Business Ideas and Startup

1. Business Ideas and Startup Unit 5

2. Starting up a business – What is enterprise? • Review: • Enterprise is about taking risks, being creative and innovative and using your initiative. • An Entrepreneur is someone who organises factors of production to produce goods and services.

3. Idea Generation • There are three major hurdles to overcome before any idea can come to fruition. • Identify a problem • Idea generation • Idea selection

4. Sources of new product or service ideas • Business ideas and opportunities come from a wide variety of sources. These include: • Internal sources • By examining their own strengths and weaknesses. • External sources • By looking at the opportunities and threats in the market place.

5. Internal sources • The research and development department • The R&D dept in a business is typically staffed with technical experts such as scientists and engineers seeking to devise new products.

6. Internal sources • Employees • Idea generation and development techniques can be encouraged by rewarding employees who come up with ideas. • E.g. Google X Group

7. Internal Sources • Existing products of business • Employees may improve or develop new products or services based on existing products of the business.

8. Internal Sources • Community needs • Recognising the needs of the community and filling that gap. E.g. Takeaway, Laundrette • Hobbies or occupations • What you’re good at and what you like can be a massive inspiration. E.g. Richard Bransons Virgin Group

9. External Sources • Changes in society • E.g. legislation banning mobile phones while driving led to the development of hands free products. • Customers • Customers can often suggest ideas for improvements and other innovative ideas.

10. External Sources • Competitors • Ideas can be found by monitoring competitors to see what products they are developing. E.g. Tablet computers.

11. External Sources • Market research • A business may carry out market research or surveys to find out what product or service is not provided. • Products in other countries • If a product is not yet available in Ireland it could be adapted to the Irish market.

12. Class Task • What products, business’s or services have come onto the market in the last 18 months that you now use regularly. • Identify what variations make them different from existing similar products or services.

13. New Product and Service Development process

14. New Product and Service Development process Idea generation • A systematic approach to generating ideas. E.g. brainstorming. Can come from internal or external sources

15. New Product and Service Development process Product screening • Spotting good ideas, dropping poor ideas

16. New Product and Service Development process Concept development • Turning the idea into a product

17. New Product and Service Development process Feasibility study • Researching the market to test consumer reaction to the proposed new product “The aim of the Feasibility Study Grant is to assist a company to investigate the viability of manufacturing a new product or process or to develop a new internationally traded service.  The purpose of the study is to provide the necessary information to enable the company (and Enterprise Ireland) to come to firm conclusions regarding project viability.” - Enterprise Ireland

18. New Product and Service Development process Prototype development • Producing a physical product

19. New Product and Service Development process Test marketing • Determines the reaction of potential customers

20. New Product and Service Development process Launch the product • Full-Scale launch on the market