Entrepreneurial Process

Tour 128: Entrepreneurship and Business Planning

ENTREPRENEURIAL PROCESS
IDEA GENERATION

GROWTH

OPPORTUNITY EVALUATION

COMPANY FORMATION/ LAUNCH

PLANNING

IDEA GENERATION
Every new venture STARTS with an IDEA! There are several techniques for generating good ideas. Standard idea-generation techniques concentrate on combining or adapting existing ideas this can generate results.

TECHNIQUES FOR GENERATING IDEAS

1) Breaking Thought Patterns breaking them can get your mind unstuck and generate new ideas.
Challenge Assumptions: For every situation, you have a set of key assumptions. Challenging them can give you new possibilities.

TECHNIQUES FOR GENERATING IDEAS

Reword the Problem: It leads to different ideas when you state the problem differently. Look at the issue from different angles. Why do we need to solve the problem? What is the roadblock? Why do we need to solve the problem?

TECHNIQUES FOR GENERATING IDEAS

Think in Reverse: Instead of focusing on how to solve a problem/ improve operations/ enhance a product, consider how you can create the problem/ worsen operations/ downgrade the product. New ideas will come flowing in.

TECHNIQUES FOR GENERATING IDEAS

2) Connect The Unconnected the best ideas seem to occur by chance. The random element keeps our brain ticking. Capitalize on this knowledge!
Take an Item: Ask yourself, How could this item help in addressing the challenge? Mind Map: Put a key word or phrase on a middle of a page and write whatever comes to your mind. Make a connection!

TECHNIQUES FOR GENERATING IDEAS

3) Shift Perspective over the years, we build a certain type of perspective and this perspective yields a certain type of idea, you have to shift your perspective.
Get Someone Elses Perspective: Ask different people on what they would do when faced with the same challenge as yours. Approach anyone who might see things differently.

TECHNIQUES FOR GENERATING IDEAS

Play the If I were Game: Ask yourself If I werehow would I address the situation? You could be anyone. The person you would want to be has specific traits. Use these traits to address the challenge.
Millionaire flamboyant, big thinking and risk taker when formulating an idea

TECHNIQUES FOR GENERATING IDEAS

4) Employ Enablers they are activities and actions that assist with, rather than provoke idea generation. They create a positive atmosphere.
Belief in Yourself: Believe that your are creative, believe that ideas will come to you. Optimism will help you perform better.

TECHNIQUES FOR GENERATING IDEAS

Creative Loafing Time: Take naps, go for a walk, listen to music, take a break from generating ideas. Your mind needs a rest, and will come up with connections when you are not trying. Change of Environment: Sometimes changing the setting can change your thought process. Go to a coffee shop instead of your conference room.

TECHNIQUES FOR GENERATING IDEAS

Shutting Out Distractions: Keep your thinking space literally and mentally clutter-free. Close the door, turn off your phone and then think

Fun and Humor: An essential ingredient especially in team settings.

TECHNIQUES FOR GENERATING IDEAS

Key Points:
Ability to generate ideas is an essential work skill. You can acquire this skill by practicing techniques that will force your mind to forge new connections, break old thought patterns and consider new perspectives. Adopt enabling strategies. They can help create a positive atmosphere that can help boost your creativity.

OPPORTUNITY EVALUATION
In this step you must ask yourself Is there an opportunity worth investing in? An investment may mean the capital, whether from the individual or from outside investors. It can also be the time and energy of the people.

OPPORTUNITY EVALUATION
Opportunity exploitable set of circumstances with uncertain outcome, requiring commitment of resources and involving exposure to risks.

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/opportunity.html

OPPORTUNITY EVALUATION
Opportunity Recognition Opportunity Assessment
Opportunity Evaluation

OPPORTUNITY EVALUATION
Opportunity Recognition
People who are good at opportunity recognition will often look at situations and say, what if tomorrow, A + B = D? Then what? Opportunity recognizers think outside the box, stretch the limits, and are combinatorial in nontraditional ways.

OPPORTUNITY EVALUATION
While the opportunity recognition phase is crucial when beginning a new enterprise, it is important to seek new opportunities throughout the entire lifetime of any enterprise.
To stay ahead and on top of the market, companies must constantly recognize opportunity as they continue to grow and evolve.

OPPORTUNITY EVALUATION
Opportunity Assessment
In this stage, an entrepreneur must assess potential strategies and business models as well as conduct market and economic analyses in order to establish an answer to the question: Can I bring this idea to market in an economically successful way?

OPPORTUNITY EVALUATION
Construct a Business Plan that will answer the following questions: What is the market for my good or service? What does the market need and/or want? Who are my competitors? How will I create and sustain a competitive advantage? Is my product or service distinct and unique?

OPPORTUNITY EVALUATION
Opportunity Realization
It is time to take advantage of the situation and execute all of the great ideas and projections ascertained from the two prior phases. Implementing the plan is often not as simple as it seems. You are suddenly faced with a whole new set of questions: Is your business scalable? Does your team work well together?

OPPORTUNITY EVALUATION
In identifying business opportunities, some sources are often fruitful: consumers, business associates, distribution people and technical people. Often the consumers are the best source of ideas for a new venture. How many times have we heard someone say, If only there is a product that would this can result to creation of a business.

OPPORTUNITY EVALUATION
Many business executives can complain about a lack of things like lack of technical writing and word-processing services this can turn into a new business venture. In the distribution system, many entrepreneurs have identified business opportunities by talking to retailers wholesalers or representatives of manufacturers.

OPPORTUNITY EVALUATION
Technically oriented individuals conceptualize business opportunities working on other projects. can when

The evaluation of the opportunity is the most critical element of the entrepreneurial process, as it allows the entrepreneur to assess whether the specific product or service has the returns needed compared to the resources required.

OPPORTUNITY EVALUATION
Is there a opportunity? sufficiently attractive market

Is your proposed solution feasible, both from a market perspective and a technology perspective? Can we compete (over a sufficiently interesting time horizon): is there sustainable competitive advantage?

OPPORTUNITY EVALUATION
Do we have a team that can effectively capitalize of this opportunity? What is the risk / reward profile of this opportunity, and does it justify the investment of time and money?

PLANNING
Once you have decided on an opportunity, you will be needing a plan to capitalize on that opportunity. A plan can begin as a simple set of ideas, then becomes complex as a business takes shape. Create a strategy and operating plan.

COMPANY FORMATION/LAUNCH
Once there is a compelling opportunity and plan, the entrepreneurial team will go through the process of choosing the right form of corporate entity and creating the venture as a legal entity.

GROWTH
After the launch, the company works towards creating its product or service, generating revenue and moving toward sustainable performance. The emphasis shifts from planning to actual execution. You continually ask questions but you spend more time executing the plan.

Sources
http://www.dukeven.com/Home/entrepreneurship-overview---aframework http://sbaer.uca.edu/publications/entrepreneurship/pdf/01.pdf http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCT_88.htm http://sciencereview.berkeley.edu/3pieces_of_entrepreneurship/