INTRODUCTION TO
BUSINESS AND
ENTREPRENEAURSHIP
Tutorial 5
Omnia Hussein
Tutorial Agenda
■ Personal Characteristics of the Entrepreneur
■ Techniques of generating ideas
■ Actions and Behaviors that encourage and
discourage creativity.
■ Case study: [Link]: Don’t Chuckle: This Is One
Impressive Business Idea
Personal Characteristics of
the Entrepreneur
1- Prior Experience
- Corridor principle: once an entrepreneur starts a firm, he or she begins a
journey down a path where “corridors” leading to new venture
opportunities become apparent. (i.e. mark Zuckerberg: Facebook then
WhatsApp & Instagram)
2- Cognitive factors
- There are some who think that entrepreneurs
have a “sixth sense” that allows them to see opportunities
that others miss. This sixth sense is called entrepreneurial alertness
which is formally defined as the ability to notice things without engaging in
deliberate search. (I.e. Elgouna Film Festival by the Sawirises)
Personal Characteristics of
the Entrepreneur Cont’d.
3- Social Networks The extent and depth of an individual’s
social network affects opportunity recognition. (i.e. again, Gouna film
festival, give me an example )
4- Creativity generating a novel or useful idea.
Walt Disney Steve Jobs
Okhtein
Personal Characteristics of the
Entrepreneur VS. main characteristics
of successful entrepreneur.
Personal Main Characteristics
Characteristics of of successful
an Entrepreneur: Entrepreneur:
1- Prior experience 1- Passion for business
2- Product/customer
2- Cognitive factors focus
3- Social networks 3- Tenacity after failure
4- Creativity 4- Execution Intelligence
Let’s apply..
Watch the following video and state which
kind of personal characteristics of
entrepreneurs that JACK MA, co-founder of
Alibaba, show it.
[Link]
Techniques of generating
ideas
■ Brainstorming
- generating several ideas about a specific topic.
■ Focus groups
- 5 to 10 people selected due to their relationship
to the issue being discussed
(the product user: consumers)
■ Library and Internet Research
Case study: [Link]: Don’t Chuckle:
This Is One Impressive Business Idea
Case Study Discussion Questions
■ 2-35. In the United States, what environmental trends are
supporting the development of [Link]’s business?
■ 2-36. How might [Link] use focus groups to gain a better
understanding of its current and potential customers and
their needs?
■ 2-37. In this chapter, we noted that a true business
opportunity is attractive, durable, timely, and anchored in a
product or service that creates value for a buyer. To what
extent does Rover’s service satisfy each of these criteria?
Case study answer hints
2-35 In the United States, what environmental trends are supporting
the development of [Link]’s business?
■ Answer: Most students will assemble a list that includes (1) increasingly
mobile population—which necessitates that dog owners need their dogs
watched by others more often, (2) aging of the population—many older people
have dogs for companionship, and (3) increase in the spread of technology
and mobile devices—people may be more willing to leave their dogs in the
care of others if they can get frequent updates on their dogs via e-mail and
other forms of digital communications.
2-36. How might [Link] use focus groups to gain a better
understanding of its current and potential customers and their needs?
■ Answer: Most students will revert to the information in the chapter about focus
groups. Challenge your students to apply the material in the text to
specifically how [Link] would set up focus groups and utilize the
information gleaned through them.
Case study answer hints
■ 2-37. In this chapter, we noted that a true business opportunity is
attractive, durable, timely, and anchored in a product or service that
creates value for a buyer. To what extent does [Link]’s service satisfy
each of these criteria?
■ Answer: [Link]’s service is attractive in that it places a dog owner’s dog in a
home rather than a kennel. This aspect of [Link]’s service provides a dog more
personalized attention and is healthier, given that the dog will not be in close
proximity to a large number of other dogs, some of which may be sick. The service
is durable in that the number of dogs and dog owners in the United States
continues to go up. The amount of money that people spend on their pets, dogs
included, also continues to go up each year. The service is timely in that the
population in general is increasingly mobile, meaning that people travel more
which necessitates dog owners needing to find others to watch their dogs. Finally,
the service is anchored in a product or service that creates value for a
buyer. The entire intent of [Link] is to provide a dog owner a better
experience than placing a dog in a kennel. There are many examples throughout
the case where [Link] achieves this objective.
Any Questions?
Thank you, see you next tutorial