SEARCH FOR BUSINESS
OPPORTUNITY,IDEATION,
INNOVATION,AND CREATIVITY
Introduction
There are many business opportunities for an individual with a
creative mind. All business starts with an idea, and it is said that creativity,
through innovativeness and the capacity of bringing something new in the
market, spells the difference between a traditional businessman and an
entrepreneur.
A smart entrepreneur may decide to have a small or large business,
but it is important to follow the process of identifying and evaluating the
various options in generating ideas that can be transformed into a
profitable business endeavor.
Objectives
• discuss entrepreneurial activities in search of business opportunities
• describe the concept of ideation, innovation, and creativity
• discuss the factors to consider in evaluating the business potential of an idea
How to search for business opportunity?
In selecting a business, option should not be based on luck and Immature thinking, but on a
Thorough evaluation and systematic process. Start by developing long and short lists of potential
Business opportunities. Likewise, the resources, skills, and technology available in the community
are to be Evaluated if these are not fully or efficiently utilized.
What are the factors on resources have to be evaluated in discovering business opportunities?
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Markets
Individual interest
Capital
Skills
Suppliers of inputs
Manpower
Technology
Other opportunity-seeking processes that can guide a prospective entrepreneur as to what
Kind of business to establish are as follows:
1.Look at other successful businesses/entrepreneurs.
2.Respond to a problem area.
3.Home-Based Business Option.
4.Linkage of Resources.
What are the steps in market research?
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Defining the problem
Making a preliminary investigation
Planning the research
Gathering the data
Analyzing the data
Reaching a conclusion
Implementation and evaluating decision
What are the stages of product life cycle?
• Introduction.
• Growth.
• Maturity.
• Decline.
Venturing into a business project demands a timely
and clear decision as to which area or business
concern to deal with. In the selection process, one has
to begin with choosing or focusing on a particular
business by category or sector.
THE SERVICE-BASED BUSINESS
• Common examples of service-based businesses are consultancy, barber
shops, repair shops, beauty parlors, care giving, designing works,
renderingprofessional services, such as engineers, dentistry, medical doctor
and others where there is no need to manufacture something.
TRADING OR PRODUCT-BASED
BUSINESS
• This is a buy-and-sell transaction that can happen in your storehouse,
showroom, or any otherstructureless environment. Selling involves a lot of
costumer contact and requires a great deal of persistence on the
entrepreneurs' part. An example of this is putting up a grocery store, bakery
products, or general construction materials.
MANUFACTURING BUSINESS
• This is a manufacturing or production-based business by creating a product.
Manufacturing can be as simple as creating hand-painted T-shirts or
ceramic vases and now, the most popular is candle making, which can be
done in your home.
LICENSED BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
• If you find some difficulties in launching a product or service, it is a good
idea to look for licensed business opportunities. Franchising is a business
format somehow very similar to licensed business operations.
DISTRIBUTORSHIP
• This is where an independent entrepreneur, company, or individual enters
into an agreement or contract to offer, sell, or distribute a particular product,
but is not entitled to use the manufacturer's trade name as part of its own
trade name. In our country, distributor represents foreign companies who
can sell products to dealers strategically. Located all over the country.
RACK JOBBER
• This involves an agent or buyer entering an agreement with a parent
company to market its good to various stores by means of strategically
located strore racks.
WHOLESALERS
• These sell the product of manufacturers or producers to retailers and other
distributors who have direct dealings with the end users or costumers.
SUBCONTRACTING
• This is a familiar form of business format in the garments sector, as well as the
shoe industry. Thid involves signing up an arrangement with a major
producer to complete a set of product components on pre-agreed price.
VENDING MACHINES ROUTES
• These are placed or locations. The entrepreneur needs to have substancial
capital outlay as he had to pay for the vending machine, including the
stocks to be vended.
WHAT IS IDEATION?
• Ideation is the creative process of generating, developing, and
communicating new ideas, where an idea is understood as a basic element
of thought that can be either visual, concrete, or abstract. Ideation
comprises all stages of a thought cycle, from innovation, development, to
actualization.
WHICH COULD FALL IN ANY OF THE
FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:
a. Need/want drives
b. Time-saving drives
c. Money savings
d. Unique or incorporating strong competitive advantages
e. Link to personal interest, preferably passion
THE MOST COMMON WAY OF
DEVELOPING IDEAS IS AS FOLLOWS:
• Recognizing the need. Develop an idea or a product that can satisfy a need,
and respond to the need by establishing a business concern.
• Improving an existing product. The result of consumer dissatisfaction to the
existing product could open the door to introduce innovations or
improvements.
• Recognize trends. Entrepreneurs should be able to recognize the opportunity
to develop a product and set trends that can make them lending
entrepreneurs.
• Be aware of everything. There is no other way to know about what is
happening around you, but to research and read.
• Questions and assumptions. Anybody can question the relevance or quality
of any product or services, provided, that there is an effort to improve the
product.
• Naming it first, then, develop it. If you have the idea, study it and develop it
to something that is worth a business.
THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME TIPS IN
EVALUATING IDEAS:
a. Do not let your idea follow money, let money follow your ideas. If the idea is
clear and viable, there should be clear options for the business out of the idea.
b. See yourself as a problem solver. Ideas should be a solution to an existing
problem of the consumer or the market in general.
c. Use research as a weapon against failure. This is an important fact in
decision-making process; most business failed because of lack of information.
d. Make sure your idea has longevity. An idea that is worth pursuing into a
business is one which has a long-term purpose and not only a fad.
e. Take a risk on your ideas. Venture into a business by using your own ideas.
f. Test your idea against the past, present, and future. The market needs and
demands will not be far from what is happening in the past, so it is better to get
information about the past, present, and future.
g. Know the Idiosyncrasies of your market. Know the needs of your market and
all the factors that affect the buying process. Your idea will depend on this.
THE FOLLOWING ARE THE WAYS OF
PROTECTING YOUR IDEAS:
a. Confidentially Agreements. It specifically provides that a signer will not
share the idea to anyone. This is a typical agreement or contract where one
should ask advise to a patents attorney or those with experience and
expertise in the intellectual property rights.
b. Patents. These gives the inventor exclusive legal rights to exclude anyone
else from manufacturing, selling, importing, or using an invention during the life
of the patent. The three general classifications are: utility, and plants patents.
c. Trademarks. This is a word, name, symbol, or advice used by manufacturers
on merchants to identify their goods and distinguish them from others sold in
the market. This should be sed in conjunction with a business or a product,
otherwise, this will not be granted.
d. Copyrights. A copyright protect the creative works of composers,
authors/writters; artists, and others. This is the easiest form of protection for
intellectual property.
ENTREPRENEURIAL CREATIVITY
Creativity, innovation and entrepreneurs are inseparable.
Creativity is an essential part of innovativeness, the starting
point of a process, which is skillfully managed, and brings
an idea into innovation. It is considered as a characteristic
that is innate or inherent to every individual, but the social
environment can influence both the level and frequency of
creative behavior. It is important to understand the role the
environment can play.
ENVIRONMENTAL STIMULANTS TO
CREATIVITY
a.
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d.
e.
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Freedom
Good Project Management
Sufficient Resources
Encouragement
Various Organizational Characteristics
Recognition
Sufficient Time
Challenge
Pressure
Outside Organization
THE CONCEPT OF INNOVATION
Innovation is doing something different. It could be
introducing something either new or different. Innovativeness
is a characteristic of an individual, team, or organization. This
is also the capacity to create new ideas and develop them to
usable product or services.
IMPACTS OF INNOVATION
Efforts on innovation must have impacts— positive impacts. It
must have a positive implication that is supportive of
organizational goals and objectives.
The innovative accomplishment exists if the following
happens:
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Effecting a new policy
Finding new opportunities
Designing a new structure
Devising a fresh method
Within the organization, the orientation toward
innovation must come primarily from the higher level
of management. The elements of innovation
orientation are as follows:
a. Value placed on creativity and innovation in general;
b. An orientation towards risks;
c. A sense of pride in the organization and its members, and
the enthusiasm about what they are capable of doing; and
d. An offensive strategy of taking the lead towards the future.