Entrepreneurship in Action

Lecture 2 : Ideation in action

How to find a Business idea

Munir Hasan
Department of Entrepreneurship
Daffodil International University
 Not only a thought process
Archimedes shouted with “Eureka”
Newton experience an apple drop
Einstein found his theory by writing in
papers

How an innovator and entrepreneur get the idea

 Before finding the process…
How google was initiated?
Sergei and Bin, both were working on their
thesis on search engine, PhD, multi years
Steve Wozniak built Apple-I
Know the Microprocessor, familiar with
circuitry and electronics
The innocent drink come as a solution of
a healthy drink
 Set aside time to brainstorm ideas
 On your own or with someone else.
 That person could be an ideas person, a friend or
the person you're planning on going into business
with.
 Carry a notebook wherever you go. A business in
one part of the world is an idea in another and you
just never know what you may spot as you go
around your daily activities, for little things
observed can spark large ideas.
 Visit business fair
 Consider what things interest you first
 This will at least narrow down your choices to particular
industries, services, goods, etc. It will still be very broad but at
least you won't be thinking about areas that won't have anything to
do with your interests.
 Write down all the things you can think of that inspire you and are
something you consider you'd be good at producing, selling,
marketing, etc.
 Don't be too limited at this stage by your skill set. You can always
learn new skills if needed. However, be realistic about your
enthusiasm, because it will underpin your energy levels and
determination to keep trying.
 Throw your dreams into the business ideas pile. They may seem
sky high or unrealistic but they may eventually be achievable or
they may indicate elements of what you could be doing. Don't
discard anything at this brainstorming stage.
 What things are needed in society
 What services, goods or combination of both is missing
or is poorly done to date?
 What problems or inconveniences are people facing in
their daily lives, workplaces and businesses that you
might be able to fix for them?
 What solutions can you think of while brain storming?
Ask why something hasn't been addressed yet. Is it too
hard? Is it just overlooked? Is it so new that people are
scared to try solutions? Add these considerations to
your mix of ideas.
 Don't forget that many areas are evolving. You might
even invent new products and services that don't yet
exist but will enhance people's lives when created.
 Check out existing trends
 Think like a hipster and be ahead of the pack.
 New ideas, niches and possibilities are
constantly forming. Are there ways that you can
ride these waves while they are still new and
barely known?
 Some will be risky but that is often where your
best ideas and innovations will come from.
Trends provide opportunities for amazing
business ideas that few have cottoned onto yet.
 Consider your own needs
 These differ from interests, in that you need to
think about what you're capable of doing and
the approach you're prepared to take. For
example, do you want to set up a business from
home, in a store, office or warehouse or a
virtual business?
 How do your ideas fit with your daily needs?
 Do you “buy” this product?
 Learn from other people
 Read books, articles and other materials by and
about business people you admire, to learn about
their approaches to coming up with and executing
business ideas.
 List any of their approaches you find inspiring
and useful. Listen to TED Talks, attend webinars
and do online courses to assist with your ideas.
 There is plentiful material available in the online
sphere for you to draw on to assist with your
brainstorming and learning.
 Write out a list of your many ideas

 Use mindmaps or similar diagramming devices to help

you sort through the ideas and their linkages. Which
ideas are the most interesting ones and also workable?
 Start whittling them down to a set of business ideas that
are likely to be actionable.
 If you can build, glue, make, sew, bake, create, etc.,
mock-ups or prototypes of your idea, go ahead and do
so.
 This can add to the realization of how the business idea
might look and/or work. It doesn't have to be anywhere
near perfect at this stage, just enough to help you realize
the idea's worth.
Know how to research a business idea

This will help you to work out how

viable your idea is in relation to the
existing market, competitors and needs.
This is the time when you whittle down
the dreams to realistic and doable actions,
and rein in anything that would prove too
costly, difficult or lacking in interest to
people.
 Business Ideas List
 Food, drinks –– Food products, catering, home-style meals,
liqueurs/spirits, take-out food, food craft, etc.
 Digital sphere –– Blogging, vlogging, ebooks, tutorials, videos, manuals,
photos, artwork, etc.
 Clothing and accessories –– Ready-to-wear, customized clothes,
repurposed, recycled, embellishments, babies and children, women's wear,
menswear, cosplay, etc.
 Event planning and hospitality –– Organizing events, provision of event
equipment, hosting events, providing event locations, etc.
 Health care –– New inventions for better health outcomes, care packages,
carer help, healthy products, providing building services for health care
facilities, etc.
 The future –– Inventing the as yet unknown for making the world a better
place.
 What will help you a lot
Gooogle.com
https://www.entrepreneur.com/
https://www.ryrob.com/best-businesses-st
art-while-working-full-time-job
/

And so on
Thank you