Answer the following : this is not an eassay type question.three or four points
ID: 413149 • Letter: A
Question
Answer the following : this is not an eassay type question.three or four points is enough.
a.Perhaps two of the most promising sources for new ideas for an established business comes from customers and employees. Why so? Explain this statement with an example of product/service that originated with the employees or with customers (this may require “research”).
b. In the age of the Internet, there is no shortage of companies started by entrepreneurs. Explain this statement with at least 3 examples.
c. “Who is my customer?” What does the customer want to buy? When does the customer want to buy? What price is the customer willing to pay? So, asking the “W questions” — who, where, what, when — is the first step in business opportunity analysis. Do you agree? WHY?
d. In analyzing business opportunities you may want to look at regulations –potential or existing- that affect that specific industry. Explain this statement with examples.
e. Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are often overwhelmed by the technological aspect, and they may pay too little attention to what the customers want. Why so?
Explanation / Answer
a. Perhaps two of the most promising sources for new ideas for an established business comes from customers and employees. Why so? Explain this statement with an example of product/service that originated with the employees or with customers (this may require “research”).
Employers have a biased perspective and may generate numerous ideas. They may think that consumers also think the same way as they do. But it may not be sure whether there is an actual need for the idea and the idea is really important that we can demand money for it
Ideas from customers show the perspective from the buyer’s side. This shows that there is an actual need for such a product/service and It also reveals that customers may be probably willing to pay for such product/service. Customers reveal what is actually needed – the core benefit of the new product, rather than trivial benefits.
Employees like salesmen stay close to the customer and know the ground realities. They offer us the common man perspective of product. They have experience in dealing with several customer queries. So they know what customers actually ask for. E.g. Google Person Finder, 3M Post-it notes etc started form employees
b. In the age of the Internet, there is no shortage of companies started by entrepreneurs. Explain this statement with at least 3 examples.
The Internet offers a great platform for networking, knowledge sharing, identifying needs through easy consumer research, rapid communication &marketing etc. There is a huge reduction in transaction costs for starting a business, spreading the word and reaching consumers. The internet has made the world small with increased connectivity and ability to connect to the consumer. Idea generation and experimentation have become easier.
c. “Who is my customer?” What does the customer want to buy? When does the customer want to buy? What price is the customer willing to pay? So, asking the “W questions” — who, where, what, when — is the first step in business opportunity analysis. Do you agree? WHY?
I agree.
The first step in opportunity analysis is to understand if there is an actual/potential market for the product that can generate revenue. The consumers are the one who offers the revenue and so we have to understand if there are consumers for such product/ service and whether they are willing to pay.
Some products have failed because there have been no consumers for the product nor the price was reasonable e.g. Segway scooters. Originally thought to be revolutionary, the product was a flop because the company failed to understand the core benefits required by a consumer from such products
d. In analyzing business opportunities you may want to look at regulations –potential or existing- that affect that specific industry. Explain this statement with examples.
Regulations may affect the development of a product for public sales e.g. pharmacological products. They may affect the pricing of the products as well as the marketing/advertisements of the product. This may have a huge impact in taking the products to consumers. E.g. E-cigarettes though a better alternative to reducing the harmful effects of regular cigarettes faced a lot of regulations in terms of advertising
e. Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are often overwhelmed by the technological aspect, and they may pay too little attention to what the customers want. Why so?
Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and engineers tend to fall into the trap of assuming that the consumer thinks the engineer’s way. They think that technical excellence will be transferred to consumer value and revenue, which might not be so in reality. Customers do not buy technology nor are they happy to buy because a product is technically superior. They buy benefits. So many factors like price, distribution etc also come into play