New Business Ideas - Business Leaving Cert Notes

New Business Ideas

To start up a business you must get inspiration from somewhere.

There are 2 main sources to draw inspiration:

Internal sources – You get ideas from your own strengths/weaknesses.

External sources – You get ideas from opportunities and threats in the outside market.

Internal Sources of Business Ideas:

·      Skills and Hobbies.

If your good at art you could start a sign painting business.

·      Experiences

Richard Branson set up Virgin Atlantic Airways because he wasn’t happy with the service he got on other airlines.

·      R&D (Research and Development)

A entrepreneur can set up a Research and Development department within their business, They can use creative employees to come up with new ideas.

·      Customer Feedback

If a customer complains you could use this experience to develop new ideas to improve the business.

·      Employee Suggestions (entrepreneurship)

If a business’ employees come up with a new product or service that would improve the business/sell well, this could be a good source for ideas.

External Sources for Business Ideas.

·      Family and Friends.

A entrepreneur could get a idea for a business after hearing his family and friends complain about the lack of a service/product they need.

·      State Agencies.

Government agencies provide ideas about new products and new markets. Eg. Enterprise Ireland provides market research reports about business opportunities around the world.

·      Media.

Entrepreneurs could get a idea from reading something in a magazine/newspaper or hearing it on the radio or tv.

·      Competition.

Businesses can get and idea by copying and adapting successful ideas developed by their rivals.

·      Import Substitution.

Entrepreneurs can get and idea for a business by examining products that are imported to Ireland, then create a Irish made version.

Development Process of a New Product/Service

Idea Generation.

The first step is to generate new ideas – Brainstorming is when a group of creative people is brought together and asked for suggestions for business ideas.

Product/Service Screening.

When the group is finished each idea is examined (possibly with SWOT examination – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). This spots the good ideas and gets rid of bad ones fast.

Concept Development.

This involves writing a report on the product/idea. What is its USP – unique selling point.

Feasibility study.

A feasibility study is an investigation into new product ideas and to see how much the product would cost and how much profit it would make.

The business might us a Cash flow forecast or a Breakeven chart.

Prototype Development.

A prototype is the first working model of a new product. The prototype is tested and refined to eliminate any problems, this process is repeated until there is a perfect product.

Test Marketing.

Test marketing is when the business launches the product in small amounts. The business evaluates consumers responses. Their reactions define the price and advertising of a product.

Product Launch.

This is when the full-scale production of the product begins. The company must start a marketing campaign to get the product known.