New business opportunities identification is one of the major responsibilities of any business leader. But how can one do it in a mature economy like the United States where almost everything seems to grow at or below GDP rate? As soon as anything becomes 1.5X or higher, companies move in so fast that if you don't identify it before anyone else does, it's over. Let me discuss how a business leader can identify new business opportunities by 'connecting the dots'.
I personally like the approach that Japanese business leaders adopt. Japan is unique in the sense that the Japanese schoolgirls are early adapters of new technologies/trends (in contrast to the US where it is typically the young business professional). That is why Japanese companies are known to hire schoolgirls to provide enormous insights into concept refinement and new product development. Not only are they part of their brainstorming teams, focus groups, and prototype testing, they are also the ones that do a lot of the viral marketing by talking about their new possessions to their friends (Japanese companies often release new products to a select group of customers, in this case schoolgirls, before formally launching it into stores). In no time, if the schoolgirls like it, then the rest of Japan (and Asia ) likes it. So Japanese executives are known to walk the streets of neighborhoods popular with teenagers to basically watch for the next big trend.
Lindsay Owen-Jones the CEO of L'Oreal tries to do something similar when he wants to identify new business opportunities. He simply packs his bags each month and goes to a new target market. Then he walks around shopping areas and visits stores, looks at what fashionable women are wearing, and basically tries to get a good understanding of the local situation. Read all the reports that you can, but there is no substitute to checking it out yourself when you are looking for new business opportunities for your company.
New business opportunities when published in a report by an analyst are already gone because you are too late to capitalize on them. The best that you can do at that point is to come up with something that is unique to your business. For coming up with a new business opportunity, you have to connect the dots yourself.
Put your business in the center, plot all the trends that are emerging around you, and analyze what you can do that is unique. For instance, we see four key trends right now:
I personally like the approach that Japanese business leaders adopt. Japan is unique in the sense that the Japanese schoolgirls are early adapters of new technologies/trends (in contrast to the US where it is typically the young business professional). That is why Japanese companies are known to hire schoolgirls to provide enormous insights into concept refinement and new product development. Not only are they part of their brainstorming teams, focus groups, and prototype testing, they are also the ones that do a lot of the viral marketing by talking about their new possessions to their friends (Japanese companies often release new products to a select group of customers, in this case schoolgirls, before formally launching it into stores). In no time, if the schoolgirls like it, then the rest of Japan (and Asia ) likes it. So Japanese executives are known to walk the streets of neighborhoods popular with teenagers to basically watch for the next big trend.
Lindsay Owen-Jones the CEO of L'Oreal tries to do something similar when he wants to identify new business opportunities. He simply packs his bags each month and goes to a new target market. Then he walks around shopping areas and visits stores, looks at what fashionable women are wearing, and basically tries to get a good understanding of the local situation. Read all the reports that you can, but there is no substitute to checking it out yourself when you are looking for new business opportunities for your company.
New business opportunities when published in a report by an analyst are already gone because you are too late to capitalize on them. The best that you can do at that point is to come up with something that is unique to your business. For coming up with a new business opportunity, you have to connect the dots yourself.
Put your business in the center, plot all the trends that are emerging around you, and analyze what you can do that is unique. For instance, we see four key trends right now:
- Security (of all types, but more specifically, digital and homeland security)
- Advertising (shift from television and print to Internet)
- Corporate accountability/governance (more regulation of businesses)
- Lower cost business models as Americans adjust to a lower quality of life.
Using this methodology, iProceed has identified a few new business opportunities. Click for more details: