CIE

UNIT IV
PIMR
SNEHAL VYAS TRIVEDI
RESEARCH SCHOLAR
 Identification of Business
Opportunity: Idea Generation and
Opportunity!
• In general sense, the term opportunity implies a good chance or a
favourable situation to do something offered by circumstances. In
the same vein, business opportunity means a good or favourable
change available to run a specific business in a given environment
at a given point of time.
• The term ‘opportunity’ also covers a product or project. Hence, the
identification of an opportunity or a product or project is identical
and, therefore, all these three terms are used as synonyms.
• The Government of India’s “Look East Policy” through North East
is an example of ‘opportunity’ to do business in items like tea,
handicrafts, herbals, turmeric, etc.
• Selection of products/services or creating a suitable environment is
a very challenging as well as dillematic Situation.
• One way to overcome this dilemmatic situation is to know how the
existing entrepreneurs identified the opportunity and set up their
enterprises.
 The entrepreneurs selected their
products or projects based on:
• Their own or partners’ past experience in that business line;
• The Government’s promotional schemes and facilities offered to run some
specific business enterprises;
• The high profitability of products;
• Which indicate increasing demand for them in the market?
• The availability of inputs like raw materials, labour, etc. at cheaper rates;
• The expansion or diversification plans of their own or any other ongoing business
known to them;
• The products reserved for small-scale units or certain locations.
 Idea Generation:

• Sources of Ideas:
• product or opportunity identification and selection process starts
with the generation of ideas, or say, ideas about some opportunities
or products are generated in the first instance.
• The ideas about opportunities or products that the entrepreneur
can consider for selecting the most promising one to be pursued by
him/her as an enterprise, can be generated or discovered from
various sources- both internal and external.
• These may include:

• (i) Knowledge of potential customer needs,

• (ii) Watching emerging trends in demands for certain products,
• (iii) Scope for producing substitute product,
• (iv) Going through certain professional magazines catering to specific
interests like electronics, computers, etc.,
• (v) Success stories of known entrepreneurs or friends or relatives,
• (vi) Making visits to trade fairs and exhibitions displaying new products
and services,
• (vii) Meeting with the Government agencies,
• (viii) Ideas given by the knowledgeable persons,
• (ix) Knowledge about the Government policy, concessions and
incentives, list of items reserved for exclusive manufacture in small-
scale sector,
• (x) A new product introduced by the competitor, and
• (xi) One’s market insights through observation.
• In nutshell, a prospective entrepreneur can get ideas for
establishing his/ her enterprise from various sources. These may
include consumers, existing products and services
presently on offer, distribution channels, the government
officials, and research and development.
 Methods of Generating Ideas:

• even after generating ideas to convert these into enterprise is still a

problem for the prospective entrepreneur.
• This involves a process including first generating the ideas and then
scrutinizing of the ideas generated to come up with an idea to serve
as the basis for a new enterprise formation.
• The entrepreneur can use several methods to generate new ideas.
However, the most commonly used methods of generating ideas
are:-
• Focus groups,
• brainstorming,
• and problem inventory analysis.
 Focus Groups:

• A group called ‘focus group’ consisting of 6-12 members belonging

to various socio-economic backgrounds are formed to focus on
some particular matter like new product idea. The focus group is
facilitated by a moderator to have an open in-depth discussion. The
mode of the discussion of the group can be in either a directive or a
non-directive manner.
• While focusing on particular matter, the focus group not only
generates new ideas, but screens the ideas also to come up with the
most excellent idea to be pursued as a venture.
 Brainstorming:

• Brainstorming technique was originally adopted by Alex Osborn in

1938 in an American Company for encouraging creative thinking in
groups of six to eight people.
• However, brainstorming exercise to be effective needs to
follow four basic guidelines:-
• 1. Generate as many ideas as possible.
• 2. Be creative, freewheeling, and imaginative.
• 3. Build upon piggyback, extend, or combine earlier ideas.
• 4. Withhold criticism of others’ ideas.
• There are two principles that underlie brainstorming:-
• One is differed judgment, by which all ideas are encouraged without
criticism and evaluation.
• The second principle is that quantity breeds quality.
• So the brainstorming session to be effective needs to work like a
fun, free from any type of compulsions and pressures.
 Problem Inventory Analysis:

• Problem Inventory analysis though seems similar to focus group

method, yet it is somewhat different from the latter in the sense
that it not only generates the ideas, but also identifies the problems
the product faces.
• The procedure involves two steps: -
• One, providing consumers a list of specific problems in a general
product category.
• Two identifying and discussing the products in the category that,
suffer from the specific problems.
• This method is found relatively more effective for the reason that it
is easier to relate known products to a set of suggested problems
and then arrive at a new product idea.
 The Double Diamond
Framework
• The double diamond is based on the frame innovation approach coined
by Kees Dorst, Professor of Design Innovation at the University of
Technology. In his approach, the design process can be divided into
problem space and solution space.
• The frame innovation is applied to the Double Diamond framework as the
first two steps (Discover and Define) present the first stage (problem
space), and the third and fourth steps (Develop and Deliver) represent
the second stage (solution space).
• The Double Diamond design model has been around since
it was officially invented by the British Design Council, back
in 2005. While it has been around for a while, many
designers are still unclear what this model is ?
• The British Design Council made it official following a long
study that involved corporate giants such as Microsoft,
Starbucks, Sony and LEGO.
• Each company had their own name for this process, each
company did it a particular way – but creative employees all
went through these stages whenever they were faced with
a problem, a difficult task or a promising opportunity.
• Discovery: gathering data
• Definition Stage: filtering through data and sign-off
• Development stage: start to design
• Delivery stage: test and release
ADVANTAGES OF DOUBLE DIAMOND
FRAMEWORK OF INNOVATION
• the Double Diamond framework is a clear, comprehensive and
visual description of the design process.
• helps designers and non-designers across the globe tackle some of
the most complex social, economic and environmental problems.
• to achieve significant and long-lasting positive change.
 What Is Proof of Concept (POC)?

• Proof of concept (POC) is evidence obtained from a pilot project, which is

executed to demonstrate that a product idea, business plan, or project
plan is feasible. For example, in drug development, clinical trials are used
to gather proof of concept for a final product.
• But that’s not all a proof of concept does. A POC collects user feedback
and insights from your team members, including those who might not
have otherwise contributed, thereby mitigating unforeseen risk.
• POC is an important part of the product development process
in many industries and fields such as:
• Software Development
• Business Development
• Project Management
• Manufacturing, IT, healthcare, cybersecurity, among other
industries.
 Benefits of Using Proof of Concept

• The proof of concept is so valuable because it’s a pilot project to evaluate

the feasibility of your plan before work begins, similar to a prototype
or lean manufacturing “minimum viable product”.
• A POC verifies that concepts and theories applied to a project will result
in a successful final product. POCs do not produce deliverables, as the
core issue being considered is the feasibility of the project.
 Here are some of the main benefits of using
POC during the early development stages of
your projects:
• POC gives potential investors and decision-makers valuable data to
determine if the project or product idea will be feasible and how valuable
it will be for the target audience.
• POC gives development teams important user feedback, and information
about market demand, target audience and critical pain points.
• Proof of concept is an important step of the product development
process because it’s the base for your product prototype and minimum
viable product.
 When do you use a proof of concept?

• Creating a new project idea

• Adding a new feature to a project
 What Is Ideation ?

• Ideation is the creative process of generating new ideas, which can be

accomplished through a variety of ideation techniques.
• Ideation refers to the process of developing and conveying prescriptive ideas to
others, typically in a business setting.
• It describes the sequence of thoughts, from the original concept to
implementation.
• Ideations can spring forth from past or present knowledge, external influences,
opinions, convictions, or principles. Ideation can be expressed in graphical,
written, or verbal terms.
 STYLES OF IDEATION
• Styles of ideation include the following:
• Problem solutions: This straightforward method is where an individual
identifies a problem that they subsequently solve.
• Derivative ideas: This involves making improvements to an existing idea.
• Symbiotic ideas: This is a collision of several incomplete ideas that
combine to create a fully-baked, holistic idea.
 Popular Ideation Techniques

• Brainstorming
• Method 6-3-5
• Prototyping
• Five Whys Analysis
• Storyboard
• In a brainstorm, the goal is to leverage the power of the group to
build on each other’s ideas. It’s one of the most recognizable
ideation techniques. You want to make sure the team involved is
diverse, but you also want to limit the brainstorm to five or seven
people.
• Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos calls this the “Two Pizza Rule”: Invite only
as many people as you could feed with two pizzas. The smaller the
team, the more focused and effective the conversation.
• Only the people you need will be in the room, and those employees
will feel more responsible for generating ideas; their voices won’t be
lost in a large crowd.
• Marion also suggests limiting the brainstorm to 20 minutes and
having employees stand around a whiteboard, where they can each
write down an idea, state it to the team.
• Method 6-3-5 is a form of brainstorming in which six people write
down three ideas in five minutes. When the five minutes is up, team
members pass their sheet onto the next person, so that their peer
can build off their ideas. This activity is completed in silence to
avoid any one employee from dominating the discussion or idea
generation—democratizing the process and placing each employee
on a level playing field.
• Creating a physical representation of your idea—prototyping—can
help during ideation. Prototyping can help employees visualize how
their product will work, as well as enable the team to gather
feedback from internal and external stakeholders sooner in the
development process.
• “Today, in the virtual world, we also have great wireframing
software to mock up mobile applications.”
Example of service prototyping
• Toyota popularized the idea behind the “Five Whys” technique, in
which employees are forced to ask “why” five times. The goal of the
exercise is to get to the root cause of the problem—and that might
take asking one “WHY”
• Starts with a problem statement.
• Through storyboarding, companies can develop a visual story
related to their problem or solution. The activity allows teams to
illustrate their prospective customer and scenarios in which he or
she might interact with the organization and how. Storyboarding
enables teams to bring situations to life and outline the future
impact of their solution.
 Idea validation
• Idea validation is the process of gathering evidence around ideas
through experimentation to make fast, informed and de-risked
decisions.
• However, when it comes to new business ideas, products and
concepts with more risk, idea validation is highly recommended.
• Validation is ultimately about testing assumptions. It’s important to
test the riskiest assumption first and not to waste your time on
something that doesn’t have potential.
 Tools for idea validation
1. Validation Board - The Lean Startup Machine
2. Validation Canvas - Lean Service Creation
Validation Board - The Lean Startup
Machine
• The Validation Board is a tool that can be used to validate and
pivot your assumptions and to track those pivots. With the help
of the Validation Board, you can define customer, problem and
solution hypotheses, and identify the core assumptions related
to these aspects.
• Validation Board can be a useful tool for those who are looking
for a systematic and active way to set goals and make decisions
about whether you should proceed with the idea or pivot.
• The tool is very actionable and can be used to track multiple
hypotheses at once.
• https://youtu.be/HhoducyStMw
• You can see the tutorial video on how to operate validation board.
 Some other tools commonly used for idea
validation
• Google(Read articles, forums, and discussion groups before you find
and try out your direct competitors. )
• Crunchbase, Angel.co (It’s very probable that some of your
competitors (direct or indirect) have raised money and bragged about
it. Check the list of business angels and VCs that got involved.)
• LinkedIn (Most startups hire a lot of people when they succeed. Use
LinkedIn and look at the team size charts for your direct and indirect
competitors, understand who’s growing and who’s shrinking and
why. )
• Google Ads & Google Trends
• Alexa
• Brand24 (Get social media mentions related to your problem and
competitors, see what and where people are saying to engage and
reach out.)
• Quora (See if people are looking for solutions to the problem you’re
trying to solve, understand their motivations. In order to do that, read
questions, upvote good answers, follow influencers (and move them
to closer social networks, such as Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook).
• Pen & Paper
• Business card
• Facebook Ads
• Google Analytics (Track your users not only on your landing
page but also inside your app to see how they get the results
they need.)