Chapter 3 Flashcards
A business set-up’s 3 main stages
-The idea stage:
Identifying a feasible and viable business idea
-The planning stage:
Drawing up a business plan
-The implementation stage:
Implementing the business plan
Cultivation of an entrepreneurs creative attitude
-Convince people that there’s a need for products and services when your products are unique
-Learn from the mistakes of others if your idea isn’t new
-Your ideas must distinguish you from other competitors
Creativity
-The generation of novel and useful things
-Creativity involves novelty and originality, and usefulness or appropriateness
Being creative
Generating a variety of really different ideas
Characteristics/ Abilities of creative people
-Solving problems in a different way
-Thinking imaginatively
-Seeing possibilities others have not seen
-Initiating change
2 Categories of creativity
-Convergent
-Divergent
Divergent thinking
The intellectual ability to think of many original, diverse and elaborate ideas
Convergent thinking
The intellectual ability to logically evaluate, critique and choose the best idea from a selection
-A thought process used to organise and structure many solutions to arrive at a single best solution to a problem
-It’s natural for left brain dominant people, which operates in a verbal and analytical mode
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Methods used to improve creativity
-Actively seek ideas
-Write ideas down
-View a topic from another person’s perspective
-Break your routine
-Explore the grey areas
-Use a creative technique
Actively seek ideas
Seek ideas actively by judging everything you read or observe in terms of the ideas that can be developed from it
Write ideas down
Habitually write down your ideas as soon as you have them and regularly read through them
View a topic from another person’s perspective
Get different views of a topic to get a better understanding in order to gain new insights and ideas
Break your routine
Find ways to stimulate your thoughts in order to break your routine
Explore the grey areas
Make a habit of looking for different solutions and possibilities
Ways to enhance the creativity of a team
-Pin cards
-Brain stretching
-Brainstorming
-Creative problem solving (CPS)
-Trigger sessions
-Card story boards
-Bunch of bananas
-Idea advocates
-Super heroes
In addition to an entrepreneur’s key factors for success, consider the following:
-Formal training doesn’t necessarily guarantee success in a business enterprise
-Skills can also be gained from working experience
-Have you developed any skills through your hobbies or other non-career activities that could be used as ideas to start your own business
Generating ideas from common needs
-Everyone has needs, but not everyone’s needs are the same
-The business idea should satisfy a need among a range of people for the same product or service
-Individuals with common needs can usually be grouped together
-Identify groups of organizations that have the same need
-Think of existing, unsolved problems
-Knowing these problems enables the prospective entrepreneur to develop the initial idea for a business thats based on the solution of a specific problem
Methods to use to identify new business ideas from everyday activities
-Use print/ electronic media
-Look in other places
-Explore your surroundings
-Observe other cultures
-Talk to other people
-At work
-Go shopping
-Changes in your immediate area
Other sources to generate ideas from
-Online business directories
-Business publications
-Investor’s associations
-Expired patents
-Advertisements
-Trade shows
-Foreign sources/products
Business ideas can be evaluated by means of two methods
-Feasibility study
-Viability study
Feasibility study
A general examination of the potential of the idea to be converted into a business enterprise
-This study focuses largely on the ability of the entrepreneur to convert the idea into a business enterprise
