IDEA GENERATION:

Sources of Business
Opportunities
Change as a Source of Opportunity
 Status-quo is good for incumbent players (established
companies) – they have products or services, smooth
operations, established business models, loyal set of
customers, functional teams ……

 Change brings in disruption – that in consumer tastes,

cost structures, business models, expectations, level of
expertise needed, distribution channels, payment
mechanisms, availability of finance

 Change produces a level-playing field which is actually

loaded in favour of a new player because of his flexibility,
adaptiveness
Examples of Entrepreneurs
Exploiting Change
 Japanese car manufacturers (1973)

 Microsoft (1976-78)

 Amazon and Dell (1990s)

 Infosys (1989)
Broad Categories of Change
 Demographic – whole population (age distribution)

 Economic – Emerging markets

 Socio-Cultural -- Value systems, role models

 Technological -- Variety, performance, cost

 Political – democratic, authoritarian/totalitarian regimes.

Free market vs socialistic policies (Britain in early
1980’s)

 Legal and Regulatory -- liberalization (internal and

external), enforcement of IP protection laws
Demographic Changes
 Median age

 Working population as the % of total population

 Life expectancy

 Healthcare and Social Security Needs

 Urban-Rural Ratio

 Literacy

 Male-Female ratio
Socio-Cultural Changes
 Value systems -- globalization and local assertions
 Accepted norms of behaviour
 Role of religion and spirituality
 Pursuit of expertise, knowledge, wealth,
possessions
 Aspirations, fears, desires, anxieties
 Measure of “time” – attention span, priorities,
conveniences
Technological Changes
 Availability and wide-spread assimilation of
technology
 Information Technology and it pervasiveness
 Costs and disposable incomes
 Performance, variety, ease of acquisition
 Cross applications – interdisciplinary developments
 Comfort level of technology usage
 Examples: CD ROM drives and mobile phones
Economic Changes
 Gross Domestic Product and Per Capita Income
 Level of exports and imports
 Inflation and interest rates
 Availability of credit at all levels
 Size of the middle class
 Various growth rates – industrial growth, productivity
growth, exports growth
 Level of unemployment
Political and Regulatory Changes
 Transition from centrally planned to market
economy (India, 1991)
 Transition from communism to “market socialism”
(China, 1978-1980)
 Regulated, protected, closed economy
 No IPRs (copyrights, patent laws)
 Contract Enforcement and right to property
 Labour and land reforms
India in the New Millennium
 “Young” country with rising literacy and prosperity
 GDP growth rate of 7-8 % per annum
 Growing middle class
 Liberal, business like values, pursuit of wealth
 High unemployment, imbalance in the
development
India in the New Millennium
 Passages of IP laws (new patent regime)
 Respect in the global community (functional
democracy)
 Atmosphere conducive to business -- no
xenophobia, no insularity, no misplaced importance
to “self-reliance”
 Well developed “Institutions” – judiciary, capital
markets, stock exchanges, media (free and
independent), educational institutions, regulatory
bodies (SEBI, FDA, ISI)
Analysis of Existing Entrepreneurs
 Truly new, novel and innovative ideas: 3-4%

 Rest 96%
 Enhancement -- improvement / refinement of
features – cheaper, better, faster, more user-friendly
 Extension to features
 Specialization -- niche’ creation
Enhancement, Extensions and
Specializations

Enhancements Extensions

Specialization
Examples of Enhancement
 DOS to Windows
 Mechanical watch to quartz watch
 Modem to ADSL modem
 Ordinary TV to a flat screen TV
 Desktop PC to a laptop PC to a tablet PC
 Propeller engine to a jet engine
Most industrial innovations
Examples of Extensions
 Toothbrush with a built in toothpaste
 Pen with a torchlight
 Mobile handset with camera, FM radio,MP3
player ….
 Memory sticks with MP3 players
 Wristwatch with a calculator
 Cinema Multiplexes
 Day care centers (crèche) with tuitions
 Swiss army knife
Examples of Specialization
 Low cost airlines (Ryanair, Easyjet, Air Deccan)
 Boutique financial advisory services
 Super-specialty hospitals
 Finishing schools
 Executive search firms (CxOs only, finance
professionals only)
Possible Service Opportunities
 Schools
 Restaurants
 Travel agency and tour operators
 Pet shops
 Bookshops
 Gyms / weight loss clinics
 Oxygen bars
Questions?

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