Successful Entrepreneurs

Passion for the business Vision and endless ideas Product/customer focus:

Must satisfy customer needs Persevere through setbacks and failures Executional excellence: Translate creativity into

action & generate measurable returns

The Power of Entrepreneurial Thinking

What makes a successful entrepreneur?– Seeing opportunity where others don’t– Innovation: better, faster, cheaper, easier– “Fire in the Belly”– Willingness to take risks– Extreme work ethic

Increasing Relevance to Founding Venture

Three Key Processes

Idea Generation Creativity Opportunit

y Recognitio

n

Kinds of Intelligence Analytic intelligence - The ability to analyze and evaluate

ideas, solve problems and make decisions Creative intelligence - Going beyond what is given to

generate novel and interesting ideas. Practical intelligence - The ability that individuals use to

find the best fit between themselves and the demands of the environment

Social intelligence - The ability to understand and manage all types of people and to act wisely in human relations

Successful intelligence - The acquisition and use of what you need to know to be successful in a particular environment.

PracticalIntelligence

CreativeIntelligence

AnalyticIntelligence SuccessSuccessful

Intelligence

Successful Intelligence

Confluence Approach

Creativity emerges from a confluence of Intellectual abilities Broad, rich knowledge base Appropriate style of thinking Personality attributes Intrinsic, task-focused motivation Environment supportive of creative ideas

Additional Aspects

Active searchEntrepreneurial

alertnessPrior knowledgeSocial networks

Opportunityrecognition

Pattern Recognition

Seeing links between seemingly unconnected trends, changes, events

Connections form an identifiable pattern

Entrepreneurial Opportunity Situation in which a person can develop a

new business idea that has potential to generate profit

Opportunities from Change

Truly valuable entrepreneurial opportunities come from an external change that

Makes it possible to do things that had not been done before

Makes it possible to do something in a more valuable way.

Change Leads to Potential

New technology Political and regulatory changes Social and demographic change

Potential

Forms of Opportunity

Entrepreneurs develop business ideas by: Developing new products and services Tapping new markets Formulating new methods of production Identifying new raw materials Developing new ways of organizing processes

Generating Business Ideas

Idea is thought, impression, notion Opportunity: favorable set of circumstances that

create need for product or service e.g. DTH, GPS Opportunity has four essential qualities

Attractive Durable Timely Creates/adds value for buyer/user

Recognizing Opportunities & Generating Ideas

Observing/ Study Trends• Economic factors• Social factors• Technological Advances• Political Action and regulatory statutes

Recognizing Opportunities & Generating Ideas

Economic Forces– Consumers level of disposable income– Interest rate changes– More women in workforce– Currently: global recession

Social Forces– Both parents working: fast food– Life stress: spas, wellness clinics , yoga,

spiritualism

Recognizing Opportunities & Generating Ideas

Family & work patterns Age of the population Increasing diversity in the workplace Globalization of industries Increased focus in health care & fitness Proliferation of computers & Internet Increase in numbers of cell phone users New forms of music & entertainment

Recognizing Opportunities & Generating Ideas

Technological Advances– Cell phones: allows people to be mobile– E-commerce: accommodates busy schedules and working

from home/remote locations Political Action

– New laws:– Terrorism: Products & services to protect

Recognizing Opportunities & Generating Ideas

Solving a Problem Observe people’s challenges Look for problems Listen to people’s complaints Think of your own challenges

Recognizing Opportunities & Generating Ideas

Personal characteristics for opportunity recognition

Entrepreneurial alertness/6th sense Social networks Creativity: preparation, insight, evaluation Prior experience in an industry

Techniques in Generating Ideas

Brainstorming: generate ideas quickly, no analysis or decision making– Enthusiasm, originality, lots of ideas– Freewheeling, lively– No criticism allowed– Session moves quickly– Leapfrogging encouraged

Techniques in Generating Ideas

Focus groups• People selected are familiar with issues• What’s on customers mind• Conducted by trained moderator• Success depends on moderator’s ability to ask

questions and keep on track

Techniques in Generating Ideas

Surveys: gathering info from sample of individuals• By phone, mail, online, in person• Random portions of population• Customer Advisory Boards