Ideas & Opportunity

Dr Noor Muhammad noormuhammad@giki.edu.pk

Idea Opportunity New Venture

1. Opportunity Discovery

Proactive

Reactive

Unexpected

2. Opportunity Exploitation

Legitimise Start-up

Acquire resources

Combine & coordinate resources

Generate demand

The Idea

Proactive or Reactive Search

1. Market research reports

2. Franchise opportunities (http://www.thebfa.org/joiningafranchise/choosing.asp)

3. Newspapers/trade magazines

4. Evaluation of existing business

5. Business Idea Websites (http://springwise.com/businessideas2010)

http://www.thebfa.org/joiningafranchise/choosing.asphttp://springwise.com/businessideas2010

External Environment Drives Change

1. Political/Legal - legislation, taxation policy, employment law,

health and safety, foreign trade, terrorism and war

2. Economic - local, national, global, industry inflation, interest rates, employment rates, exchange rates, money supply, energy costs

3. Socio-cultural population demographics, income distribution, lifestyle changes, education levels, social mobility, values, attitudes

4. Technological - new products, new processes, new and emerging discoveries, internet,

5. Ecological/Environmental Climate change, pollution, waste products, recycled technology, energy efficiency

Initial Idea Screening

1. Physically possible?

2. Practical/usable?

3. Legal/Ethical?

4. Evidence of need/demand?

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/external-search?search-type=ss&tag=methodshopcom&keyword=CHINDOGU&mode=books

The Opportunity

Evaluating the Opportunity

1. Technical feasibility

2. Market need

Customer analysis, segments Unmet needs, gaps in market

3. Industry and Market*

Size, structure & growth Cost structure Window of opportunity

*The impact of Industry Structure on new ventures is different to established companies. Effects can be diminished by entry strategy.

Evaluating the Opportunity

1. Economics

Profit potential

Capital requirements

Gross margin

2. Competitive advantage

Degree of control

Entry barriers

Competitor analysis

3. Personal/Team Fit

Experience/competencies

4. Risks/Uncertainty

Your Final Approach

Bring Innovation

New Venture

New Product

New Service

Six Thinking Hats

The main difficulty of thinking is confusion. We try to do too much at once. Emotion, information, logic, hope and creativity

all crowd in on us. It is like juggling with too many items.

Edward de Bono

Confusion?

Emotion?

Information?

Logic?

Hope?

Creativity?

Six Thinking Hats

Emotion/

belief

Value & benefits

Ideas

Critique

Information

Implementation/

process

Green Yellow Red

Black White Blue

Six Thinking Hats

1. Green hat (Generating ideas; creative; speculative)

2. Yellow hat (Probing ideas for value and benefit)

3. Red hat (Following perception; guess; emotion)

4. White hat (Seeking facts & figures; information; objective)

5. Black hat (Spotting dangers, flaws; cautious)

6. Blue hat (Seeing big picture; controlling; management)

Recap

All opportunities start with an idea

There should be an established and growing market

Entrepreneur should have passion for the idea and know the

customer

Reach customer better than the competition can

Four favorable elements: customer, competitors, suppliers and

government

Group Assignment # 2

What can you learn through contact with an entrepreneur? You will interview an entrepreneur and perform an independent analysis of the entrepreneurs experience. Feel free to interview a family member or friend.

Group Assignment # 2

you must make your own independent assessment of the primary lessons to be derived from the entrepreneurs experience. In your essay, make sure that you make clear:

1. What do you think are the principal lessons regarding entrepreneurship to be

learned from this case?

2. What do you think would-be entrepreneurs should learn from this case?

In your assignment, you will want to describe the background(s) of the entrepreneur(s), the source of the idea for the enterprise, the nature of the opportunity the enterprise exploited, and the resources the entrepreneur(s) used to start and then grow the businessand challenges faced along the way.

Group Assignment #2

Sample Questions

Tell me about the business you operate. What does it do? Who are its main

customers? Suppliers?

What does your business do exceptionally well?

What is your favorite aspect of the business?

How (and when) did you get started in this business?

Where did the idea come from?

Was it an opportune time to start such a business?

What was your particular strategy or innovation?

How has the business grown over the years? What sorts of challenges has growth presented?

What external factors make the biggest difference to the business?

Is there anything special about the location of your business?

Group Assignment # 2

Words Limit

Min: 2000

Max: 2500

Submission Deadline: 19/02/2014