Business Ideas and Opportunities

• Opportunities can exist on paper or as ideas.
• They are often related to experiences, hobbies, or social environment.
• Opportunities can be found in many ways and places.
• Many people see them, but only entrepreneurs act on them.
• A business idea is a concept that results in profits when turned into a tangible product or service.
• An opportunity can be defined as the potential to create something new that involves change in knowledge, technology, economy, politics, social or demographic conditions.

Sources of Business Ideas and Opportunities

• Primary sources refer to first-hand data or information gathered directly through observations, experiments, interviews, and surveys.
• Observation involves gathering data by observing and recording a respondent's actions.
• Experiments involve product sampling as another option.
• Interviews encompass field research with customers, suppliers, competitors, and industry experts.
• Surveys refer to developing a specific, short questionnaire regarding the targeted product.
• Secondary sources involve gathering data that has already been compiled and is available.
• Initially conducted for one purpose, using existing reliable data, available references, and mass/electronic media.
• Reliable existing data can be obtained from company annual reports.
• References can be published information from libraries or the internet.
• Mass media and electronic media, such as newspapers, magazines, and the internet, contain advertisements and other information.
• Information on raw materials can be a business opportunity.

Processing and Analyzing Business Opportunities

• Necessary to determine if a venture can make a profit and sustain competitiveness.
• Each opportunity must be carefully screened and evaluated to determine viability.
• Evaluation is the most crucial element in the entrepreneurship process.

Recognizing, Analyzing, and Choosing a Business Opportunity

• The process involves recognizing customer needs and wants.
• Analyzing the environment, including demographics, local resources, government policies, import/export data, industrial linkages, development projects, technology, and mass media.
• Performing self-assessment about experience, knowledge, skills, financial ability, interest, and networking.
• Screening or choosing business opportunities based on various factors.
• Matching societal values or community acceptance.
• Preparing or constructing a business plan.

Recognizing Customer Needs and Wants

• An entrepreneur needs to be sensitive when identifying these needs and wants.
• A need is something basic in life.
• Wants are those things more than a basic need.

Choosing a Business Opportunity

• Criteria for an entrepreneur to choose a business opportunity include legality, competitors, capital requirement, and risk.
• Legality is a business idea that must be proven by the law.
• Competitors are those in the same business who could potentially serve the entrepreneur's customers.
• An entrepreneur can identify competitors by asking customers of an existing business or identifying competitor strengths and weaknesses.
• Capital requirement means the amount invested in the company.
• The three types of capital are fixed/permanent, working, and plantation/growth capital.
• Fixed capital is used to buy the asset of the company.
• Working capital often known as operating capital, supports business operations and pays bills/salaries.
• Plantation/growth capital is unrelated to the current business situation but can help small businesses change direction.
• Risk is defined as uncertainty that may lead to failure.
• An entrepreneur should be aware of business risks.

Risks

• Risks can be based on difficulties entering the field, the capital needed, profit potential, workforce competency, energy resource management, or the product's market penetration.
• Needs of the community, resources, skills, interests, and market are key factors.
• Also supplies, manpower, and techonology.