Opportunity Seeking, Screening, And Seizing
Opportunity Seeking
Entrepreneurs are innovative opportunity seekers. They have endless curiosity to discover new or different ideas and see whether these ideas will work in the marketplace.
Entrepreneurs create value by introducing new products or services or finding better ways of making them. These may include innovation in terms of product design or addition of new product features to existing ones.
Techniques on Seeking, Screening, and Seizing Opportunities
Essential to an entrepreneur's opportunity seeking are theentrepreneurial mind frame,heart flame, andgut game. If there is one commonality between an inventor and an entrepreneur, it is their surging passion or theentrepreneurial heart flame. Driven by passion, they are drawn to find fulfillment in the act and process of discovery. The final ingredient is theentrepreneurial gut game. This refers to the ability of the entrepreneur to sense without using the five senses. This is also known as intuition. Somehow, the entrepreneur just knows whether something will work or not without necessitating logical, systematic, and sequential thinking. The gut game also connotes courage. It is simply confidence in one's self and the firm belief that everything is within reach so long as you aspire for it.
Theentrepreneurial mind frameallows the entrepreneur to see things in a very positive and optimistic light in the midst of crisis or difficult situations. Instead of being discouraged, the entrepreneur is able to use these problematic situations as inspiration in creating something innovative.
The Environment of the Entrepreneurial Venture The business does not operate in a test tube or cylinder but in an environment that consists of three layers: The Many Sources of Opportunities Macro Environmental Sources of Opportunities 5 Categories of Macro Environment 1. Socio-Cultural Environment 2. Political Environment 3. Economic Environment 4. Ecological Environment The threats of ecological degradation have generated countless opportunities such as smoke and spill detectors, filters and screens, pollution counters, and energy-saving devices. Opportunities abound for greener, cleaner, and healthier products, whose objectives are to save the planet and prolong lives. 5. Technological Environment
1. Physical environment
a. climate - refers to the climatic/weather condition in a particular region where the business will be established.
b. physical resources - refers to the raw materials of the product.
c. wildlife - refers to the wild plants and animals.
2. Societal environment/Macro environment
a. Social forces and Cultural forces/Socio-cultural environment
b. Political forces and Legal forces/Political environment
c. Economic forces
d. Ecological forces
e. Technological forces
3. Industry environment/Micro environment
a. Government - refers to the system or institution that handles the affairs of a particular country.
b. Suppliers - refer to individual persons or companies that provide the required materials, parts, or services to the business.
c. Customers - buyers of goods or services produced or rendered by the business.
d. Competitors - forces existing in the industry environment that produce, sell, or render products or services which are similar to those of the business.(Third Telco operator)
- Direct competitors - produce and sell similar products or services
- Indirect competitors - produce and sell substitute products
e. Employees - the workers of the business who are highly responsible for the production of goods or delivery of services to the consumers.
f. Creditors - refers to banks, financial institutions, and financial intermediaries engaged in the lending of money to the borrower usually for a fee or charge in the form of interest.
There are many ways to uncover or discover opportunities. Some have to do with looking at the big picture and noticing emerging trends and patterns. Others have to do with finding out what specific customer segments are being targeted in the marketplace. Still, others come from new technologies and new knowledge.
The macro environment refers to the "big or macro forces" that affect the area, the industry, and the market, which the enterprise belongs to. They influence how business should be conducted, how consumers will behave, how supply and demand will move, how different competitors would position themselves, and how the cost of doing business will proceed.
The macro environment forces create their own opportunities for the enterprise to exploit, and their own threats for the enterprise to counteract.
includes the demographics and cultural dimensions that govern the relevant entrepreneurial endeavor. Taking this aspect into consideration helps the entrepreneur assess the trends and dynamics of the bigger consumer population, their beliefs, tastes, customs, and traditions. It looks at social structure and shifts in social status and behavior.
defines the governance system of the country or the local area of business. It includes all laws, rules and regulations that govern business practices as well as the permits, approvals, and licenses necessary to operate the business.
Specifically, it regulates the use of natural resources; disposal of wastes; the taxation of income; the importation of goods and services; and other such concerns. It includes the establishment of vital infrastructures, logistical access, and interventions that affect the cost of doing business.
These factors are important influencers in evaluating the attractiveness of any political domain where the entrepreneur intends to locate and do business in.
Supply and demand forces mainly drive the macro economic environment. They are the same factors that drive the interest and the foreign exchange rates that fluctuate with the movement of the market forces.
In any country, the income levels and the purchasing power of the people as well as the competitiveness (or uncompetitiveness) of its industries and enterprises are sources of opportunities.
includes all natural resources and the ecosystem, habitat of men, animals, plants, and minerals. There is a growing awareness in the world today that will make this factor more and more important for countries, industries, and businesses.
New scientific and technological discoveries, which often lead to the launch and commercialization of new products with superior attributes or to rendering the old ones obsolete, are the entrepreneur's nightmares. In such cases, the entrepreneur is left with no choice but to invest in new technologies in order to keep up with competition. Technology does not only come in the form of advanced machinery or equipment, but it can also be in the form of new systems, new processes, or new products.
Examples of Opportunities and Threats that are present within the Macro Environment of a Fast-Growing Fast Food Chain
Factors 1. Social
2. Political
3. Economic
4. Ecological
5. Technological
| Opportunities to the Enterprise
| Threats to the Enterprise
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- a free app or website that will help people with disabilities navigate public spaces and find safe reliable services and employment opportunities
Industry Sources of Opportunities Participants in an industry include: Market Sources of Opportunities Micro Market Market
After the macro environment, the next biggest sources of opportunities are the industry and the market.
1. Rivals or competitors in a particular type of business (e.g., Jollibee vs. McDonald's, Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi, Samsung Galaxy vs. Apple's iPhone, etc.)
True rivals or competitors are those competing for the same or similar markets.
2. Suppliers of input (e.g., fuel, electricity, raw materials) to rivals as well as suppliers of machinery and equipment, suppliers of manpower and expertise, and suppliers of merchandise.
3 Consumer market segments being served by rivals or competitors.
4. Substitute products or services, which customers shift or turn to.
5. All other support and enabling industries.
represents the immediate target consumers of the business or the customers residing or holding office near the location of the business.
refers to the bigger market out there which the entrepreneur can exploit in the near or far future. If the business is successful, the entrepreneur could think of opening branches in other locations, regions and provinces in the Philippines.
