IDEIAS DE NEGÓCIO
Do you recall seeing a new product or service in a store, or maybe hearing about an idea on radio or television, and thinking, "Now, why didn't I think of that?" In fact, most of the ideas that are turned into new businesses, or result in "new and improved" products and services, come from information and observations that we are surrounded by every day. Does it seem to you that successful business owners must possess unusual powers of observation or use top-secret strategies unknown to anybody else when seeking ideas for new businesses or innovations to their existing businesses? It's far more likely that these people have learned to pay attention to the cues that are around them and to ask many questions of things that most people take for granted, such as the way Dave Kapell did when making Magnetic Poetry. This search and capture of new ideas that lead to business opportunities is called opportunity recognition. Researchers in the field of entrepreneurship and small business believe that opportunity recognition behavior is the most basic and important entrepreneurial behavior.
The exact reasons why entrepreneurs seem to be better able to find ideas that work are unclear. The notion of entrepreneurial alertness is one that has captured the attention of scholars in the field. This phrase means that entrepreneurs have a special set of observational and thinking skills that help them identify good opportunities. Some overlooked, without actually launching, a formal search for opportunities. Others suggest that we also consider the motivations of entrepreneurs to search for new ideas. For example, if an owner of a fast-food restaurant notices that customers are asking for substitutions of healthier ingredients to the food items, she may be motivated to contact her suppliers to ask about obtaining new ingredients and to change the menu and increase the healthy offerings on the menu to keep customers satisfied, possibly bringing in more customers.
Ideas for new businesses come form a great variety of sources. A person who desires to start a business may begin searching for opportunities that exist in the marketplace, perhaps as a way to use skills and knowledge that he or she has acquired in college or in work experience. In the nationwide Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics, a sample of 480 entrepreneurs were asked whether the business idea or the decision to start some kind of business came first: Business idea 37%; Decision to start a business 42%; Idea and decision were simultaneous 21%.
