Problem Identification of Entrepreneurial Opportunities

An entrepreneur is always aware of the changes in the market or business, reacts to them, and seizes an opportunity. An entrepreneur has a passion, determination, pressure handling ability, and is innovative. Determining a consumer’s key concerns is the first stage in producing a new product for entrepreneurs.

The opportunities identified by entrepreneurs that can provide quality goods or services to society are known as entrepreneurial opportunities. We can say that entrepreneurial opportunities exist when new commodities, new sources of raw materials, new services, and more are introduced and sold for more than their cost of production.

What is an Entrepreneurial Opportunity?

The concept of a company should be unique; it should help the business to survive. Moreover, we need more than just a concept to establish a business. Most young businesses begin by identifying and clearly describing an entrepreneurial opportunity and then attempt to craft a strong vision after recognising the existence of the opportunity.

Opportunities are perishable; they require work and must create some customer value. The point at which recognised consumer demands meet the practicality of delivering the demanded services or products are entrepreneurial opportunities.

What is Problem Identification? 

Problem identification is a fundamental way of identifying the problem at hand so that we can comprehend the objective that we are trying to achieve or the issue we are trying to address. Problem identification allows us to go to the source of the issue, learn how it affects us or others, and develop a viable solution.

Sometimes, deep research and development can identify problems, whereas problems can be identified by chance at other times. 

The process of problem identification should help in clearly stating the problem. It should also help identify the target group of people facing this problem. 

Importance of Problem Identification

 Problems arise from time to time, and the client expects an immediate solution. The entrepreneur solves the problem by introducing new items or services. The entrepreneur is usually the one who recognises the issues. 

Learning the concept of problem identification is crucial for all entrepreneurs since without identifying a practical problem, no effective product can be produced. 

Some reasons which define the importance of problem identification are as follows: 

1. The entrepreneur can use problem identification to identify the market’s needs and challenges and introduce new products.
2. Problem identification helps in developing creative abilities.
3. Once the problem is identified, it boosts the number of jobs created in the economy. 
4. An increase in the number of jobs leads to a boost in the country’s national revenue. 

Entrepreneurial Opportunities/Idea Generation 

Every company’s idea should be established on a thorough understanding of the market and the market’s requirements. Customers, or those who might desire to buy the goods or services, can be referred to as the market. The market is different in each location. When we understand the local market, we may notice several business opportunities that we may have previously overlooked. 

The first step is to generate as many ideas as possible and create a list of all potential business prospects. Next, we can go through the list and select the idea(s) that seem the most practical and profitable. 

What is Idea Generation?

Idea Generation can be defined as the deliberate process of generating, developing, and transmitting abstract, tangible, or visual ideas for a problem. Idea generation is based on idea fields. Idea fields are the well-structured frames of reference that guide the idea generation process.

There are various methods for generating ideas, including polling local area businesses or questioning current business owners. We will look at a few different techniques that help in Idea generation. 

Getting Ideas from the experience of already successful entrepreneurs:

Whenever a person needs an idea for their business, they should always look for someone who has already gone through establishing a successful business. There are always many questions in the entrepreneur’s mind, and they should make sure they get their answers from successful business owners.

These questions can be regarding the kind of idea that these businesses initially invested in, from where they got those ideas, how they found the profitability of the ideas, and how they developed those ideas into businesses. 

Drawing from personal experiences:

Examine your list of interests, experiences, and connections. Is there anything you can learn from your prior experiences and use to start a business? Examine each of your experiences like a customer in a marketplace. 

Have you ever spent an entire day looking for something you could not locate in any store in your area? Consider the items and services you have always wanted that are difficult to obtain. If many people require that item or service, that can be an entrepreneurial opportunity. 

Opportunity Screening

Opportunity screening in entrepreneurship is an essential technique. In this technique, we can utilise our business environment screening skills to develop new business concepts in our locality. Take a look at the list of local businesses in your locality that already exist. 

Opportunity screening in entrepreneurship is an attempt to comprehend and analyse which of the existing markets can offer the best entry chances and whether or not those identified entrepreneurial opportunities are viable in the long run.

Consider all the resources and establishments in your area while brainstorming startup ideas. You should consider the following factors:

1. Availability of natural resources
2. Availability of talented and skilled labour
3. Import substitution
4. Trade fairs and exhibitions 

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is an organised constructive interaction in which a group of people get together to develop a variety of unique business ideas to address requirements or solve some problems. They begin with a phrase or a subject and then note down everything that immediately springs to mind about that topic, even if it seems irrelevant or strange.

Good ideas might emerge from concepts that may seem strange at first. Brainstorming is most effective when done in a group. Even after establishing a successful business, most big companies generate business ideas for intrapreneurial and entrepreneurial opportunities through brainstorming.

Conclusion

Every opportunity that can be converted into a business is known as an entrepreneurial opportunity. Identifying ideas and converting them into opportunities is a long but required process. No successful entrepreneur can skip this step if they want to exist in the market for long. They need to undertake different techniques such as screening of opportunities, or they can generate business ideas for intrapreneurial and entrepreneurial opportunities through brainstorming sessions.