Identifying Business Opportunities| Learn How to Spot Ideas That Can Grow
Unlock your entrepreneurial potential by learning how to identify and evaluate promising business opportunities. This course is perfect for aspiring entrepreneurs, young professionals, and students looking to build a future in business by turning creative ideas into viable ventures.
What is the Course About
This course provides practical tools and insights to help you spot, assess, and take action on business opportunities in dynamic markets. Learn to analyse trends, understand consumer behaviour, and explore innovative thinking. With a combination of case studies and interactive exercises, you’ll develop the critical thinking and strategic planning skills required to transform ideas into successful ventures.
Skills You’ll Gain from this Course
- Identify and evaluate potential business opportunities in various industries
- Understand market trends and consumer needs
- Conduct competitor and SWOT analysis
- Apply creative thinking to generate profitable ideas
- Learn to pitch and present business ideas effectively
Who Should Enrol
- Students interested in entrepreneurship and business innovation
- Young professionals exploring new career directions or startup ventures
- Individuals looking to transition from employment to self-employment
- Anyone with a passion for identifying and acting on business opportunities
Overview
Describing and discussing entrepreneurship, recognising personal entrepreneurial strengths and weaknesses concerning identified opportunities, identifying typical entrepreneurial characteristics, recognising entrepreneurial opportunities in one’s own context, and creating an entrepreneurial goal and personal growth plan are key steps in understanding and pursuing entrepreneurship.
Description
Learners working towards this standard will be learning towards the full qualification, or will be working within a SMME (Small, Medium, Micro Enterprise) environment, specialising in New Venture Ownership and Management, where the acquisition of competence against this standard will add value to one’s job. This standard will also add value to entrepreneurs who are seeking to develop their entrepreneurial skills so that they can become more marketable for bigger contracts, including commercial and public sector contracts, for example the Department of Public Works programmes. The qualifying learner is capable of describing and discussing entrepreneurship, identifying own entrepreneurial strengths and weaknesses in relation to opportunity identified, identifying the characteristics of a typical entrepreneur, identifying entrepreneurial opportunities in own context and compiling entrepreneurial goal and personal growth plan.
- An understanding of what makes up a business is demonstrated and explained in terms of proposed business context.
- Entrepreneurship is discussed in terms of employment opportunities
- Advantages and disadvantages of entrepreneurship are explained with examples.
- Typical examples of entrepreneurship are presented and explained in terms of the proposed business context.
- Reasons for business failure and successes are identified and discussed with examples.
- Cultural, gender and social barriers that relate to entrepreneurship are identified and ideas raised on how to overcome them.
- The importance of a workable business plan is identified and explained in terms of proposed business context.
- An entrepreneurial profile test is completed and strengths and weaknesses are identified according to profile benchmarks (an entrepreneurial profile includes but is not limited to credit worthiness, entrepreneurial skills and abilities)
- The profile is matched to a suitable business opportunity.
- A plan of action to address weaknesses is compiled according to results of the profile.
- Programmes to address skills weaknesses are identified and attended within given time frames.
- Ongoing measurement and evaluation tools to maximise strengths and reduce weaknesses are understood and used to measure skills growth.
- Entrepreneurial skills are improved according to skills plans and programmes.
- Entrepreneurial progress is monitored on an ongoing basis
- The characteristics of a typically successful entrepreneur are identified and discussed with examples (characteristics include but are not limited to the ability to take calculated risks, taking initiative, ensuring sustainability)
- Typical entrepreneurial skills, personality traits and values of entrepreneurial behaviour are clearly differentiated with examples.
- The importance of each characteristic is analysed in the context of a specific new venture.
- The technical, business, managerial and personal traits and characteristics required for establishing a successful venture are explained with examples.
- Entrepreneurial opportunities are identified and described in relation to their own context (own context includes but is not limited to family, community, wider economic trends and development, creditworthiness, entrepreneurial profile)
- Entrepreneurial opportunities are identified and described in relation to the talents, interests and profile of the learner
- Problem-solving and critical thinking techniques in relation to entrepreneurial opportunities are utilised to match opportunity and own talents and interests to proposed new business venture.
- Possible problems and limitations of identified opportunity are identified and ways to overcome them are described within scope of opportunity.
- A range of risks associated with the new venture are analysed in relation to own context and a decision whether to proceed with business is made according to results of analyses (the analysis of risks include but is not limited to technical, performance, time, community, environmental and cultural contexts)
- Short, medium and long-term goals are planned in relation to entrepreneurial goals.
- Short-term goals for self in entrepreneurial context are clearly described and discussed in relation to personal growth and entrepreneurial goals.
- A plan of action to develop technical, business, managerial and personal skills in relation to entrepreneurial opportunity is compiled and implemented according to plan.
- Suitable mentors and coaches to assist in implementation of plan are identified based on availability and capacity.
- Resources to ensure successful implementation of plan are identified and utilised on an ongoing basis.
- Non-accredited: Short course only
- Duration: 1h 30m
- Delivery: Classroom/Online/Blended
- Access Period: 12 Months
