – smart phones Needs – places to charge the phones, quick repairs, easy upgrades Opportunities – New apps, more games on-line, new information services (Camel races.Com)

Examining change So many things are changing so constantly, that it is easy to ignore important changes that might provide an opportunity for your business. To help leaders review change carefully, they use a heuristic called “PESTLE”. “Hueristic” – Greek – to discover

PESTLE PESTLE is an acronym (series of initial letters) for important areas of change: Political Economic Social Technological Legal Environmental

Political Change Political factors include: tax policy labor laws environmental laws trade restrictions Also, governments are consumers. They buy goods and services – sometimes more, sometimes less. They also create the infrastructure of a country – roads, ports, schools – sometimes more, sometimes less

Political Opportunities Example – Oman has a good highway from Muscat to Nizwa. What opportunities would be created if the highway was improved all the way to Al Ain in the UAE? More traffic would likely lead to More gas stations More restaurants More customers in the Nizwa mall.

Political Opportunities Example – Oman supported the new University of Nizwa. What businesses have benefitted from the University? As a student in Nizwa, what needs do you see? What kinds of new businesses would students support?

Economic Change Economies change all the time – economic growth interest rates exchange rates the inflation rate Oddly, while most opportunities are found during times of economic growth, many new companies are started during slow downs.

Economic Change The price of oil has dropped by more than half. What does that do to the Omani economy? What are three consequences we will see in the local economy? Which businesses will be hurt? Is it possible any businesses will benefit?

Social Change Changes may be local, or they may be global. They may impact a small group, or nearly everyone. Look for changes in Culture Diets Population growth (or decline) Age distribution Career attitudes

Social Change One of the social changes in Oman is the large number of young people in the country. What businesses benefit from an increasing number of children?

Social Change Clothing styles also change. What kinds of opportunities are created when people change the kinds of clothing they wear?

Social Change Social change happens all around the world. If you sell on-line, you can reach customers anywhere in the world. How can you follow social changes in other countries?

Social Change Some countries export their culture. The U.S. has movies – Disney, Star Wars and tv shows. The UK had Harry Potter. Does Oman have any culture that it might export? TV? Movies? Books? How could you create a cultural export?

Technological change Careful here. We tend to think only of computers. But these changes can include: New energy sources New drugs Communications improvements New ways of farming New ways of solving problems (robots, AI, big data) These have different impacts on consumers, employees, and companies

Technological change Industrial technology – as technology allows oil companies to remove more oil from the ground, it is likely oil and gas fields will produce for more years – maybe for more decades. The result will be oil and gas income for more years. How will that help Oman businesses?

Technological change Improved medicines have raised the life expectancy of Omanis from an average of 46 years to 71 years. As more Omanis live to an older age, what business opportunities does that create?

Technological change How many businesses have been created by cell phones in Oman? What kind of businesses are there?

Legal Change Laws that might impact your business include: discrimination law consumer law antitrust law employment law health and safety laws (speed limits or food changes)

Legal Change “Omanization” is a good example of changed employment law. The government is urging companies to hire Omanis for jobs. Several businesses have been started to train and place Omanis in companies.

Environmental Change The environment can have huge impacts on all areas of business. But here we combine the actual changes with reactions to the changes in: Weather Climate climate change This summer was especially hot in the region. What business opportunities did that create?

How an Entrepreneur looks at change What problems are emerging that people might want me to solve? What opportunities are now available that weren’t before? How important are those problems and opportunities ( do they really matter to people?) Can I meet the problem or opportunity at a cost the consumer will pay?

How PESTLE impacts business opportunities What restraints might impact my business from: Political changes – tax increases or labor law changes Economic changes – general down turn in the economy Social changes – customer interests come and go Technological changes – new technology might eliminate the need for my product or service Legal changes – new laws could make by business less attractive Environmental changes – draught could make by farm impossible