Method for Generation business ideas
1.
Meet new people.
Seriously. Go out and meet new people to get out of your
idea rut. Talking to new people who not only don’t think like you but who don’t
know how you think can help freshen up your brainstorming process. Go to
networking and learning events, talk to people outside your
industry and/or strike up a conversation with your existing
customers.
2. Keep a “pain point” journal.
Successful companies all have one
thing in common: they solve a problem. Companies like Google, Netflix and Uber
solved specific pain points in their marketplace and went on to achieve great
things.
3.
Tap into your interests.
The famous restaurant and travel guide Zagat is an often cited example of finding a
business in something you love. The founders of Zagat, Tim and Nina Zagat, were
lawyers who loved to eat out at restaurants. In 1979, they started a newsletter
asking their friends to rate restaurants. As the newsletter got bigger every
year, they began charging money for their work. In 2011, the company was bought
by Google.
4.
Explore new ways of thinking.
New methodologies and ways of thinking are constantly
evolving and some industries are better at embracing them than others.
Take design thinking for example. Design thinking is a mindset and a methodology used
to better understand problems and implement creative solutions,
articulated first by David Kelley, co-founder of the
design firm IDEO. The company has designed products for iconic
brands such as Apple, Steelcase and Oral-B. Read up on alternative
methodologies and learning methods and apply them to your pain points journal.
Or, apply to an alternative learning program such as Studio [Y] if
you’re at an inflection point and need a reboot, or explore entrepreneurial
thinking resources for a
new learning style.
5.
Travel.
There’s a whole big world out there of great ideas that
aren’t yet in your market. If you see an idea you love in your travels, you can
take it back home and give it a new spin that specifically addresses
the needs of your market or community. Even if you don’t find inspiration,
traveling will help take you out of your surroundings and refresh your
system. There’s also places around the world that have ideas waiting to be
commercialized, such as in universities that have technology transfer offices.
Take an existing idea and launch it to market.
6.
Go online.
Don’t waste your time looking at cat videos online.
Fine, don’t waste all of
your time looking at cat videos online. Look up entrepreneurship and industry
related communities. Go on Twitter and search relevant hashtags to
see what people are talking about. For example, if you’re interested in social
finance and social innovation, consider hashtags such as #impinv (impact
investing), #socfin (social finance), #socinn (social innovation), #susty
(sustainability), #socent (social entrepreneur or social enterprise) and
#csr (corporate social responsibility). You might learn about new niche
fields, networking opportunities or other topics that might spark
something. Become a student of your industry and entrepreneurship.
7.
Do your market research.
So you have a potential inkling of an idea but
aren’t sure if it really has any potential. Research the market to
see what’s out there and where your idea could fit in. Besides your standard
online search and library stop, there’s tons of resources out there to help you
along. For example, MaRS Market Intelligence provides Ontario entrepreneurs with access to
current, relevant and timely information about your industries, competitors,
markets, potential investors and partners, intellectual property and best
business practices at no cost.
Methods
of Generating New Ideas for Entrepreneurs
Even
with a wide variety of sources available, coming up with an idea as the basis
for a new venture can still be a difficult problem. The entrepreneur can use
several methods to help generate and test new ideas including focus groups,
brainstorming and problem inventory analysis.
The
following are some of the key methods to help generate end test new ideas:
1. Focus Groups : these are the groups of individuals
providing information in a structural format. A moderator leads a group of
people through an open, in-depth discussion rather than simply asking questions
to solicit participant response. Such groups form comments in open-end in-depth
discussions for a new product area that can result in market success. In
addition to generating new ideas, the focus group is an excellent source for
initially screening ideas and concept.
2. Brainstorming : it is a group method for obtaining
new ideas and solutions. It is based on the fact that people can be stimulated
to greater creativity by meeting with others and participating in organized
group experiences. The characteristics of this method are keeping criticism
away; free wheeling of idea, high quantity of ideas, combinations and
improvements of ideas. Such type of session should be fun with no scope for
domination and inhibition. Brainstorming has a greater probability of success
when the effort focuses on specific product or market area.
3. Problem inventory analysis: it is a method for obtaining new
ideas and solutions by focusing on problems. This analysis uses individuals in
a manner that is analogous to focus groups to generate new product areas.
However, instead of generating new ideas, the consumers are provided with list
of problems and then asked to have discussion over it and it ultimately results
in an entirely new product idea.
The
entrepreneur is not limited by only the three methods presented. There are
other creative problem solving methods and techniques that are also available.
Fresh Ways to Find a Business Idea
One of the best ways to generate a consistent flow of new
ideas is to approach it from as many different angles.
Scratch your Own
Itch
1.
Create a solution for something that you find really annoying or painful in your
life.
2.
Create a better
solution for something that you do every day e.g. make the process more efficient, less expensive or more
enjoyable.
Solve a Problem
for a Niche Audience
3. Build an email
list around a niche topic and survey them about their
biggest challenges about it.
4. Analyse the activity in niche forums and on platforms like
Quora and Reddit etc to discover the pain points and
desires of niche groups.
Discover Business
Ideas in your Corporate Job
5. Look at the internal processes of the company you are working for
(Human Resources, Finance & Accounting, Marketing, Management, Sales,
etc.): What are processes that could be made more
efficient? How could they be improved with the use of technology?
6. Look at the people working with you: How could they
get better at what they do? How could they be happier at what they do so the
company can keep their best-performing employees?
7. Look for improvement
potential of the company’s core service. How could its product
or service be made better, cheaper or more efficient? Think of out-of-the-box
ways that the big companies are missing as well as business ideas that benefit
from small agile startup teams instead of big capital and resources.
8. Look at transferability
of its products and processes: How could its processes be used
in a different industry? How could its products be made accessible to a
completely different market (e.g. a cheaper, more basic version in third world
countries)?
9. Look for improvement
potential in its supply chain: How could processes of its
suppliers or customers be made more efficient?
Analyse Trends
10. Look at the trending topics on Social Media Sites like Twitter,
Reddit, Buzzfeed, YouTube etc. Remember the Fidget
Spinner? If you are able to jump onto trending topics fast enough by creating
or reselling related products or services, you can build a valid business.
11. Become
a trend spotter yourself: Read, read, read. Pick an industry
and spend a couple of months reading everything about it. Do it until you get
to the point where you are able to spot and predict upcoming trends yourself.
Explore your
Passion
12. Look
at your past jobs and analyse what you liked/did not like in
your role. Think of industries and types of businesses that would allow you to
do more of what you like. For example, if you loved working with people in your
customer service job, why not build a coaching or consulting business?
13. Make
a list of things you love to do and would do for free. Think
about how you could turn these things into a business. For example, if you are
passionate about healthy living and spend your free time researching recipes,
finding new ways to workout and read up on the newest health trends - why not
start a blog or coaching business with your expertise?
Build on your
Strengths
14. Look
at your past jobs and analyse what you were really good at.Think
of industries and types of businesses that would allow you to use your skills
and strengths. For example, if you were really good at writing blog posts in
your past marketing job, you could start a business as a freelance writer.
15. Think
of businesses and industries that you would have an unfair advantage in.
This could be based on extensive industry experience, knowledge, skills or
network. How could you use this advantage to build a business?
Become an Idea
Machine
16. Train
your brain to come up with ideas on tap by writing down 10 ideas about one
topic every day. They don’t need to be business ideas but
they need to be related to just one topic. This will force your brain to get
really creative. For example: write down 10 ideas to make cooking easier, 10
ideas to loose weight, 10 ideas to sell books, etc.
17. Read,
Read, Read. The more you read about different things in
all sorts of areas, the more ideas will come to you naturally. By expanding
your knowledge, you are expanding your realm of business ideas.
Apply a well-known
business model to a different industry or product
18. Build
the Uber for X, the Airbnb for Y or the Warby Parker for x.
19. Find
a niche and resell products on your own dropshipping
store, Amazon, eBay or other market places.
TRANSFORM IDEAS INTO OPPORTUNITIES
There are a numerous opportunities and
a huge scope available for the growth and development of an entrepreneur in
every field of society. These opportunities are usually acquired from the
commercial, economic and industrial fields of society. However in order to grab
the opportunity from these field first and the foremost job of an entrepreneur
is to transform his imagination and ideas of establishing a new business into
enterprise. This transformation is a kind of process under which successive
study and survey is conducted to transform the ideas into feasible
opportunities. For an entrepreneur, it is possible only if the process is
designed with a deliberate study.
Business opportunities are identified
by entrepreneur through evaluation, examination and analysis. In this chain of
transformation the initial stage of idea generation requires knowledge, skills,
competencies and creative thinking. These are needed to develop an ideas where
it plays a crucial role for obtaining a feasible opportunity.
Transformation Process
The transformation process is the
process of transforming the ides into business opportunities. The
transformation process of ideas into opportunity involved of three basic steps:
Step 1: Idea
In this first step of transformation
process of idea into opportunity, entrepreneur may generate the idea based on
his personal knowledge. For example, to open a new branch in Hyderabad, to
manufacture a new product or to offer discount for attracting new customers
etc. For the successful business development, an entrepreneur should follow a
process of evaluating a business idea or concept, as to determine whether to
move ahead with the project or not and then setup a business.
Step 2: Conversion Process
In this step, entrepreneur will
conduct a study or survey based on the four factors i.e., his skills,
knowledge, competencies and creative thinking. Entrepreneur may analyze the
generated ideas based on those four factors to find out whether the idea is
advantageous or not for the success of his enterprise. In short this step is
the main cause for the transformation of ideas into opportunity.
Step 3: Opportunity
An opportunity in business refers to
business proposal that an entrepreneur would like to pursue by considering both
risk and reward involved in it. In this final step, generated business idea may
create opportunity for entrepreneur to implement new business plans.
It is very common that many people
come with many ideas but only few can properly transforms their ideas using
required skills and knowledge of business into an opportunity for their
business enterprise. These skills and ideas if gets proper guidance then there
is always a fair chance of setting up a successful business organisation.
12 things – at all times – in order to convert ideas into
reality:
1. Believe
in Yourself
We can’t take action until we believe in ourself enough
to handle the consequences of our decisions. Any time we assume the
responsibility to give something that had not existed before an opportunity to
become a reality – we become accountable
for our actions.
Accountability requires believing in ourself enough to be
100% dedicated to getting the work done. Most people fail to take an idea to
fruition because the unexpected challenges become more than they think they can
handle and thus they no longer want to be accountable. They lose the belief in
themselves to see things through all the way to the end.
2. Create
Your Own Personal Board of Advisors
Learn from those who have done it before. Don’t ever
think we have all of the answers, just because it’s our idea. Ideation is
distinctly different than execution.
Allow our personal board of advisors to guide us with
wisdom born from their own failures and subsequent successes. Talked to a
couple of fellow entrepreneurs about this and they offered some of their own
wisdom.
Rich Melcombe, President & CEO of Richmel Media &
Productions, says that: “If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, listen to
everyone because you never know when you will hear a good idea. Advice from
stakeholders is usually more meaningful, but not necessarily right. Few people
will have enough contexts to fully understand what we’re trying to do.
Synthesize their comments so they make sense to us, understand the thinking
behind any negative comments, and then make the decision on our own.”
Brad Lea, Founder & CEO of Lightspeed VT, adds:
“Although it is valuable to have a personal board of advisors, be careful not
to let them deter you from your vision. Steve Jobs’ board said he was
"crazy" to enter into the cell phone space because it was saturated
and it would not be worth the long and laborious effort.”
3. Embrace
Risk as our Best Friend
Risk becomes our best
friend when we
give birth to an idea. If we can accept this fact, we will approach the process
with a lens that keeps your dreams and ambitions in perspective and on track.
When things don’t go as planned along the way, stay focused on the mission at
hand and do not allow disruption to set you backward. Risk is normal and steps
#1 and #2 will keep you looking forward.
We often hear that “working hard” is an imperative to
convert ideas into reality. But in fact, it is the most fundamental commitment
one must make to assume any form of risk management. As such, we must find a
way to make this level of commitment if we want to continue on the journey.
4. Be
Extremely Patient
Compromise is a choice, not a sacrifice. Don’t put
too much pressure on ourselves. Take the time to appreciate the journey and
understand how things work. Most people are too anxious to get their desired
results and thus start to make bad decisions as they go.
One thing is certain: the journey will be filled with
unexpected outcomes that we may not be prepared to deal with. Don’t let this
get we down, but keep our head up and respect the process and where it takes us.
We will learn a lot about our threshold of risk and ability. Equally, we will
learn that many doubters are ready
to stand in our way and may attempt to bring us down; this is when the ride
gets uncomfortable.
Constantly reevaluate those with whom we are sharing the journey (i.e., our
inner circle).
5. Learn
How to Sell Your Vision
Converting our idea to a reality requires us to help
others understand our vision. Selling vision is much
like selling change.
Clearly define our value proposition and how it can generate revenue. Selling
lofty ideas without understanding how it will achieve financial results will
never get us the right audience. The bottom line is what gets everyone’s
attention (we can see this played out every week on the TV show “Shark Tank”).
Simplicity is the key to selling the vision for your
idea. Making it easy for someone on the “outside” to understand what you are
trying to accomplish will create engagement and increase our probability of
expanding buy-in for our idea. This skill comes into play when selling to
possible investors. Learn how to sell your vision sooner than later. Don’t wait
as it takes time to piece together and refine your message.
6. Connect
the Dots Along the Way
Everything is connected
to something else.
Learn how to spot the paths of connectivity along the journey. What may
be your “core idea” today can mature into something bigger as we connect other
tenets that naturally associate with our idea along the way.
For example, I launched a food business in 1997
called Luna Rossa Corporation. I started with a product line of
specialty vegetables anchored by my flagship product of marinated artichoke
hearts. The idea was to market a gourmet / higher-quality line of Luna Rossa
branded products inside warehouse retailer Costco – which we successfully
accomplished. Over time, this core idea led to gourmet line extensions that
included pasta sauces, salad dressings, etc. We sold products to over 6000
retail stores throughout North America, eventually creating new brands and
entering into licensing arrangements.
7. Be
Passionate With Your Pursuit
The pursuit of excellence
requires you to unleash our passion.
When we put our passion into everything we do, it gives us the power to become
a potent pioneer. We will blaze paths few would go down, and see them all the
way through to the end. Our passionate pursuit of converting our idea into a
reality will open new doors to endless possibilities.
Our ability to remain passionate about what we stand for
is the ultimate enabler for the success of our idea.
8. Be
Purposeful
Our intentions for our idea must have purpose and
meaning. If not, our probability to quit along the way will increase. It will
also increase the likelihood of us “psyching ourselves out with unnecessary
excuses.”
Rich Melcombe adds: “Entrepreneurs must have passion and
believe in what they are doing or they are destined to fail. You need to make a
commitment to yourself and have a fiduciary responsibility to anyone who
supports your idea or concept. Your purpose is to execute the idea and make
others believe too.”
Purpose fuels our passion and makes our journey less
lonely. Perhaps this explains why family-controlled firms
outperform their public peers by 6% on company market value. Today, one-third of all
companies in the S&P 500 index
are run by families.
9. Focus
on Building Momentum
Carefully identify all of our resources and build upon
them via relationships, networking and sharing
of resources to expand the opportunity for our ideas. Building momentum is critically
important to convert our idea into a reality.
Stay focused, stick to our plan, eliminate distractions
and neutralize the noise. Remember to manage our time wisely and never get
overly excited about new opportunities that stem from our original idea.
Step-back, don’t commit too quickly, and understand how the dots connect.
Building momentum has a lot to do with timing and
the management and deployment of resources. Every resource counts. Know when
and when not to use them so their value is optimally utilized at the right
place and time.
10. Always Make the Idea
Better
Never grow complacent. We can always expand upon our idea
and make it better. When we begin to see how the dots connect, challenge ourselves
and our personal board of advisors to make your ideas even better.
This is what Steve Jobs did with Apple, Pixar Animation
and Apple again. Continuous improvements were part of his legacy. He never
stopped thinking of ways to make his ideas better. The Japanese even have a name for it:
Kaizen.
11. Make Work/Life
Balance a Priority
No matter how smart, passionate, or focused our work,
without balance we are all susceptible to burnout. Mind, body and soul must be
properly aligned. Take the time to make
work / life balance a priority.
It will give us greater clarity of thought and help us keep things in
perspective.
Successfully converting an idea into a reality is a
marathon, not a sprint. Pace yourself so that we can reflect upon the mission
at hand. Always be aware of what we are attempting to accomplish. Don’t
overwhelm our mind; give ourselves some breathing room and allow our creativity
to expand.
12. Build a Legacy
around our Idea
Let’s say we made the commitment to assume the
responsibilities associated with the first 11 steps and have already been
successful. Our original idea was born and its impact has now morphed into
multiple areas that we would have never thought possible at the beginning.
We have “earned your serendipity” and the opportunities we have
created for ourselves and others have been momentous. The success of our idea
is now real; it has become something more significant and it is up to us to
make sure its legacy remains sustainable.
SWOT analysis
A study
undertaken by an organization to identify its internal strength and weaknesses,
as well as its external opportunities and threats.
Albert Humphery was an American
business and management consultant during his work at the Stanford Research
Institute (1960-1970), he produce a team method for planning which was named
SOFT analyais, further developed and known as SWOT analysis.
SWOT analysis is a
planning methodology that helps organizations builds a strategic plan to meet goals,
improve operations and keep the business relevant. The best strategic fits are when the
internal environment (strengths and weaknesses) aligns with the external environment
(opportunities and threats).
An overview of the four factors
(Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) is given below-
1.
Strengths
- Strengths are the qualities
that enable us to accomplish the organization’s mission. These are the basis on
which continued success can be made and continued/sustained.
Strengths can be either tangible or
intangible. These are what you are well-versed in or what you have expertise
in, the traits and qualities your employees possess (individually and as a team)
and the distinct features that give your organization its consistency.
Strengths are the beneficial aspects
of the organization or the capabilities of an organization, which includes
human competencies, process capabilities, financial resources, products and
services, customer goodwill and brand loyalty. Examples of organizational
strengths are huge financial resources, broad product line, no debt, committed
employees, etc.
2.
Weaknesses
- Weaknesses are the qualities
that prevent us from accomplishing our mission and achieving our full
potential. These weaknesses deteriorate influences on the organizational
success and growth. Weaknesses are the factors which do not meet the standards
we feel they should meet.
Weaknesses in an organization may be
depreciating machinery, insufficient research and development facilities,
narrow product range, poor decision-making, etc. Weaknesses are controllable.
They must be minimized and eliminated. For instance - to overcome obsolete
machinery, new machinery can be purchased. Other examples of organizational
weaknesses are huge debts, high employee turnover, complex decision making
process, narrow product range, large wastage of raw materials, etc.
3.
Opportunities
- Opportunities are presented by
the environment within which our organization operates. These arise when an
organization can take benefit of conditions in its environment to plan and
execute strategies that enable it to become more profitable. Organizations can
gain competitive advantage by making use of opportunities.
Organization should be careful and
recognize the opportunities and grasp them whenever they arise. Selecting the
targets that will best serve the clients while getting desired results is a
difficult task. Opportunities may arise from market, competition,
industry/government and technology. Increasing demand for telecommunications
accompanied by deregulation is a great opportunity for new firms to enter
telecom sector and compete with existing firms for revenue and Reliance’s brand
Only Vimal.
4.
Threats
- Threats arise when conditions
in external environment jeopardize the reliability and profitability of the
organization’s business. They compound the vulnerability when they relate to
the weaknesses. Threats are uncontrollable. When a threat comes, the stability
and survival can be at stake. Examples of threats are - unrest among employees;
ever changing technology; increasing competition leading to excess capacity,
price wars and reducing industry profits; etc.
Advantages of SWOT
Analysis
SWOT Analysis is instrumental in strategy formulation and
selection. It is a strong tool, but it involves a great subjective element. It
is best when used as a guide, and not as a prescription. Successful businesses
build on their strengths, correct their weakness and protect against internal
weaknesses and external threats. They also keep a watch on their overall
business environment and recognize and exploit new opportunities faster than
its competitors.
SWOT Analysis helps in strategic planning in following
manner-
a.
It is a source of information for strategic
planning.
b.
Builds organization’s strengths.
c.
Reverse its weaknesses.
d.
Maximize its response to opportunities.
e.
Overcome organization’s threats.
f.
It helps in identifying core competencies of
the firm.
g.
It helps in setting of objectives for
strategic planning.
h.
It helps in knowing past, present and future
so that by using past and current data, future plans can be chalked out.
SWOT Analysis provide information that helps in
synchronizing the firm’s resources and capabilities with the competitive
environment in which the firm operates.
Limitations of SWOT
Analysis
SWOT Analysis is not free from its limitations. It may
cause organizations to view circumstances as very simple because of which the
organizations might overlook certain key strategic contact which may occur.
Moreover, categorizing aspects as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats might be very subjective as there is great degree of uncertainty in
market. SWOT Analysis does stress upon the significance of these four aspects,
but it does not tell how an organization can identify these aspects for itself.
There are certain limitations of SWOT Analysis which are
not in control of management. These include-
a.
Price increase;
b.
Inputs/raw materials;
c.
Government legislation;
d.
Economic environment;
e.
Searching a new market for the product which
is not having overseas market due to import restrictions; etc.
Internal
limitations may include-
a.
Insufficient research and development
facilities;
b.
Faulty products due to poor quality control;
c.
Poor industrial relations;
d.
Lack of skilled and efficient labour; etc
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