Course Introduction & Learning From Lectures

INTRODUCTION
This course is basically focused on Entrepreneurship and learning to think out of box. One of the important traits of an entrepreneur is being creative and our tutor Mr. Fernando Lourenco has taught us, how to generate new ideas using different methods and mind tools.

Entrepreneurial process involves two paths, initial and subsequent path. In initial the entrepreneur builds awareness, motivation, raw ideas, entrepreneurial behaviors, skills and attributes. After that, the entrepreneur develops and validates his idea. Then he brings his idea into operations and then launches a start-up. Subsequent paths are that the business will be in static position, expanding, declining or the business will be terminated.

CAREER OPTIONS
There are four career options, which are explained as follow:

1) Employment: Individuals who perform their designated tasks and roles.
No ownership, low financial risks, less enterprising and lower risk taking.

2) Intrapreneurship: Employees/managers who innovate in the firm.
No ownership, lower financial risks, more enterprising and higher risk taking.

3) Small Business ownership: Starting and running a steady business is the aim. These individuals are seldom to risk their main source of income. Have ownership, moderate financial risks, less enterprising & lower risk taking

4) Entrepreneurs:
Starting and running a business.
More towards rapid growth, high profits and above average capital gains or return on investment.
Higher goals for growth and innovation
Have ownership, higher financial risks, more enterprising and higher risk taking.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEFINITIONS
There are many definitions of entrepreneurship, some are as follow:
1) Extracting values from the environment and turns them into novel forms of outcome (Schumpeter)

2) The use of resource in different ways like an artistic production or an economic art form (Jack & Anderson)

3) Competitive behavior that drive the market process (Kirzner)

4) Starting, running and growing a business (Bridge et al.)

5) The creation of new organization (Gartner et al.)

6) The introduction of novelty to the market which would lead to some direct or indirect success (Davidsson)

7) Opportunities to create future goods and services are discovered, evaluated and exploited (Shane & Venkataraman)


ENTREPRENEURIAL OPPORTUNITIES
Entrepreneur is someone who perceives an opportunity and creates an organization to pursue it.
Entrepreneurs are those who select existing resources and then introduce new combinations of resources.
New combination: Innovation in process or product/services to exploit market opportunities
However, the outcomes are uncertain and sometimes unknowable
Entrepreneurs who identify and exploit these uncertainties will likely achieve entrepreneurial rents.
These are supernormal profits.
Entrepreneurial rents exist until knowledge has disseminated in the market and competitors have had the opportunity to react.

TYPES OF ENTREPRENEURS
There are three types:
1) Novice: Only started and own one business
2) Serial: Started more than one business but one at a time
3) Portfolio: Started and own more than one business at the same time


Three Aspects of Ideas
Most successful new business ideas add value in a unique or compelling way by capitalizing on one of the three sources of business ideas:
1) Changing environmental trends: The most important trends to follow are:
à Economic trends
à Social trends
à Technological trends
à Political action and regulatory changes
Change is these areas often provide the impetus for new business ideas.
Examples can be found in course handouts

2) Unsolved problems: Problems can be experienced or recognized by people through their jobs, hobbies or everyday activities. Commenting on this issue and how noticing problems can lead to the recognition of business ideas.
Philip Kotler (a marketing expert) said: Look for problems. People complain about it being hard to sleep through the night, get rid of clutter in their homes, find an affordable vacation, trace their family origins, and get rid of garden weeds, and so on. Every problem is a brilliantly disguised opportunity.
Examples can be found in course handouts.

3) Gaps in the marketplace: There are many examples of products that consumers need or want that aren’t available in a particular location or aren’t available at all. These gaps in the marketplace represent potentially viable business opportunities. Gaps in the marketplace are commonly recognized when people become frustrated because:
They can’t find a product or service that they need
They recognize that other people feel the same frustration.

CREATIVITY
For Entrepreneurs, creativity is developing ideas, imagining the scenarios for business ventures, thinking and acting in creative ways and dealing creativity with problems of limited time, expertise or resources.

Creativity techniques or tools: Solution reversal, Fishbone, Group discussion, Brainstorm, Brain-writing, Object stimulation, Metaphors, Wishful thinking, Role play, Mind mapping, Rich picture, Mood-boards, Listing questions, Associations, Synectics, Six thinking hats, Thinking styles and Scamper.

No Market, No Business: If there is no market, then there is no business. Good ideas are not necessarily opportunities:
It is important to know that you have a market; otherwise a good idea is just a good idea. It does not mean that you have a market or opportunity.
A good idea is nothing more than a tool in the hands of an entrepreneur. There is no market unless customers have a real need for the product/service. Customers must perceive that the new business or product will be giving them better value for their money than existing businesses or product.
If the market is small and has little spending power, then a great solution towards a problem is not a business opportunity. It’s only a great idea. So it is important to conduct research to gather information (pre-venture research). Then it is all about using your creativity, sense making and conceptualization to make use of this information.

Marketing Strategies: Marketing is the process of identifying, anticipating and then meeting the needs and requirements of consumers in order to make a profit. A core of marketing, it is about acquiring and maintaining customers.

4Ps Marketing Mix: Entrepreneurs must create the offer, take the offer to the market and tell the market about the offer.
Product (creating the offer): Customer’s needs, desires, desired look, features, etc
Price (creating the offer): What is the right price?
Place (take offer to market): Where is the right place and time to sell it?
Promotion (tell market about the offer): How to promote? E.g. advertising, packaging, branding etc.