Entrepreneurial Opportunities

Overview

Things to consider when reviewing an opportunity include: Selecting a venture Bringing ideas and marketing together Finding opportunities Making your venture unique

Selecting a Venture

Need to identify: The type of business you will start How you will start it

Two ways to set up a business: Idea-driven opportunity Market-driven opportunity

Idea-Driven Opportunity

A venture that starts as the result of an invention or an innovation

Invention A product or process that is a new idea;

something that has never been seen or made before

Innovation Using new technologies, materials or

processes to improve on existing products or on how they’re produced or distributed

Idea-Driven Opportunity continued

Can run into a problem with this type of opportunity

You may have a great idea, but what if the timing is wrong e.g. the market doesn’t want to buy it

Market-Driven Opportunity

A venture that starts with an idea about the market rather than about a product

Entrepreneur looks for a customer base first and then develops a product suitable to the market

Market-Driven Opportunity continued

Advantage You know the market wants the

product

Problem Do you have the expertise to design

and make the product?

Bringing Ideas & Marketing Together

No venture is ever purely idea-driven or market-driven

Need help with marketing (idea person) and ideas (marketing person)

Can either learn the skills yourself or hire someone

Must ensure venture is feasible Has the potential to succeed and has

reasonable goals

Finding Opportunities

Venture is feasible only when it solves a problem or satisfies a need or want

Must research what is not already available in the market

If a product or service is already available, you must be able to improve it through innovation

Options for investigating the market: Segment the current market Create a product or service map

Segmenting the Current Market

Market Segment Any part of an overall market that has common characteristics

Segments can be large or small Easier to determine what is available

in a market if segmentation is smaller Must identify what segment of the

market your product or service will fit into before launching your business

Product or Service Mapping

Product Mapping An activity that allows an

entrepreneur to visualize all products or services that are available in a particular segment and group them by specific features

Product or Service Mapping continued

Involves looking at sales statistics, product history and any other information available about the product or service

Based on the information, a product map is created

Map shows all characteristics that make the product or service popular

See page 342 of your textbook for an example

Making Your Venture Unique

Important to identify what will make your product or service different from others currently in the market

Need to set yourself apart so consumers will select your product or service instead of the competition