Chapter 2: Creativity and Generating New Business Ideas PDF

Chapter 2 Creativity and generating new business ideas Learning outcomes Describe creativity and how it reveals itself in individuals Understand the myths surrounding creativity, as well as the reality about these myths Identify the barriers to creativity and how they can be overcome Und...

Chapter 2 Creativity and generating new business ideas Learning outcomes Describe creativity and how it reveals itself in individuals Understand the myths surrounding creativity, as well as the reality about these myths Identify the barriers to creativity and how they can be overcome Understand the creative process and its development, and describe the entrepreneurial creative process Identify and make use of the resources for identifying a new product or service idea Understand the need to screen business ideas and opportunities 2.1 Creativity Creativity is: the ability to see the world in new ways find hidden patterns make connections between seemingly disparate things, and generate new ideas and solutions to problems Kaur (2022) 2.1 Creativity (cont.) 2.1.1 Creativity defined There are many different definitions of creativity as it is difficult to define Common descriptions all share the following aspects: Looking at things differently Implementation of an idea by making it a reality Addressing a gap such as a problem or an unmet need Creativity is the process of developing and implementing ideas that are both novel and useful and address a gap in the market 2.1 Creativity (cont.) 2.1.2 Addressing the market gap Techniques that entrepreneurs can use to address the market gap: Defining or identifying the need using analytical methods to ensure precise identification of the problem or need and identifying a response to the need Transforming problems into opportunities that will help the entrepreneur to look at the problem or gap as an opportunity that can be addressed Breaking down any prior assumptions and making new connections for new ideas Strategic assessment where possible future outcomes must be predicted and all possible outcomes should be identified Strategic assessment to predict future outcomes Entrepreneurs should use not only logic but intuition too 2.2 Myths and realities surrounding creativity and entrepreneurship Myth 1: Creativity is limited to a small number of people Myth 2: Only creative people have good ideas Myth 3: Creative people are born that way Myth 4: Analytical thought and creative thought are fundamentally different Myth 5: Money is a creativity motivator Myth 6: There is no business without a unique idea Myth 7: Entrepreneurs are high-tech wizards Myth 8: Entrepreneurs are risk-takers Myth 9: Entrepreneurs do not have a boss Myth 10: Entrepreneurs need to know everything 2.3 Barriers to creativity Barrier 1: Fear of failure Barrier 2: Negative beliefs and habits Barrier 3: Making assumptions Barrier 4: Following rules Barrier 5: Environment not open to risk Barrier 6: Lack of financial support Barrier 7: Cultural barriers These barriers can all be overcome using specific strategies 2.4 The creative process (cont.) 2.4.2 The entrepreneurial creative process Preparation Information gathering Idea generation Evaluation of ideas Implementation Experimentation 2.5 Sources of product or service ideas Look for an idea, an opportunity, where the next frontiers lie, the process of evaluation Sources of product and/or service ideas: Personal skills, passions, imagination and talents Hobbies and interests Talking to family, friends, or shoppers Current or previous experiences Government assistance services for small businesses Mass media Keeping up with current events and being ready to take advantage of business opportunities Visits to trade shows and exhibitions The internet and online research Identifying gaps in the market for new or improved products and services Libraries Creative thinking 2.6 Methods for generating new product or service ideas 2.6.1 Accumulation of knowledge: Read extensively, investigate possible business opportunities in different areas, travel to new places to experience different environments 2.6.2 Observation Observe the environment and its events, products and services to generate viable business ideas Visit successful businesses in neighbouring suburbs, cities or towns to determine whether you could replicate any component of the enterprise Consider products or services that have been successful in the past and which may have become obsolete 2.6.3 Brainstorming Use this group technique to involve two or more people in the generation of ideas 2.6 Methods for generating new product or service ideas (cont.) 2.6.4 Nominal group technique Used during the decision-making process as a method to generate and prioritise ideas Can be used to provide solutions for groups of various sizes allowing all opinions to be taken into account 2.6.5 Delphi technique Similar to the nominal group technique, but not all members need to be physically present Uses carefully designed questionnaires in each step, then collects and collates the information gathered 2.6.6 The incubation of ideas Creating an environment where subconscious thoughts are allowed to develop into creative ideas is a form of idea incubation By keeping yourself occupied with activities totally unrelated to the subject, an idea could potentially develop 2.7 Initial screening of ideas Do a detailed follow-up of the ideas generated to screen and identify the good and bad features of each alternative Purpose: To exclude ideas that will not have any chance of success and allow only those ideas that have some element of viability and marketability through to the final evaluation Categorise potential ideas and opportunities according to: Perception of desirability Perception of feasibility Propensity to act Entrepreneurial ideas that pass the initial screening have innovation at the core and have proved theoretically to provide a competitive position Next step: Idea evaluation to refine the idea enough to get it to run smoothly in real-life situations