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Entrepreneurship & Small Business: Chapter 4: Discovering A Business Idea
Entrepreneurship & Small Business: Chapter 4: Discovering A Business Idea
Entrepreneurship & Small Business: Chapter 4: Discovering A Business Idea
ESB
Creativity & entrepreneurship
Creativity/
Innovation
Low STAGNATOR COPIER
Low High
Opportunity perception/
Entrepreneurship
Blocks to innovative thinking
Belief that there is only one solution
Example
Blocks to innovative thinking
Belief that there is only one solution
Tendency to be practical & logical
Tendency to think too narrowly & with too much
focus, to accept the ‘rules-of-the-game’ & the status
quo & not to question the premise on which a
problem is based (can you think ‘outside the box’?)
Reluctance to accept uncertainty & ambiguity
Unwillingness to appear foolish by suggesting
unconventional approaches or ideas
Unwillingness to take risks in looking at different
approaches or ideas
Lack of belief that you can be creative
Swarfega
How difficult is it to be as
creative as Williamson?
AULIVE creativity test
Typical: 62.48 You: 69.48
Complexity:
Ability to Perspective:
manipulate Ability to shift
large perspective on
quantities of a situation
information
Paradox: Curiosity: Desire to
Ability to work change things others
Boldness: Confidence
with contradictory see as the norm
to push boundaries
statements
beyond accepted
conventions
www.testmycreativity.com
AULIVE link
Connectivity
‘[Good ideas] come from crowds, from
networks… We have this clichéd idea of the
lone genius having the eureka moment ... in
fact … there is this quiet collaborative
process that goes on, either in people
building on other people’s ideas, but also in
borrowing ideas, or tools or approaches to
problems … The ultimate idea comes from
this remixing of various different components
… for the most part it’s a slower & more
networked process’
Johnson, 2010
RSA video
OnMobile
INNOVATION
customers seemingly
3. Questioning unrelated =
common wisdom – things -
asking why? & why connectivity
not?
4. Experimenting -
trying things out
Networking:
Exposure to diverse influences, ideas & people
Observing Questioning Experimenting
Curiosity Connectivity
Associating
Incubation
Incremental
product/service Incremental
innovation innovation
Market
Existing Market
product/service Copy-cat paradigm
expansion
shift
Developments in technology
Improvements in design or functionality
– doing things better
Improvements in efficiency – doing
things cheaper
New combinations of marketing mix –
e.g. ways of getting things to markets
Radical innovation
New inventions & technologies
New business models
New markets
Sea changes in market sentiment or
behaviour (e.g. CSR)
Changes in laws or regulations (e.g. Health &
Safety)
Unthinkable events arising from both the
known & unknown factors that are
difficult or impossible to plan for
Sectoral conventions
Performance conventions
Customer conventions
Chaston
Challenging conventions
Generate new ideas: Do not always accept the ‘dominant
logic’ of how to do things – market conventions
Prototype development: Explore alternative business models
that might add value for customers
Storytelling: Be able to articulate the concept behind the
product/service and how it creates value for customers
Customer insights: Develop a deep understanding of
customer needs, even if they are not always derived directly
from the customers themselves
Scenario development: Building on customer insights &
future development in the competitive environment
Visual thinking: Draw or sketch out the business model & use
Post-it notes to explain it
The unexpected
Incongruity
Inadequacy in underlying processes
Changes in industry or market structure
Demographic changes
Changes in perception, mood & meaning
New knowledge
Drucker, 1985
Opportunity – the value chain
PRIMARY ACTIVITIES
Inbound Operations Outbound Marketing &
Service
logistics logistics sales
SUPPORT ACTIVITIES
Firm infrastructure
Human resource management
Technology development
Procurement
Bloom & Wild
Concept
TutorVista
Concept
Techniques for exploring change
Political
Brainstorming Economic
Social
PESTEL analysis Technological
Economic
Legal
Futures thinking
Mind maps
The Million Dollar Homepage
Homepage
Spotting an opportunity out of change
Business
idea
Duplays
Interview
Exploring existing products
Subtraction Attribute dependency
Subtracting product features Correlating two or more
not valued by some market apparently unrelated
segments attributes
Division
Dividing out
the functions
of a product
Task
Multiplication unification
Duplicating some Bringing together
product feature or multiple tasks into
characteristic one product
Coyne
Exploring existing products
Analogy
Attribute analysis
Spotting an opportunity out of
inadequate existing products
List attributes of product/service
Business
idea
Exploring existing products
Business
idea
Nikwax
Market need
Practicality
Butter Stick Teleport
Innovation
1. Analyse opportunities, internally &
externally. Innovate for NOW - timing is
everything
2. Innovation is conceptual & perceptual, so
look at financial implications & analyse
whether it meets the opportunity
3. Keep innovation simple - KISS!
4. Start small, take an incremental approach
5. Think long-term - aim at market leadership
& dominate the competition as soon as
possible
Peter Drucker
Maggie’s Centres
Concept
Nuffnang
Concept
15 characteristics of a good business idea
1. Identified market need/gap
2. No or few competitors
3. Growing market
4. Identified customers & a viable business model
5. Low funding requirements
6. Sustainable
7. High profit margins
8. Effective communications strategy
9. Not easily copied
10. Identifiable risks that can be monitored & mitigated
11. Low fixed costs
12. Controllable
13. Management skills that can be leveraged
14. Scalable
15. Financeable
Streetcar
Concept