OPPORTUNITIES, IDEAS AND THE ENTERPRISING WORK ENVIRONMENT BDP301

IDEAS AND OPPORTUNITY It is possible to predict what people will do in the future by looking at trends TREND: A pattern or direction in the way something is changing What trends do you notice at school? How do they change over the years? People often confuse entrepreneurial opportunities with ideas An idea may come up during a conversation, a weekend away or while sitting in class An opportunity comes when you pursue your idea and present it successfully to move your idea forward

WHICH COMES FIRST? OPPORTUNITY OR IDEAS? Market-Pulled Entrepreneurship: An entrepreneur may identify a problem, see an opportunity, then come up with an idea to take advantage of the situation. E.g. Stryker Canada- noticed a need for better implementation of practices relating to health care, created a business that addresses this problem. In 2013, their yearly revenue was over 9 billion dollars Product-Driven Entrepreneurship: (also called service-driven entrepreneurship) Refers to the process of coming up with the idea first, then looking for a marketing opportunity. E.g. you have the best recipe for chocolate chip cookies, and you need to determine if there is a market and opportunity to support new cookie ideas.

HOW DO I FIND AN OPPORTUNITY? For an entrepreneur, each idea must be evaluated to determine which needs and wants it can satisfy Successful entrepreneurs and enterprising people look for opportunities in a systematic way Look for them: where population is changing, where knowledge and technology are advancing, or where people are struggling with a problem. We know how quickly things are changing, so opportunities are being created at an unprecedented rate. A lot of people see an opportunity, but only enterprising people act on them

HOW DOES TECHNOLOGY CHANGE PRODUCTS WE USE EVERYDAY? In the 1900sIn the 1950sIn the 1990sIn 2025? corsetsgirdlespantyhose? wax cylinder records for a gramophone Vinyl recordsCDs -> MP3s? Wood stovesElectric/gas stovesMicrowaves/convecti on ovens ? By identifying wants/needs in changing markets and changes in technology, new products and ideas are created.

AN INTERESTING THOUGHT “Opportunities are never lost. Someone will take the one you miss” -anonymous

ASSIGNMENT Consider your personal world or community Describe three opportunities you can see for market pulled entrepreneurship remember, this is when a problem exists and you can create a product/idea to solve that problem). Explain what the market-need is, and how an entrepreneur could satisfy it. Some examples that already exist: hybrid/electric cars (help solve the problem or high gas prices and tolls on the environment), magnetic key boxes (were created to alleviate the problem of people locking their keys in their car).