Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Entrepreneurship and the Entrepreneurial Process

What is entrepreneurship? If you want to be a business owner, or an entrepreneur, it is a good idea to know exactly what entrepreneurship is. Entrepreneurship is the process of creating value by bringing together a unique package of resources to make the most of an opportunity. The entrepreneurial process is everywhere. You find it if you start a new venture, in social entrepreneurship, in corporate entrepreneurship, in arts entrepreneurship, if you take over a family business, or if you purchase an existing business. Like I said, it's everywhere. But what is the entrepreneurial process? The entrepreneurial process has six basic steps. The first step is to identify the opportunity. After you identify the opportunity, you need to develop a concept. Then you determine the required resources and acquire the necessary resources. After you have the resources needed you should implement and manage. The final step, and perhaps the best, is to harvest the venture.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Ideas and Opportunities for Entrepreneurs

The process of entrepreneurship begins with recognition of an opportunity. Can you solve a problem? Being able to identify opportunities is the key to getting started. Opportunity recognition results from several steps, in which ideas become the core of value creation. This is the creative process of entrepreneurship. Focusing on your own background is crucial to this process. In order to recognize an opportunity, one must first understand what the unmet needs of a population really are. This is where the information from your background is important. You need to know something about the problem you are trying to solve. Look to your own experiences in education, work, life, and social networks and utilize this information to the fullest. Once you have an idea, you must determine if there is an opportunity. An opportunity occurs when there is both supply and demand for an idea. If there is a need for your idea, then it is an opportunity. If there is not a need for your idea, then you just have an idea and not an opportunity.