Creating and Starting the

Venture
 Methods of
Generating Ideas
 Sources of ideas for new
ventures:
• Consumers. Determine their
wants/needs.
• Existing companies. See if there are
ways to improve upon products and
services in the market.
• Distribution channels. Elicit
suggestions from channel members.
• The Federal Government. Check
the Government’s Patent Office
files.
• R.&D. Conduct your own research
Focus Group
 Focus Group
Focus groups used for initially
screening ideas and concepts.

Focus Group Discussion (FGD)

involves gathering people from
similar backgrounds or
experiences together to discuss a
specific topic of interest.
 Focus Group
Participants are free to talk with other group
members. FGD encourages discussions with
other participants.

FGD generally involves group discussion in

which a small group of usually 8 to 12 people
are involved.
It is led by a moderator (interviewer) in a
loosely structured discussion of various
topics of interest and includes a note taker.
 Focus Group
A FGD should be between 60 and 90
minutes. If the FGD is shorter than 60
minutes, it is often difficult to fully explore the
discussion topic and if it is longer than 90
minutes, the discussion can become
unproductive.
FGD provides an opportunity for researchers
to listen to local voices emphasizing on
paying attention to the needs of those who
have little or no societal voice.
 Features of FGD
✔ It enables in-depth discussions and involves
a relatively small number of people.

✔ It is focused on a specific area of interest that

allows participants to discuss the topic in
greater detail.
✔ Interaction is a unique feature of the focus
group. It is based on the idea that group
process assist people to explore and
clarify their points of view
 Do’s
Start with open questions.
The first question should be general to get
people warmed up, say about participants’
views about the topic.
If you hear of something you haven’t heard
of before, ask the person to tell you more
about it.
If someone gives a general answer, ask
them to specify (give an example).
If someone shares an opinion, check with
others in the group whether they share the
view.
 Do’s
Be sympathetic about the issues they
raise, even if you think some are using the
focus group as a bit of a whinge session.

Regularly ask questions of specific people,

to draw people in.

Feel free to change the order of the

questions if someone brings up something
that relates to a later question.
 Don’ts
Do not ask leading questions (ones that might
suggest you are looking for a particular
answer).
Do not ask ‘yes or no’ questions, as this does
not open up discussion, though if you
inadvertently do, you can follow up with ‘why’?
Do not ask double-barrelled questions. People
cannot answer two questions at once.
Do not tell people they are wrong. Do not
correct them.
Do not express any point of view.
 Don’ts
Generally, try not to shut people down.
Welcome their contribution whatever it is.
Never say, “We’ll be talking about that later,
not now.”
If someone seems really shy, do not pressurize
them to speak.
Do not be embarrassed if you don’t understand
something. Go ahead and ask for an
explanation. Your mission is to explain the
unknown, the unclear and the ambiguous.
Never gossip about the focus groups after the
study.
 Skills required to conduct
FGD
The entrepreneur needs to be flexible and free
of biasness and prejudices.
A good understanding of the subject, problem,
or topic to be investigated is required. This
includes both theoretical knowledge and
practical experience.
Proficiency in the language in which
discussions will be conducted is required.
Focus group discussion cannot be conducted
through an interpreter or by third person, no
matter what types of skills he/she has.
 Skills required to conduct
FGD
It is important to know how to manage the
discussion so that one or two people do not
dominate it, and so that those participants who
tend not to be highly verbal are able to share
their views.
Training or experience in conducting group
discussion is very important because an
unskilled moderator can unknowingly inhibit
the free flow of discussion and draw
unjustifiable conclusions and findings.
 Choosing Participants
Consider the following aspects:
Gender: Will men and women feel comfortable
discussing this topic in a mixed-gender group?
For example, women might feel uncomfortable
discussing reproductive health issues if men
are in the group.
Age: Will age affect the way that people react
to this topic? For example, a young person
might feel uncomfortable talking about his
drinking habits if older people from his
community are in the room.
 Choosing Participants
Hierarchy: Will people of different hierarchical
positions be able to discuss this topic equally?
For example, a student might feel
uncomfortable discussing her teachers if
the school principal is in the FGD.
 Example (Opening)
• Thank you all for taking the time to be with
us today. My name is …, and I am …
[position, affiliation].My role is to facilitate
this group discussion. I will be fully
supported by ..… and he/she will be in
charge of taking notes and making
observations. The purpose of this group
discussion is to talk about ……
 Example (Opening)
We will ask you some questions, which will
take about 2 hours, and please tell us what
you think is important. We want everyone to
feel free to say exactly what you think, no
matter what this may be [Introduce ground
rules]. Everything you say here will be kept
confidential and anonymous, so no-one will
ever know what you personally said (only
what the overall combined responses are).
 Example (Opening)
In order to capture all that is said, we will
record this session. Do you agree with
your participation in this FGD? [get oral or
written informed consent]
 Ground Rules (Sample)
Only one person speaks at a time.
Give everyone an equal chance to
participate in the discussion.
Respect the opinions of others; don’t put
down or criticize others’ comments.
Respect the privacy of others in the group
by not repeating what is discussed outside
of the focus group.
 Advantages
Easy to setup
Fast and relatively inexpensive
Free and open discussion among the
respondents results in generation of new
ideas that can be very useful for
decision-making.
Expressions other than those in verbal form
such as gestures and stimulated activities
can provide entrepreneur with useful insights
 Advantages
Detailed information about personal and group
feelings, perceptions and opinions can be
obtained.

A focus group is not static and very flexible.

The moderator can bring any changes in order
to better facilitate the discussion during the
group discussion allowing better results in
terms of information derived by a focus group.
Captures real life data in a social environment
 Limitations
Some research topics are unsuitable for
focus group environments. For example,
topics which are seen as too personal
(such as living with HIV/AIDS, sexuality,
infertility, financial status, divorce,
domestic violence and abortion) may be
better carried out by other methods such
as individual interviews.
 Limitations
In institutional contexts (such as the
workplace or schools), people may be
reluctant to express their opinions or
discuss their personal experiences in front
of colleagues. If the objective of the
research is to generate in-depth personal
narratives such as the experience of
infertility or illness, focus groups may not
be appropriate.
 Limitations
In some focus groups, due to the presence
of some group members, the participants
may feel too intimidate to speak. In other
situations, they may simply conform to the
dominant ideas present in the group. As
such, the quality of data generated will be
affected by the characteristics and context
of the focus groups.
 Limitations
Focus groups are also criticized for only
offering a shallower understanding of an issue
than those obtained from individual interviews
(Hopkins 2007; Krueger & Casey 2009).
In some focus groups, due to the presence of
some group members, the participants may
feel too intimidate to speak. In other situations,
they may simply conform to the dominant ideas
present in the group. As such, the quality of
data generated will be affected by the
characteristics and context of the focus groups.
 Limitations
Focus groups can vary (talkative, quiet, dull,
dominating) and may deviate from actual topic.
Respondents may be reluctant to share some
sensitive ideas and concerns publicly.
Due to small sample size and heterogeneity of
individuals, the findings may not be adequate
to make projections or the composite picture of
the situation or to generalize.
A FGD can be a very artificial set-up that
influences the respondents to express and act
unnaturally.
 Limitations
Difficulty in assembling groups
Capturing major issues can be difficult.
There will be increase in time and cost if in
case more than one language is used.
There is difficulty in information management
and review, particularly if tape recorders are
used.
Difficulty in analyzing data
Brainstorming
 Brainstorming

Brainstorming by using the

spontaneous contributions of
participants.
 Brainstorming
This is probably the most well known and
widely used techniques for both creative
problem solving and idea generation.

Brainstorming can generate ideas about a

problem within a limited time frame
through the spontaneous contribution of
participants.
 Brainstorming
An effective approach to brainstorming is
to starts with a problem statement that is
neither two broad nor too narrow. Once
the problem statement is clear, a minimum
of six and a maximum of twelve individuals
are selected to participate
As a guiding rule, no group member
should be recognized as expert in the field
of the problem. Every idea, no matter how
illogical must be recorded and analyzed
Brainstorming
 Brainstorming
No criticism.
Choose a facilitator
Small groups work better than large
Freewheeling is encouraged.
Quantity of ideas is desired.
Combinations and improvements of ideas are
encouraged.
Record all ideas
Combination and refinement of ideas are
encouraged
Example
 Limitations
does not rank the ideas •
cannot help you select the important ones
does not suggest the best solutions •
must be amended by other methods
 Reverse Brainstorming
This is a group method for obtaining new
ideas while focusing on the negatives. In
reverse brainstorming criticism is allowed as
against the brainstorming approach

The technique is based on finding fault by

asking the question “in how many ways can
this idea fail”. With the fact that it focuses on
the negative aspects of a product or service.
 Reverse Brainstorming
This approach can be effectively used
before other creative techniques to
stimulate innovative thinking.
This method produces some worthwhile
results as it is easier for an individual to be
critical about an idea than to come up with
a new idea.
The group’s morale must be maintained in
the right direction
 Brainwriting
This is a form of written brainstorming.
Brainwriting differs from the classical
brainstorming by giving participants more
time to think than in brainstorming session,
where ideas are expressed spontaneously

It is a silent, written generation of ideas by a

group of people. The participants write their
ideas on a special card, which circulates
within the group (usually six members).
 Brainwriting
Each group member generates and writes
down three ideas during a five-minute period.
The card is passed on to the adjacent
person, who writes down three new ideas
and so on, until each form has passed all
participants.
A moderator or group leader monitor the time
intervals and can reduce or increase the time
given to participants with respect to the
needs of the group.
 Brainwriting
A variation of this idea-generation method
is that participants are located at their
respective work-place, separated by
distance and the card are rotated by
e-mail, in this case the interval can be
longer.
 Checklist Method
• In this method, a new idea is developed
through a list of related issues or
suggestions.
• The entrepreneur uses a list of questions
or statements to guide the direction of
developing entirely new ideas or focusing
on specific idea areas
 Checklist Method
When trying to develop a new product or
service, it might be good to look at
products and services that already exist. A
checklist-technique can help you think of
ways to improve what is already there
 Checklist Method
Add something
Say you want to redesign the good ol’
toothbrush. In this first step, you’ll think of
things to add to the ordinary
toothbrush. What can you add?
Change colour
Think about the different colours your
product comes in. Can you think of other
colours that might please your customers?
 Checklist Method
Try new materials
What other materials could you use for
your product? Perhaps you can create an
environmentally friendly toothbrush by
making it from bamboo instead of plastic
New design
Can you redesign the current model of
your product? By changing the design you
could, of course, change the look-and-feel
Collective Notebook Method
In the collective notebook method, a small
notebook that easily fits in a pocket
containing a statement of the problem, blank
pages and any pertinent background data is
distributed to participants.
Participants are expected to consider the
problem and its possible solutions recording
ideas at least once or three times daily. At the
end of the week, a list of the best ideas is
developed, together with any suggestions.
Collective Notebook Method
Each participant now submits their notebooks
to a central coordinator who summarizes all
the materials and lists the ideas in order of
frequency of mention.

The summary thereafter becomes the topic of

a final creative focus group discussion by the
group participants.
 Free Association

Free association is a method of

developing new idea through a chain of
word association. This technique is helpful
in developing an entirely new angle to a
problem.
 Free Association
The process involve a word or phrase
relating to the problem being written down,
then another and another, with each new
word attempting to add a new idea to the
ongoing thought processes, finally creating
a chain of ideas ending with the new
product idea merging.
This is the simplest yet most effective
method that an entrepreneur can employ.
 The Gordon Method
The Gordon method involves developing
new ideas when the individuals are
unaware of the problem. This implies that
group members do not know the exact
nature of the problem
 The Gordon Method
The entrepreneur begins by mentioning a
general concept associated with the problem.
The group thereafter responds by expressing
a number of ideas. This can then lead to a
concept being developed, followed by related
concept through guidance by the
entrepreneur.
At last the actual problem is revealed,
enabling the group to make suggestion for
the implementation or refinement of the final
solution
 Forced Relationship
This is a process of forcing relationship
among some product combinations and
their features. It is a technique that asks
questions about objects or ideas in an
effort to develop a new idea
Forced Relationship
 Forced Relationship
The new combination and eventual concept
emerged through a five step process given
below
Isolation of elements of the problem.
Establish relationships between these elements.
Record the relationships in an orderly manner.
Analyze the emerging relationship to find ideas
or pattern.
Develop new idea from these patterns
 Big-Dream Approach
Here the entrepreneur dreams about the
problem and its solution. He or she thinks
big. In this approach, every possibility is
recorded and investigated or the
resources required documented.

To the entrepreneur idea are

conceptualized without any constraint until
an idea is developed into a workable form.
 Attribute Listing
Attribute listing is an idea-finding technique
that requires entrepreneurs to list the
attributes of an item or problem and then look
at each from different perspectives.
Through this method, originally unrelated
objects can be brought together to form a
new combination and possible new uses that
better satisfy a need.
In summary, attribute listing refers to a
method of developing a new idea by looking
at the positives and negatives.
 Parameter Analysis
This is a method of developing new idea
by focusing on parameter identification
and creative synthesis.
Parameter identification involves the
analysis of variables contained in the
situation to determine their relative
importance.
These variables thereafter become the
focus of the investigation with other
variables being set aside.
Problem Inventory
Analysis
Problem Inventory Analysis

problem inventory. Here

consumers are given a list of
problems for a general product
category.
Results must be carefully
evaluated as they may not
actually reflect a new business
opportunity