“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” Albert Einstein
One of the most popular words in the business dictionary is opportunity. We are always searching for or waiting for or wanting the right opportunity.
An opportunity is not an illusion. It is the chance to do something in a way which is both different from and better than the way it is done at the moment. It offers the possibility of delivering new value to the customer.
Every opportunity is different, but there are some common patterns in the way in which they take shape.
Types of Opportunities: (Wickham, P.A. (2004) Strategic Entrepreneurship. FT Prentice Hall)
1. New Product:
It offers the customer a physical device which provides a new means to satisfy a need or to solve a problem. It may be based on existing or new technologies. It may also give you a chance to add value to an existing product by using branding strategies.
2. New Service:
A service can quite simply be seen as an intangible product. It offers the customer an act, or a series of acts, which satisfy a particular need or solve a particular problem.
3. New means of Production:
Producing an existing product with a new means is not an opportunity in itself. It will offer an opportunity if it can be used to deliver additional value to the customer. The new means should allow the product to be produced at lower costs or in a way, which allows more flexibility in the way it is delivered to the customer.
4. New Distribution Route:
A new way to get the product to the customer means that the customer finds it easier, more convenient, or less time consuming to obtain the product or service. E.g. USA based company Federal Express started with this very idea and today it is worth US $24 billion.
5. Improved Service:
This is an opportunity to enhance the value of a product to the customer by offering an additional service element with it. It often involves maintaining the product in some way but it can also be based on supporting the customer in using the product or offering them training in its use.
6. Relationship Building:
Relationships are built on trust and trust adds value by reducing the cost needed to monitor contracts. Trust can provide a source of competitive advantage. It can be used to build networks which competitors find hard to enter.
Opportunities rarely exist in isolation. You will often discover opportunities that are made up of a mixture of the above types. It is often assumed that entrepreneurs have some special skills that allow them to see opportunities. Finding the right opportunity can be challenging, even for experienced entrepreneurs. The ability to spot this opportunity and take advantage of it is what separates successful entrepreneurs from the rest.
How to Identify Opportunities:
1. Problem Analysis:
Start by identifying the needs any individuals or organisations have and the problem that they face. You need to ask questions like ‘what could be better?’. Once you’ve identified a problem, the next question is ‘how might this be solved?’. Finding a solution (to a problem) that works represents a new opportunity for the entrepreneur.
2. Customer Proposals:
The customer himself may spot a new opportunity by recognising his/her own needs. The customer then offers the opportunity to the entrepreneur. This can simply be a suggestion like ‘Wouldn’t it be great if you could…’ or can take a form of a detailed and formal brief.
3. Creative Groups:
Creative groups consist of small number of potential customers or product experts who are encouraged to think about their needs in a particular market area and to consider how those needs might be better served. They can provide useful information/insights which you can use as opportunities.
4. Market Mapping:
This is any study conducted concerning attitudes of consumers, product comparisons, or marketing evaluations, or any combination of marketing factors, where the results are charted on a graph to show a correspondence among variables (wherein one variable is dependent on another and a change in one will effect a change in the other).
5. Features Stretching:
It involves identifying the principal features which define a particular product or service and then seeing what happens if they are changed in some way. The trick is to test each feature with a range of suitable adjectives such a ‘bigger’, ’stronger’, ‘faster’, ‘more often’, ‘more fun’ and so on and see what results from this testing.
6. Product Blending:
This is similar to feature stretching and involves identifying the features which define particular products. Instead of just changing individual features, new products are created by combining together features of different products or services.
You (the entrepreneur) can’t rely on inspiration alone. Encourage people around you (like employees, customers, technical experts etc) to be creative on your behalf. The above methods are not exclusive to each other - they can be used together. Try to use them in a way that helps you to identify new and unexploited opportunities. Don’t keep waiting for it to come knocking at your door (it rarely does). Remember, “One man’s problem, is another man’s opportunity”.
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